UN Calls for Quick Move to Libya Ceasefire

  • 1/22/2020
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The UN Security Council has urged Libyas warring sides to quickly reach a ceasefire that would pave the way for a political process aimed at ending the country’s conflict. The United Nations meeting on Tuesday followed up on a weekend Libya summit held in Berlin, which saw the formation of a military commission that is supposed to define ways of consolidating a cessation of hostilities. It is to comprise five members each from the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which is headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar. "The members of the Security Council urged the Libyan parties to engage constructively in the five + five military commission in order to conclude a ceasefire agreement as soon as possible," the Council said. Since April last year the GNA has fought back against an offensive by the LNA. The military commission is expected to meet in the coming days, according to the UN, tasked with turning an existing fragile ceasefire into a permanent truce as requested by the international leaders in Berlin. The ceasefire was co-sponsored by Russia and Turkey and has broadly held since it went into effect on January 12. At the Berlin conference, the main countries concerned promised to no longer interfere in Libyan affairs and to respect an arms embargo imposed in 2011 but which has been violated. At the end of the Security Council meeting, Guterres told reporters that "theres still a long way to go." He said truce violations have not been widespread. "We need to move to a ceasefire, and from the ceasefire, we need to move to a real political process and we are not yet there."

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