Day: November 4, 2021

Tripoli Vice President of the Presidential Council Musa Al Kony met Thursday afternoon in Tripoli Minister of Local Government Badreddine Al Toumi.

According to Council sources Al Toumi briefed the Vice President of the Presidential Council on the work of the ministry and the successes it made in the past months, which contributes to activating the role of local administration, and working on the development of new municipalities to better services for the citizens in the cities of the south.

Al-Kony praised the tireless effort made by the Ministry of Local Government as the closest ministry to citizens.

Source: Libyan News Agency

Tripoli, Al-Mahdi Al-Sa’iti Undersecretary of the Ministry of Local Government for Planning and Local Development Affairs, met today in Tripoli with the mayors of the municipalities of Wadi Utbah and Traghen.

Ministry sources said the meeting dealt with discussing the progress of the municipalities and identifying the most daunting problems and difficulties they face in order to find appropriate solutions to them.

Source: Libyan News Agency

Geneva, Former Acting Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Stephanie Williams said that the political parties in Libya have realized that continued division and conflict would eventually lead them to a dead end, which led them to sign a ceasefire agreement last year, as they arrived at the fact that continuing conflict would cause the country to lose its sovereignty through increased scale of foreign interventions in Libya.

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Geneva Solutions, Williams revealed that the military representatives in Libya were ready from the beginning to hold direct talks, at the end of which they asked to meet on their own without mediation.

Williams added that, through virtual meetings, she was able to create three sub-tracks for political dialogue, the first for women, the second for youth, and the third for municipal councils, although it was not possible to invite all mayors of municipalities for political dialogue.

Williams noted that the most prominent issues that the Libyans wanted to address were the economy, national reconciliation, accountability and transparency, in addition to the equitable distribution of resources and the dismantling of armed groups, which was evident through the immediate vote, and 80% of those surveyed supported holding national elections on the 24th of December.

Williams reiterated that the solution in Libya is in the hands of the Libyans themselves, without prejudicing the role of mediation, which she said important to bring different points of view closer.

Williams stressed the need to maintain the ceasefire in Libya, which can be seen in the basic desire of Libyans to act, to end their crises, considering that the use of oil as a weapon during the conflict period has created great difficulties, which necessitated an international audit under the supervision of the United Nations for the two branches of the Central Bank in Libya, which was recently completed, and its recommendations are being implemented, which is very important because it provides transparency about how to manage and distribute state resources, as she put it.

Source: Libyan News Agency

Tripoli, The United Nations Support Mission in Libya UNSMIL has announced an agreement with representatives of Chad, Niger and Sudan to establish a communication and coordination mechanism to support the implementation of an action plan regarding the exit of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a statement on its official page that the Joint Military Committee 5 + 5 concluded on the first of November a three-day meeting in Cairo, where it agreed with the representatives of Chad, Niger and Sudan to establish an effective communication and coordination mechanism to support the implementation of its action plan on exit of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libyan territory in a gradual, balanced, simultaneous and sequential process that will enable the Mechanism to take the first steps of a withdrawal process that will fully take into account the needs and concerns of Libya and its neighbors.

The UN mission added that, in furtherance of the joint military committee’s action plan on the exit of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libyan territory, signed in Geneva on October 8 and approved by the Libyan authorities, the mechanism sets out a vision for the liaison and coordination committees in Libya and neighboring countries, which will be tasked with communicating and coordinating for the purpose of withdrawing mercenaries and foreign fighters, as well as holding meetings between the Joint Military Commission, the Libyan authorities and

representatives of neighboring countries (from Chad, Niger and Sudan) during the implementation process, and sheds light on the important role played by international parties, including international and regional organizations in supporting this process.

The UN mission indicated that a mechanism for exit of mercenaries will be established in each country in coordination with the relevant authorities, indicating that the Joint Military Committee stressed importance of communication and coordination with all neighboring countries to support the implementation of the action plan.

The UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kupis, praised the ongoing efforts of the Joint Military Committee, describing the results of the meeting as an important achievement that enables practical steps to be taken for the exit of all mercenaries and foreign fighters coming from these countries as a first step towards the full and timely implementation of the ceasefire agreement signed on October 23, 2020 , in line with Security Council Resolution 2570 (2021), according to what the mission published on its official page

Kupis said that the progress achieved by Libya, Chad, Niger and Sudan in a spirit of common interest and partnership will pave the way for sustainable stability, security, development and cooperation in the region, stressing that this agreement is in response to the demands of the vast majority of the Libyan people, and creates more positive momentum in light of the presidential and parliamentary elections It is scheduled to take place on December 24.

The UN envoy also commended Egypt for hosting and supporting this important meeting, which came at the request of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee and facilitated by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, noting that the role played by Egypt contributed to the success of this meeting, as acknowledged by the participants.

In its statement, the UN mission commended the patriotic spirit and commitment enjoyed by the Joint Military Commission, as its members worked as one, and urged the commission to seize this opportunity to promote the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement with the assistance of the United Nations through the deployment of the first group of UN ceasefire monitors. Which took place on October 21.

On behalf of the United Nations, the mission called on member states to support the Joint Military Committee and the Libyan authorities, as well as neighboring countries in implementing the exit of mercenaries and foreign fighters, in a way that ensures the stability of Libya and all neighboring countries.

It also stressed that it relies heavily on continuous cooperation and coordination with relevant international and regional organizations, especially its traditional partners represented in the African Union, the League of Arab States and the European Union.

Source: Libyan News Agency