Libya cease-fire raises hopes for full peace deal

Geneva, Switzerland

Libya’s two main warring factions agreed to a cease-fire Friday, raising hopes for an end to years of bloody turmoil that have drawn in military forces from Russia, Turkey, and other regional powers.

The two sides signed the agreement at the United Nations in Geneva at the end of a weeklong meeting of delegates from the internationally recognised Government of National Accord, which is based in the capital, Tripoli, and the self-styled Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Hifter and based in the country’s east.

The two sides agreed on a complete, countrywide and permanent agreement with immediate effect, said Stephanie Williams, the U.N. acting special envoy who chaired the most recent talks. She said it called for front-line forces to return to their bases and for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries within three months, a process that would be monitored by the U.N.

“God willing, it will be the key to peace and security in all Libya,” Col. Ali Abushama, the head of the government delegation, said at the signing ceremony. “We have had enough suffering, enough division, enough bloodshed.”

Williams said the agreement will be sent immediately to the U.N. Security Council, stressing the critical importance of international backing.

The former U.N. envoy, Ghassan Salame, quit his job earlier this year, partly in exasperation at the failure of the international community to provide meaningful support for peace efforts in Libya.

Salame has been vocal about his disillusionment with the open meddling by some foreign countries in Libya, such as Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, combined with the failures of Western countries like the United States, France, and Britain to meaningfully counter that meddling.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the truce agreement as a “fundamental step” toward ending the conflict.

Williams said the accord set an exceptional example for Libyan politicians who now face the challenge of converting the cease-fire into a broader political settlement in talks due to open in Tunis in early November.

Friday’s agreement is intended to set in motion steps to unify security forces and disarm, demobilize and reintegrate the numerous armed factions that have operated unchecked by any central authority for years.

The two sides also agreed to measures that will reestablish national control over oil facilities and key institutions such as the central bank, Williams said.