Libya: countries involved in the conflict are reluctant to leave the field
Members of the Russian military group Wagner or Syrian mercenaries sent by Turkey ... The states involved on the ground do not seem determined to withdraw.
(illustrative image) REUTERS / Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The states militarily involved in Libya have totally ignored the United Nations injunctions to leave the country before Saturday 23 January.
The Libyan political agreement signed in Geneva last October called for the departure of all foreign mercenaries within 90 days of its signature.
After a decade of struggle between Libyans, the crisis is now eluding them.
Publicity
Read more
"
All regional and international parties must respect the articles of the ceasefire agreement of October 23,
" Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, recalled last week.
Appeal relayed by the UN support mission in Libya and by the Libyan Military Commission.
But the countries heavily involved in Libya are turning a deaf ear.
They don't seem to want to pack up.
Indeed, on the ground, nothing indicates that the foreign protagonists have the slightest intention to leave.
Turkey and Russia, the two major players in Libya, seem on the contrary to
want to strengthen their presence
.
Satellite images revealed this weekend by the American channel CNN, show that the Russian Wagners dug a huge trench around the city of Sirte.
Their presence is strong in this coastal city as well as in the military base of al Joufra in the south, even if Moscow still officially denies its military presence in Libya.
►
To read also: Libya: the presence of thousands of foreign mercenaries worries
Ankara, for its part, continues to transport shipments of arms by sea and air.
It has strengthened its presence in military bases in western Libya, especially in al Witya.
She regularly replaces
Syrian mercenaries
at the end of their mission with new recruits.
Russia and Turkey each support a different camp and seek to share a fragmented Libya.
According to several observers, they "
will never leave Libya, if they do not have the guarantee that their interests will be preserved
", their actions indicate "that
they are there to stay there
".
Stephanie Williams, the UN interim special envoy, recently estimated the number of foreign mercenaries in Libya at 20,000.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Libya
Russia
Turkey