Libya: signature of a "permanent" and "immediate" ceasefire between the belligerents

Handshake between Amhimmid Mohamed Alamam (left) representing the Haftar camp, and Ahmed Ali Abushahma from the government of national unity.

October 23 in Geneva.

Violaine Martin / UNITED NATIONS / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

The United Nations announced, this Friday, October 23, a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Libya between the camp of Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi and that of the government of national unity based in Tripoli.

The belligerents signed an agreement after five days of talks in Geneva. 

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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the ceasefire agreement reached in Switzerland the same day between the Libyan parties, deeming it to be " 

 ”.

Since the

in January 2020, three committees have negotiated to get out of the crisis.

The last, in Geneva, was responsible for security and military issues.

For Stéphanie Williams, head of Manul, the UN force present in the country, "a 

 ", and if the path to reach this "

 "

ceasefire agreement 

has been " 

 ", what remains to be done is too.

Stéphanie Williams had addressed, during her press conference which followed the signing, a final appeal to the foreign forces involved in Libya to stop their interference, to withdraw their mercenaries and above all to respect the arms embargo, a resolution that some countries have been violating for years.

I welcome the signing of a ceasefire agreement by the Libyan parties in Geneva under the auspices of the @UN.

This is a fundamental step toward peace & stability.

Too many people have suffered for too long.

Too many men, women & children have died as a result of the conflict.

  António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 23, 2020

Departure of the mercenaries

It is therefore a notorious step forward which has been concluded but which will very quickly be confronted with the reality on the ground.

The heads of the two delegations have said in any case that they will immediately implement the resolutions taken in Geneva.

According to the agreement, foreign mercenaries must leave Libya within a period of 90 days, which begins this Friday, October 23.

This is a very important point for peace to be effective.

At the same time, the local armed forces must return to their bases and withdraw from the surroundings of Sirte.

Joint military committees will oversee the application of the agreement and take charge of the withdrawal mechanism and the training of common forces entrusted with the security of the country.

First civilian flight Benghazi-Tripoli

As for the question of the militias, it is left to the new government of national unity, which should dissolve them while integrating some of these elements into the regular army.

The government must also complete the work on the reunification of the army.

An inclusive meeting, under the auspices of the UN, bringing together representatives of both parties, the former regime, but also civil society, is to take place on November 9 in Tunisia.

We should discuss in particular the appointment of a government of national unity.

Finally, a concrete positive sign to note: for the first time in years, a civilian flight linked Tripoli to Benghazi this Friday morning.

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• Libya

• Fayez el-Sarraj

• Khalifa Haftar

• UN