GENEVA: Representatives of the warring parties in Libya meeting in Geneva have agreed on the principle of turning their shaky truce into a lasting cease-fire, the UN’s Libya envoy said on Tuesday.
“The principle has been adopted from the first session. Now the question is what are the conditions,” Ghassan Salame told reporters in Geneva.
Five senior officers appointed by the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and five appointed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) of strongman Khalifa Haftar are taking part in the talks.
“We started yesterday to discuss with them ... an attempt to transform the truce into a more solid one, less often violated by either side,” he said.
The talks are being moderated by Salame, who last week lashed out at what he branded “unscrupulous” foreign players for meddling in the conflict in the North African country.
The talks started on Monday and were expected to continue on Tuesday, Salame said.
“There is a genuine will for both parties to sit together and start negotiating together,” he said.
“So far we had separate sessions for both parties but I’m sure the time will come for the two sides to sit together,” he added.
At a summit in the German capital last month, world leaders committed to ending all foreign interference and to upholding a weapons embargo to help end the long-running civil war.
Salame said the two sides would meet for talks on economic cooperation in Cairo on February 9 and could hold political talks on resolving the conflict in Geneva in two weeks’ time.
He also reiterated his calls for the international community to assist with the lifting of an oil blockade imposed by forces loyal to Haftar and to prevent the flow of arms and mercenaries into Libya.
Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, with two rival administrations vying for power.
The conflict deepened when Haftar, who controls much of the south and east of Libya, launched an assault last April to seize Tripoli, the base of the GNA led by Fayez Al-Sarraj.
UN: Libya rivals agree to turn truce into lasting cease-fire
https://arab.news/m77ww
UN: Libya rivals agree to turn truce into lasting cease-fire
- ‘There is a genuine will for both parties to sit together and start negotiating together’
- Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi
Palestinian Authority says Israeli settlers set fire to another mosque in Nablus Governorate
- Duma residents able to control blaze before it spread to entire building, damage limited to entrance
- Second mosque to be targeted in area by Israeli settlers during Ramadan
LONDON: The Palestinian Authority reported on Thursday that Israeli settlers had set fire to the Mohammad Fayyad Mosque in the village of Duma, south of the city of Nablus.
The Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs said that settlers had also scrawled racist slogans on the mosque’s walls, and the body cautioned against further attempts to burn mosques in the occupied West Bank during Ramadan.
Residents of Duma were able to control the blaze before it could spread to the rest of the building and the damage was limited to the mosque’s entrance, reported the WAFA News Agency.
The ministry added: “These repeated and escalating attempts to burn mosques are part of a systematic plan by the occupiers to seize Palestinian land by undermining the security and resilience of Palestinian citizens in the West Bank.”
The statement condemned Israel’s closure of the gates at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Feb. 28, a move announced alongside a state of emergency due to Israel’s conflict with Iran.
The Duma mosque is the second to be targeted by Israeli settlers during Ramadan. The Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in Tell village, west of Nablus, was vandalized in February when offensive phrases were spray-painted and a fire started at the site, which resulted in the mosque being filled with black smoke and soot.
About 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, alongside 3 million Palestinians.
