France's foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that 300 foreign mercenaries have left eastern Libya, marking the start of a staged evacuation of thousands of foreign forces who have fought on both sides of the conflict in the North African country.
The proposal, which Libya's eastern-backed forces first announced in November, was meant to spur a United Nations-backed compromise between the warring parties in the crisis through a joint military commission.
"This initial withdrawal has occurred, which is a promising first signal following the November 12 conference," said France Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre, referring to a Paris summit aimed at breaking the Libyan standoff.
"It must now be followed up with the implementation of a comprehensive process for the evacuation of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces as swiftly as feasible," France's foreign ministry said.
She gave no indication of when or where the mercenaries had left. The mercenaries that left were thought to be from Chad, according to diplomats.
The withdrawal comes after plans to lead Libya into elections at the end of December were thrown into disarray when the country's electoral commission announced that a vote could not be held due to flaws in electoral legislation and the judicial appeals process.
The Paris meeting replicated a ceasefire agreement reached in Geneva in 2020, which called for the departure of all foreign military and mercenaries in January 2021.
The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which was supported in the fight by Moscow, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, is entrenched with mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group. Turkey dispatched troops to Tripoli to assist the administration.
According to UN analysts, both sides in Libya's conflict have used mercenaries extensively, including those from Chad, Sudan, and Syria.
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