About 300 foreign mercenaries have left eastern Libya, the French Foreign Ministry announced today, welcoming the start of the withdrawal of thousands of foreign troops fighting with both sides in the conflict.
The withdrawal was announced in November by forces controlling eastern Libya. The aim is to give a boost to the implementation of the agreement reached last February under the auspices of the UN.
“The first withdrawal was made and this is a positive first step after the November 12 conference,” said French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre, referring to a meeting in Paris between representatives of the warring parties. “The implementation of the full withdrawal process of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces must follow as soon as possible,” he added.
The spokeswoman did not specify when the mercenaries left and where they had gone to Libya. Other diplomats said the mercenaries were from neighboring Chad.
The ceasefire agreed in 2020 in Geneva called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries by January 2021, but this did not happen. Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner company fought alongside the Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar, who was also supported by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Turkey has sent troops to support the Tripoli government.
According to UN experts, both sides used mercenaries from countries such as Chad, Sudan and Syria.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
.
