Representatives of the forces of retired Libyan Major General Khalifa Haftar in the "5 + 5" Joint Military Committee said that they had agreed to deport 300 foreign fighters from the territories under their control, in response to a request from France a day before the Paris conference on the Libyan crisis.
Reuters quoted a statement by an official in Haftar's forces on Thursday evening, that this will be the first group of foreign fighters to leave the country under an agreement signed by the warring parties last month under the auspices of the United Nations to implement a gradual withdrawal of mercenaries.
The official considered that this step would strengthen the agreement, and said that the repatriation of fighters would be carried out in coordination with the United Nations mission in Libya, to prevent unrest in the countries to which they would return.
He did not specify where these mercenaries came from, but said that their deportation will also take place in coordination with neighboring countries.
The announcement came ahead of a conference on the Libyan crisis, hosted by the French capital, Paris, today, Friday, as Western powers seek to confirm their support for the steps to hold the presidential and legislative elections in Libya and warn obstructionists of possible sanctions.
But in the absence of a clear agreement on the legal basis for the elections, observers fear that the main forces in Libya will refuse the voting process, and warn of the possibility of exploiting the ambiguity or differences as a pretext to seize power later.