The European Union, Germany, France and Italy called for an urgent ceasefire in Libya, at a time when the United Nations is seeking to accelerate the resumption of the stalled political process. While a calm lull prevailed around the city of Sirte, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed that a plan to occupy Libya and its capital had been thwarted, and pledged to continue supporting "descendants of Omar al-Mukhtar."
The call for an urgent ceasefire in Libya was issued this evening, in a joint statement by the European Union and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Italy.
The statement urged the Libyan parties to return to the JMC (5 + 5) talks, based on the draft ceasefire agreement reached between representatives of the Libyan National Accord government and the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar on February 23.
In the same context, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel - during a telephone conversation today - expressed their concern about the escalation of hostilities in Libya.
The Russian presidency said in a statement that Putin and Merkel stressed the necessity of a cease-fire as soon as possible, and the start of negotiations between the Libyan parties under the auspices of the United Nations.
She added that the Russian side positively evaluated the Egyptian mediation efforts in settling the Libyan crisis within the context of the decisions of the Berlin International Conference.
Last Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced an initiative that includes a cease-fire in Libya, starting from Monday morning. While Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Russia and Jordan announced their support for the initiative, the internationally recognized Libyan government ignored it, and Libyan officials considered it an attempt to save Haftar, stressing that political dialogue can only be resumed after the restoration of the city of Sirte and the base of Jafra.
Today, Algeria has expressed its willingness to embrace a dialogue between the conflicting Libyan parties, and indicated that there is an Algerian initiative in this regard. Regarding the Egyptian initiative, a spokesman for the Algerian presidency said that his country welcomes every initiative aimed at a ceasefire.
For its part, the United Nations announced today that it is conducting extensive contacts with the Libyan government to determine the date of a meeting with it aimed at resuming the ceasefire talks that stopped last February in Geneva. This was not confirmed by the reconciliation government.
In the past two days, the pace of contacts between the countries neighboring Libya has accelerated, and discussions have taken place between the Turkish and American presidents, and between the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Turkey, and between the German Chancellor and the Egyptian President; In an effort to stop the fighting in Libya and return to the political process.
Turkish support
In turn, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - at a press conference in Ankara today - said that the plans of Haftar and his supporters to occupy Tripoli and Libya have been foiled.
Erdogan added that the government of national reconciliation succeeded in defeating the so-called mercenaries who worked for countries to occupy Libya.
He added that his country would stand with those whom he described as the Libyan brothers, and not on the side of the revolutionaries and imperialists.
"The descendants of Omar al-Mukhtar in Libya are fighting terrorists coming to their country from all sides, and Turkey will continue to support their struggle," Erdogan said.
Sert calm
On the ground, confrontation lines around the city of Sirte (450 km east of Tripoli) are witnessing a cautious calm, while the National Accord and Haftar forces continue to strengthen their positions in anticipation of a decisive confrontation.
A military source said that Al-Wefaq forces re-positioned in the area of the palm junction, west of Sirte, and this comes amid resistance by Haftar forces supported by foreign jet and march, according to Libyan officials, and the source added that this step came to avoid the bombardment of Haftar forces with heavy artillery directed at the laser.
Al-Wefaq government forces took control of the areas of Al-Washaka and Buwarat Al-Hassoun west of Sirte, Jarif and Qubaiba in the south, but they were attacked by jet warplanes allegedly Russian, and another march in which the UAE supplied its ally Haftar, and those raids killed soldiers in addition to 7 civilians.
The commander of the Sirte-Jafra operations room, Brigadier Ibrahim Bait Al-Mal, said yesterday that his forces are kilometers away from the center of Sirte, and that their recovery is a "matter of time", while the head of the Al-Wefaq government, Fayez al-Sarraj, the Minister of Interior, Fathi Pashaga, and field leaders announced their determination to restore the city It was captured by Haftar forces early last year, in addition to the Al-Jafra base, which is to the south.
Corpses and mines
On the other hand, the local February channel broadcast a video clip of the mass grave, which was found today in the city of Tarhuna, which is located about 80 kilometers southeast of Tripoli.
The media advisor to the Ministry of Health in the Government of National Accord, Amin al-Hashemi, had announced earlier that Tarhuna Protection Forces had found a mass grave in the city, most likely belonging to citizens who had been kidnapped and previously assassinated by the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.
Five bodies were also recovered from a well located between Tarhuna and the Thursday Al-Khamis Amsehel area south of the Libyan capital. Sources suggested that the bodies of the kidnappers were executed by Haftar forces before they escaped from Tarhuna recently.
Earlier, dozens of bodies were found in Petrona Hospital, some of them belonging to civilians executed by local gunmen loyal to Haftar.
On the remnants of the fighting in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, a spokesman for the Military Engineering Department of the Accord Government, Colonel Omar Al-Rutb, said that the mines laid by Russian mercenaries in the homes of the displaced are similar to the mines laid by the Islamic State in the city of Sirte.
In the past few days, a number of displaced people have been killed and others injured by mines in their homes south of Tripoli, as well as members of units responsible for removing mines and explosives.
Despite all the evidence that hundreds of Russian mercenaries were fighting with Haftar forces south of Tripoli, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov denied the authenticity of the information regarding the presence of the mercenaries of the Russian "Wagner" company in Libya.
Bogdanov said in press statements that most of this information is based on what he described as false and unverifiable data, and aims to discredit Russia's political reputation in the Libyan arena.