Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Haftar Committed to Ceasefire, Berlin


Thu 16 Jan 2020 | 09:31 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

German Foreign Minister Heikou Maas said today, that Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, is committed to a ceasefire, in what appeared to be progress in efforts to end the ongoing unrest in the country.

His remarks came as Maas was visiting the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya and meeting Haftar. Maas said that Haftar is also ready to attend a conference in Berlin on Sunday aimed at discussing the conflict.

Recent negotiations hosted by Russia to agree on a cease-fire, which was attended by both sides; Haftar as well as the head of Al-Wefaq government in Tripoli Fayez Al-Sarraj- failed.

The nine-month-long battle over Tripoli is the latest wave of chaos in Libya, an OPEC member that has become a significant station for smugglers of migrants in boats to Italy, while Islamist militants also take advantage of the turbulent situation.

On Sunday, Germany will host a summit bringing together the two competing sides in Libya and the foreign powers supporting it in an effort to end the war in Tripoli and resume talks to reach a power-sharing agreement.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres denounced all kinds of foreign intervention, and said it was bringing further complications to the conflict.

Turkey has recently decided to deploy forces in Libya in support to Al-Sarraj.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Turkey had started sending soldiers to Libya to support the government in Tripoli.

Turkey and Libya signed two agreements in November, one on military cooperation and the other on maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean.

Erdogan said today that his country will soon start granting licenses for exploration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.