Top AU official reaffirms willingness to work for maintenance of Libyan ceasefire
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ismail Chergui, has said the pan-African organisation is working to maintain the ceasefire in Libya in order to put an end to the activities of terrorist groups that threaten the security and stability of countries in the region.
"The major issue that concerns the African Union today is the maintenance of the ceasefire in Libya to put an end to the activities of terrorist groups, which have become an urgent necessity for the security and stability of the region," Chergui said in an interview on Monday on the French public television channel France 24.
He stressed the need to seize the opportunity in the light of the will of all Libyan parties, which have stressed, for their part, the importance of putting an end to foreign interference and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country.
Mr Chergui also stressed that the African Union was working in coordination with the United Nations to resolve the Libyan crisis, particularly after the outcome of the Berlin Conference.
He indicated that a fortnight ago, a meeting was held with all the participants of last April's Berlin Conference to discuss the security and political situation in Libya.
According to Chergui, the Peace and Security Council also chairs the meetings of the Special Committee on Military Affairs with UK, the United Nations and the European Union, adding that the Council is working to participate by sending observers, including political and military observers, to the UN mission in order to make the ceasefire agreement in Libya sustainable.
The head of the African organisation stressed that for years the Peace and Security Council has been warning of the danger of the spread of the phenomenon of terrorism in the Sahel region, which does not only affect Mali, but also Libya, Somalia and Mozambique.
Last October, the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) bringing together, under the auspices of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), five officers from each side in the conflict in Libya, the Government of National Accord and the Libyan national army led by Halifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army, signed a permanent ceasefire agreement.
The agreement covers the withdrawal of troops from the front line to barracks, the departure of foreign fighters and mercenaries, the opening of roads and the resumption of air transport.
After the signing of the ceasefire agreement in October in Geneva, the Joint Military Commission met twice on Libyan soil in Ghadames in the south-west) and Sirte in the century, where its headquarters are located, and led to the creation of a monitoring committee, but the points agreed in the agreement are slow to be implemented.
-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/MA 22Dec2020
