Ghassan Salame, the United Nations envoy to Libya, on Tuesday, said representatives of the country’s rival factions have held UN-sponsored talks in Geneva in an attempt to build a lasting ceasefire, according to UN News.
Salame said the meetings of the so-called “5+5 military commission”, which began on Monday, were crucial in ending the military escalation.
The 10-member body, which is known as the “Libya Joint Military Commission,” is comprised of five senior officers appointed by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and five appointed by eastern-based renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.
“Both sides have come to Geneva and we have started talks in an attempt to turn the truce into a more solid one, less often violated by either side,” Salame said. “There is an agreement to convert the truce into a lasting ceasefire, so the principle has been adopted by both sides.”
Salame said both the parties have shown a clear willingness to sit together and start negotiating, adding that meetings were, for the time being, held in separate rooms. He warned that the chance of the situation deteriorating further persists despite a call for a truce in early January by Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladmir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The talks, likely to last all week, represent progress since for days Haftar had refused to attend. The talks had been proposed by world leaders at a summit in Berlin.
Haftar launched an offensive in April to clinch control of Tripoli, from the GNA, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj. He claims that the military campaign is aimed at removing terrorist elements from western Libya.
The GNA is supported by Turkey, while Haftar has support from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others.
In related news, at least three civilians, including two children, were killed in attacks by Haftar’s militia on residential areas in southern Tripoli. Four others were injured in the attacks.
