Dabaiba denies knowledge of a Russian-Turkish agreement to withdraw from Libya and acknowledges the difficulty of uniting the army

The Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, denied his knowledge of any understanding between Russia and Turkey regarding the withdrawal of their forces, although he welcomed this step. He also acknowledged the difficulty of uniting his country's army, considering that "things are not easy."

In an interview with Reuters, Dabaiba said, "I have not heard of this agreement regarding the withdrawal of fighters. But we welcome any agreement... We welcome the exit of any forces, fighters or mercenaries with any support from any party."

"We are talking with all parties regarding the withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya," he added.

Regarding retired Major General Khalifa Haftar and his communication with him, Dabaiba said - in the interview that took place in New York - that Haftar is a difficult military person, but they communicate with him and things are not easy, as he put it.

In the same context, the Libyan Prime Minister admitted that unifying the Libyan army would be a "very difficult" task.

With regard to the elections, Dabaiba made it clear that he had not yet decided whether he would run for the post of president, stressing his government's commitment to holding the elections on time on December 24, but he warned that some of those in the legislative authority might cling to power.

Security Council

Yesterday, Thursday, the Security Council held a session on Libya, in which it urged all member states of the Council, the Libyan parties and relevant actors to respect and support the implementation of the ceasefire and the expulsion of mercenaries.

The United Nations special envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, said during the session that Haftar's forces in the east did not allow the Government of National Unity to control the area.

In turn, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, told the Security Council that Moscow supports "a phased withdrawal of all foreign forces and units."

"At the same time, we would like to make sure that the current balance of forces on the ground is not disturbed, because thanks to this balance the situation in Libya remains calm, and there have been no threats of armed escalation," he added.

US and German officials said, after a UN-backed conference in Berlin last month, that Turkey and Russia, which back two rival parties in Libya, had reached an initial understanding on a gradual withdrawal of their foreign fighters.