Biden stepping into Libyan minefield

Shaimaa Yahia

The administration of new US President Joe Biden is apparently not ready to waste time.

The administration has already started dealing with thorny issues, including the Libyan crisis.

Washington has called on Turkey and Russia to pull out their troops from the North African state, including mercenaries they sent to the country in the past months and years.

Acting Representative of the US Mission to the United Nations Richard Mills said during a meeting of the Security Council on January 28 that his country had asked Turkey and Russia to pull out of Libya immediately, in the light of the ceasefire signed for the country in October last year.

The two countries, he said, have to withdraw their mercenaries and foreign agents from Libya.

Turkey sent thousands of Syrian mercenaries in Libya to back the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). This came after the Turkish parliament approved a request by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to send military support to the GNA. This move came also after Erdogan hammered out deals with the GNA in this regard.

Moscow, for its part, sent troops to eastern Libya to back the Libyan National Army (LNA) as it prepared to stage attacks against the militias controlling western Libya. This prompted Turkey to send yet more troops to the country.

According to the United Nations, over 20,000 hirelings had entered Libya since the beginning of the civil war in the country.