Gülşen Topçu
16 January 2023•Update: 16 January 2023
Libya’s 5+5 joint military committee on Sunday convened for the first time in seven months to discuss several issues, including the current cease-fire.
The committee includes five members from the Tripoli-based national unity government and five from Khalifa Haftar's forces.
Maj. Gen. Khaled Mahjub, a leader in the Libyan Eastern Forces led by Haftar, said in a statement that the committee held a meeting in the coastal city of Sirte with the participation of the UN Special Envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily.
During the meeting, they discussed the articles of the cease-fire agreement signed in Geneva in 2020, as well as the work of international and local observers on the agreement.
They also touched on the issues of unifying the military institutions in the country under one roof and the expulsion of foreign and mercenary soldiers from the country.
The committee last met in June 2022 in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
As a result of 5+5 Joint Military Committee meetings held in Geneva in October 2020, a permanent cease-fire agreement was signed between the Libyan government and delegations affiliated with Haftar.
Libya has been torn by civil war since the ouster of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
* Writing by Gozde Bayar
