Libyan rivals on Monday restarted military and security talks, aiming to reach a settlement that could help end the county’s yearslong conflict, the United Nations said.
The U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a brief statement that military and police teams from eastern and western Libya met in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
The face-to-face military talks came amid international pressure on both sides of the war and their foreign backers to avert an attack on the strategic city of Sirte, after a yearlong assault on the capital, Tripoli, by eastern-based illegitimate forces of putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, collapsed this summer.
The UNSMIL said both sides have demonstrated “a positive and proactive attitude aimed at de-escalation of the situation in central Libya.”
The outcome of the Egypt-based negotiations will be mainstreamed into U.N.-brokered military talks, UNSMIL said.
The 5+5 military commission was set up after a Jan. 19 conference in Berlin, with the hope it can reach an agreement for a long-term cease-fire.
The U.N. and the German government are planning another Libya summit, expected to be conducted online on Oct. 5.
Other Libyan delegations have had recent political talks in Morocco and Switzerland.
Haftar’s forces launched an offensive in April 2019 to try and capture Tripoli. But his campaign collapsed in June when the Tripoli-based U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), with heavy Turkish support, gained the upper hand, driving his forces from the outskirts of the city and other western towns.
Haftar is mainly supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Russia. The GNA has backing from Turkey, as well as from the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar.
Fighting has died down in recent months, but both sides were preparing for a possible battle over Sirte, the gateway to Libya’s major oil fields and export terminals, controlled by Haftar.
Egypt-based military and security talks came after both sides, under heavy international pressure, agreed earlier this month on a preliminary deal that aims to guide the country toward elections within 18 months and demilitarize Sirte, which is held by Haftar.
Commenting on the latest diplomatic efforts, Khalid al-Mishri, the chair of Libya's High Council of State, said that they made a preliminary agreement to determine senior management positions and planned another meeting in Morocco on Thursday in order to sign the agreement.
He explained that the ongoing dialogue process includes three different issues: one is about the constitutional process, another is about the executive authority which is delayed for now, and the last one is about determining senior management positions.
“Our attendance to dialogue and negotiations does not mean that we are not aware of other options. We closely follow the deployment made by war criminal Haftar, and we will not be caught unawares this time,” he said.
Al-Mishri added that if Turkey had not helped the GNA, Haftar and his mercenaries might have succeeded in entering the capital Tripoli.
