UN Libya mission urges return to joint military talks

The call came after eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar declared a unilateral Ramadan truce

Fighters with Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) gather at a position near the town of Garabulli, some 70 kms east of the capital Tripoli AFP

The UN mission in Libya has urged warring parties to resume military talks that were launched in Geneva in January aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire.

The call came after eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar declared a unilateral truce, rejected by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord.

Pro-Haftar forces have been battling to seize the capital Tripoli from the GNA since April 2019.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Unsmil), in a statement late Thursday, urged the rivals to "immediately halt all military operations and resume the 5+5 Joint Military Commission talks - on a virtual basis, if needed" because of the coronavirus.

A military commission comprising five GNA loyalists and five Haftar delegates held talks in January but the dialogue was suspended after a second meeting the next month.

A January ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia has been repeatedly violated.

Unsmil urged "all parties to refrain from any provocative acts or statements that threaten the prospects for a genuine truce and its sustainability".

"This includes attempts to use periods of calm by one side or the other to reinforce their position," it said.

Field Marhsal Haftar's camp said on Wednesday it would cease hostilities for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in response to international calls for a truce.

The battle for Tripoli that has left hundreds dead, including dozens of civilians, and more than 200,000 displaced.

Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

Western forces have thwarted Field Marhsal Haftar's advances, recaptured coastal cities near the Tunisian border, attacked Field Marshal Haftar's key western airbase and tightened their siege on his stronghold of Tarhuna. On Friday, their Facebook page reported launching at least three airstrikes on fuel tankers supplying Field Marshal Haftar's forces and a bus full of militiamen. It warned humanitarian convoys carrying food and Covid-19 supplies to steer clear of areas of fighting or seek permission for the deliveries.

US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland said he spoke on Friday to Aguila Saleh, speaker of the east-based parliament, and stressed "the importance of respect for democratic processes" and the UN-brokered political process.

Meanwhile, as the intractable conflict and the coronavirus pandemic loom over Libya, the migrants who pass through the war-torn coastal country hoping to get to Europe are uniquely vulnerable.

On Friday, the UN migration agency said 51 migrants, including three women and two children, were intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard in the Mediterranean Sea and returned to the western city of Zawiya. Some 30 people, among them a pregnant woman, were taken to a detention center, while the rest managed to escape, according to IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli.