UN, EU and others push ahead with Libya ceasefire monitors

UN chief Antonio Guterres laid out plans for the mission to African, European and Arab diplomats

Members of Libyan special forces have been trained by the Turkish military. The Libya Quartet said that all external military intervention in Libya is unacceptable. AFP

The UN, the European Union and others on Tuesday voiced support for the sending of ceasefire monitors to Libya and called for the swift exit of foreign forces from the North African oil exporter.

A statement from the Libya Quartet, a grouping of the UN, EU, the Arab League and the African Union, backed sending the monitors as well as efforts towards holding national elections in Libya in December.

"The Quartet condemned the continued violations of the UN arms embargo and emphasised that all external military intervention in Libya is unacceptable," the group said in a statement.

“They called in this regard for full compliance with the arms embargo and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from the entirety of Libya’s territory.”

The virtual meeting brought together UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Monique Nsanzabaganwa, deputy chair of the African Union Commission.

Mr Borrell wrote on Twitter that the group would “do everything possible to strengthen the current positive momentum” in Libya.

The UN Security Council on Friday voted unanimously to send up to 60 international monitors to Libya to oversee a ceasefire agreed to in October between two warring administrations that had ruled the country's eastern and western regions.

The ceasefire in October was followed by the establishment on March 15 of a new unity government led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, raising hopes of an end to a decade of conflict.

The ceasefire has largely held since then but the main road across the front lines from Sirte to Misurata along the country’s Mediterranean coastline remains closed.

Still, the presence of some 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries on Libya's territory is seen as a threat to the UN-backed transition leading to December 24 elections.

The ceasefire monitoring mission will start with a small deployment in the capital, Tripoli, before expanding to Sirte, near the front lines of fighting.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday told reporters the UN would send the team “as soon as we can”.

“After years of violence and suffering, there is a window of opportunity in Libya, but urgent and immediate actions are needed to make use of this window,” added Mr Dujarric.

Libya descended into chaos after the Nato-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

The country was then divided in 2014 between an internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the west, each backed by various local militias and foreign forces from Turkey, Russia, Egypt and elsewhere.