MOSCOW/BENGHAZI, Libya
Libya’s warring leaders made
some progress at indirect peace talks in Moscow on Monday but failed to agree
on an open-ended ceasefire to end a nine-month war over the capital Tripoli.
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu hold a
joint press conference following the talks on a ceasefire deal between the
warring sides in Libya, in Moscow on January 13, 2020.
In talks that lasted about eight
hours, mediators Russia and Turkey urged the rivals to sign a binding truce and
pave the way for a settlement that would stabilize the North African country
mired in chaos since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Fayez al-Serraj, who heads Libya’s
Tripoli-based internationally recognized government which has struggled to fend
off an offensive by the eastern based Libya National Army (LNA) faction, signed
the ceasefire agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“Today we can report that some
progress was made,” Lavrov told reporters at the elegant 19th century Moscow
mansion where the talks were held.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said LNA commander Khalifa Haftar had asked for until Tuesday morning
to make up his mind on the ceasefire.
In a sign the LNA might continue its
offensive, it said on an official website that it was “ready and determined” to
achieve victory.
It gave no details, but another
website close to the force said Haftar will not sign the ceasefire proposal.
Pro-LNA channels said Haftar had already left Moscow.
Pro-LNA social media posts have
called to stage a rally to support Haftar on Tuesday in the main eastern city
of Benghazi.
The Russo-Turkish push, which
involved laborious indirect contacts between the two Libyan delegations, is the
latest attempt to end chaos in the oil-producing country.
Russia’s TASS news agency reported
that Serraj had refused to engage in direct talks with Haftar, forcing Russian
and Turkish diplomats to act as go-betweens.
The two men last met in Abu Dhabi in
February 2019 before talks broke down over a power-sharing deal and Haftar
moved his troops on Tripoli in April, expanding his control beyond the east and
south.
Speaking alongside Italian Prime
Minister Giuseppe Conte in Ankara, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his
country was working to ensure a ceasefire in Libya becomes permanent.
He said he hoped the Moscow talks
would form the basis of discussions at a summit in Berlin on Sunday, which he
said he would attend with Conte and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said
on Saturday she planned to host such a summit after holding talks with Putin.
Turkey backs Haftar’s rival, Serraj,
while Russian military contractors have been deployed alongside Haftar’s LNA
forces, which are also backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.
The Tripoli war has wrecked Libya’s
economy and risks disrupting oil production and triggering flows of African
migrants trying to reach Europe by boats with the help of smugglers exploiting
the chaos.
The Moscow talks come after a
ceasefire, initiated by Turkey and Russia, saw a lull in heavy fighting and air
strikes on Sunday, though both factions accused each other of violating that
truce as skirmishes continued around Tripoli.
Reuters’ journalists in Tripoli said
it was quiet in the center on Monday and that they could hear no clashes or
shelling. But late at night more shelling could be heard.
Mitiga airport, the capital’s only
functioning airport, had resumed operations, a Reuters witness said. Flights
were suspended earlier this month due to rockets falling nearby.
Haftar’s troops have not been able to
breach Tripoli’s defenses but have in recent weeks made some small progress
with help from Russian mercenaries, residents say. That has pushed Turkey,
which has business interests in the country, to deploy soldiers to Libya to
help the Tripoli government. - Reuters
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