International optimism about easing of Libyan crisis accompanies Ghadames talks

Fatima Abdul Ghani

Signs of an easing of hostilities in the Libyan crisis are looming on the horizon. For the first time, the Libyan Joint Military Committee held its meeting inside the country in the city of Ghadames, southwest of Tripoli, from November 2-4. According to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, the participants in the meeting discussed mechanisms to implement a permanent ceasefire, as well the issue of sub-committees and the mechanisms for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire.

UN Special Representative in Libya Stephanie Williams said in a press conference after the first day on Monday that the Libyan military talks in Ghadames achieved “great agreement”, considering that the 5+5 committee has become effectively known as the Committee of Ten.

Williams added there was vast consensus in the meeting to discuss the implementation mechanisms of the permanent ceasefire.

“I invite the politicians going to Tunisia to participate in the direct dialogue forum to show courage and the consensus of the Committee of Ten, and this is what we expect from the political dialogue in Tunisia,” she said.

Williams added that the details of the meeting’s findings would be announced after the second day on Tuesday.

In turn, Mohamed al-Mesbahi, head of the office of the Supreme Council of Sheikhs and Notables of Libya, considered that the Ghadames meeting is a “qualitative shift for dialogue from the theoretical reality to the practical reality of forming committees and the actual start of this work.” He added in a statement that “there is a theoretical reality looking at the military path, and there is a practical reality that clashes with the occupation demands that Qatar and Turkey are practicing and the signing of agreements now, which means hampering the efforts that the armed forces will present.”

“Stephanie Williams took steps this time on the military track that deserves to be saluted and appreciated,” Mesbahi stated, adding that “the effort and presentation in their slogans with the participation of the UN Mission for the Libyans on their land, there were no appeals in the merits and the people who attended, and their institutions labeled them, whether the military establishment emanating from the Libyan parliament, which is the Libyan National Army (LNA), or the forces on the other side, which were named by the Presidential Council headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.”

Mesbahi explained, “When these groups meet in Libya, they send a message that terrorism and armed groups and mercenaries now coming from abroad will confront the Libyans and the Libyan National Army alike.”

“We have demanded more than once that the occupiers and mercenaries should leave and collect weapons and confine them to the armed forces and police, in order to ensure real stability in Libya,” he said.

“This is what happened now in the wonderful steps that we see now in the 5+5 committee, which is now holding its fifth meeting on Libyan soil,” Mesbahi added, noting that this matter confirms “that the UN Mission is really a mission of support and backing.”

This meeting preceded the political dialogue forum that the United Nations invited 75 Libyan personalities to participate in, which starts November 9 in the Tunisian capital with the aim of discussing the formation of a unified and consensual authority that will handle the transitional period until parliamentary and presidential elections are held.

In this context, Sarraj agreed with UN envoy to Libya that the political dialogue forum is a historic opportunity for Libyans to decide to move towards a political solution away from any foreign interference.

Accordingly, the two parties stressed that the political solution includes all Libyans. These statements came after Sarraj had announced his resignation from his post at the end of October, as was decided under the pretext of successive calls for him to stay for a temporary period.