Egypt's President offers peace-talks to end civil war in war-torn Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on Saturday that Libyan Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh and eastern-based military leader Khalifa Haftar have welcomed an initiative to end the military conflict in the neighboring war-torn Libya.

The announcement came after Sisi attentded a meeting with Libyan leaders in Cairo. The meeting was organised todiscuss the recent developments of the ongoing war civil war in Libya.

The peace-calling initiative is calledCairo Declaration. It seeks a cease-fire between thewarring Libyan parties starting from June 8, a UN-supervised election of a Libyan presidential council and drafting a constitutional declaration to regulate elections for the later stage, Sisi said in a joint press conference with Haftar and Saleh.

Under the initiative, foreign mercenaries will pull out from Libya. All militias will dismantle and disarm, to allow the Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA) take charge in the country, according to the Egyptian president.

Things have been tense in Libya since 2011 when former leaderMuammar Gaddafi was assassinated, and later in 2014 the country was divided into two major parts -- one ruled byGovernment of National Accord (GNA), which is backed by UN,Turkey, Italy and Qatar and the other being LNA, backed byEgypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and Russia .

"The initiative calls for respecting all relevant UN efforts and initiatives. The initiative will mark a beginning for a new stage towards the return of normal and safe life to Libya," Sisi said.

Sisi's announcement was welcomed by other countries. The Egyptian President said he hopes the UN will invite all Libyan parties to the UN headquarters to relaunch the political process.

(With inputs from ANI)