The US State Department called for the dismantling of militias in eastern and western Libya after the end of the Tripoli blockade weeks ago, while the Libyan National Accord government demanded US and European sanctions against Russia's Wagens and the Sudanese Janjaweed forces.

The US State Department said in a statement yesterday that the American delegation, who met via a television circle last Wednesday, Minister of Interior of the Libyan National Accord Government, Fathi Pashaga, discussed the dismantling of the armed militias, the immediate ceasefire in the country and a return to political and security negotiations.

According to the State Department statement, the end of the siege on Tripoli "gave a renewed opportunity to address the issue of militias in the east and west of the country," and the United States has tightened its opposition to all foreign interference.

@USAEmbassyLibya
“With the responsible actors returning to the UN-facilitated ceasefire talks and calling for an end to foreign intervention in Libya, allowing the National Oil Corporation to immediately resume operations is a critical step for the re-establishment of Libyan sovereignty” https://t.co/26KB2insr9

- US Embassy - Libya (@USAEmbassyLibya) June 26, 2020

For his part, the Minister of the Interior of the Al-Wefaq government, which is internationally recognized, called on the European Union to include the Russian Wagens Company, which supports the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter in its war against the Al-Wefaq government, on the sanctions lists for the crimes they have committed against humanity in Libya, in the words of Pashaga .

The Libyan minister warned in a tweet that the control of Wagner's mercenaries over the Libyan oil fields threatens the country's national security, and undermines the interests of all American and European companies operating in the oil sector in Libya.

We call on the European Union to include the Russian Wagner Company in the sanctions regulations and the sponsors of terrorism for the atrocities and crimes they have committed against humanity in Libya 5/5

- Libyan Minister of Interior (@fathi_bashagha) June 26, 2020

Pashaga described the control of Fagens mercenaries the day before yesterday on the Sharara oil field, the largest field in Libya, along with a group of Janjaweed, as "a dangerous precedent in the control of foreign mercenaries on the wealth of the Libyans," adding that an Arab country, which he did not name, supported Haftar in his attack on Tripoli, Wagner funded "complicit in the crime of locking Libyan oil supplies."

The Libyan National Oil Corporation said on Friday that a convoy of dozens of military vehicles entered the Sharara field, on Thursday, to prevent the resumption of exports after a five-month blockade.

Libya’s
delegate to the United Nations, Taher Al-Sunni, today called on the United States and Europe to impose sanctions on Wagner and Janjaweed mercenaries. The Sunni said in a tweet that the Security Council is unable to punish individuals and mercenary groups such as Wagner and the Janjaweed, as well as the Khalifa Haftar militia, who have violated all international resolutions.

The United States has expressed concern about the involvement of Wagner and foreign mercenaries against the facilities of the National Oil Corporation, including the Sharara field (southeastern Libya).

Stephen Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed deep concern about the presence of mercenaries in the Sharara field, all foreign forces and militants, and the continued sending of weapons to Libya.

The United Nations has expressed deep concern about the presence of mercenaries in the Sharara field, all foreign forces and militants, and the continued sending of weapons to Libya

International calls
On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron yesterday called by phone to the cease-fire in Libya and a return to the dialogue table.

This call came a day after Paris, Rome and Berlin called on the warring parties in the Arab country to stop the fighting, and external parties to stop interfering in Libyan affairs in order to revive the political path to resolve the Libyan crisis.

It is noteworthy that Libya has lived since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in the end of 2011 in successive political and security unrest, exacerbated since 2015 by a split in power between a government recognized in Tripoli and another unrecognized in Tobruk that supports Khalifa Haftar.