On November 6, armed men arbitrarily arrested Libyan citizens from Benghazi at Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport. The GNA condemned the incident. Various sources accused the so-called Al-Nawasi Brigade of kidnapping the Libyans to exploit them in an exchange of prisoners, an act that might undermine peace talks.
On the international front, UNSMIL acting head Stephanie Williams confirmed the participants to the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum arrived on November 7 in Tunisia ahead of new meetings on November 9, following the positive outcome of the Ghadames meeting. The peace process has been hailed by most countries as a success so far.
On November 5, Turkish security sources stated that Turkish troops will remain in Libya for as long as the GNA wishes, contrary to the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission’s agreement on having the Turkish forces return to their bases and exchange prisoners.
BENGHAZI
- the Libyan National Army (LNA) has formed a new joint military security force, chaired by Lt. Gen. ‘Abd al-Razek al-Nadouri, to combat illegal armed groups in the Greater Benghazi area, following LNA Commander in Chief, Marshal Haftar’s order to start an “expanded joint security operation” last week.
DERNA
- on November 5, the Libyan Red Crescent in Derna announced it had recovered 33 unidentified bodies from a mass grave in Derna’s Al-Fatayeh area.
SABHA
- on November 3, Marshal Haftar ordered to reopen the Sabha Airport and resume flights within November 7.
SIRTE
- on November 7, officials held a meeting in Sirte to discuss preparations ahead of the meeting of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee the following week;
- on November 5, the Libyan army said it had spotted Russian Wagner mercenaries inside an elementary school in Sirte, a city southeast of Tripoli. Other Wagner mercenaries also reportedly destroyed the local Ouagadougou Conference Hall.
TARHOUNA
- on November 7, GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said the body of Brig. Gen. Mabrouk Khalaf, former director of the Ministry’s information and follow-up office, was found in a mass grave in Tarhouna. The local Al-Kani Militia is held responsible for his death;
- on November 5, the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons announced the discovery of five new mass graves in the Rabt project area in Tarhouna, with 10 unidentified bodies and four body parts recovered so far;
- on November 4 clashes erupted in Tarhouna after GNA Army Brigade 444 raided locations of armed groups that are thought to have practiced torture, extortion and kidnapping.
TRIPOLI
- on November 6, armed men illegally arrested Libyan citizens who had just landed from Benghazi at Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport. GNA Interior Ministry released a statement condemning the incident and denying any affiliation with the perpetrators;
- the Tripoli Protection Force, a coalition of militias, also denied responsibility despite various sources accusing a TPF-affiliated militia, the so-called Al-Nawasi Brigade of not just arresting but kidnapping the Libyans to use them as bargaining chips in an exchange of prisoners. The kidnapping might be seen as a violation of the Ghadames agreement and therefore undermine peace talks.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Minister for Labour and Rehabilitation, Al-Mahdi al-Amin, met with the Ambassador of South Korea for talks on helping the Libyan-Korean Center continue offering its training programs and increase its training capacity;
- Italy’s Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Manlio Di Stefano, has expressed concern about the Italian fishermen detained by militias in eastern Libya, observing that since those militias do not represent the Libyan Government, the releasing procedure is all the more complicated;
- on November 8, French Foreign Minister Le Drian and Egyptian President Al-Sisi discussed in Cairo the latest developments in the Libyan issue. Al-Sisi vowed support to the current discussions based on the Berlin Conference and the Cairo Declaration;
- on November 8, welcomed the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority’s decision to resume flights in all airports in southern Libya;
- UNSMIL acting head Stephanie Williams confirmed the participants to the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum arrived on November 7 in Tunisia ahead of new meetings on November 9;
- on November 7, officials in eastern Libya said they will not be bound by security agreements between Egypt and the GNA unless they become part of it. The statement followed GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha’s visit to Cairo on November 4, when he disclosed that security agreements between the two countries had been signed;
- Libyan rivals taking part in the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which kicks off today in Tunisia, are going to reach a “historic agreement” that will end the country’s crisis, said Walid al-Hajam, a spokesman for the Tunisian presidency;
- the US Embassy to Libya, currently stationed in Tunisia, is about to begin formal consultations with the GNA to find a new HQ for the US diplomatic mission in Tripoli;
- on November 6, the Italian Navy denied that the Italian fishermen currently held in Libya were abandoned by the Navy at the time of the detention incident, retorting that the nearest ship was over 115 nautical miles away (between 5 and 6 hours of navigation).;
- Moscow hopes the Russians detained in Libya will be released soon, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Sputnik on November 5;
- on November 5, Russia welcomed GNA PM Fayez al-Sarraj’s decision to withdrawal his resignation, originally scheduled for the end of October. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov Al-Sarraj’s decision will avoid a political vacuum;
- on November 5, a third round of the Libyan dialogue talks was held in Morocco’s Bouznika between the delegations of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the High Council of State after one month of singing an agreement on the criteria for the appointment of sovereign positions;
- on November 5, Turkish security sources stated that Turkish troops will remain in Libya for as long as the GNA wishes. The Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission had agreed instead that the Turkish forces would return to bases and exchange detainees;
- the French Foreign Ministry welcomed the results of the Ghadames dialogue between the 5+5 military committees representing the GNA and the Libyan National Army;
- the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui, confirmed the AU’s support to the Libyans’ desire that the ceasefire agreed on in Geneva is implemented;
- on November 4, UNSG spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that if the UN Security Council endorsed a resolution backing up the permanent ceasefire agreement in Libya, the country could regain peace and stability more steadily;
- the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission concluded its two-day meetings as part of the fifth round of talks in the City of Ghadames on November 3, in the presence of the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General of Libya, Stephanie Williams;
- US Ambassador Richard Norland welcomed on November 3 the courageous efforts of Libyan participants in the Joint Military Commission (JMC) consultations in Ghadames to implement the October 23 ceasefire agreement, realize Libyan aspirations to de-escalate the conflict, and begin to take concrete steps toward the ultimate departure of foreign forces and mercenaries;
- the EU Ambassador and the Ambassadors of various EU member states called on the Libyan leadership to protect media freedom and create a safe environment for journalists in Libya to do their job;
- on November 2, High Council of State head Khalid al-Mishri and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani reiterated in a meeting Qatar’s support for the ceasefire agreement that was signed in Geneva last month;
- on November 2, UNSMIL acting head Stephanie Williams said in a press conference that “the Joint Military Commission (JMC) is no longer called 5+5, but it is now called the Commission of 10”, confirming that “it is now a real joint Libyan group”. Williams added that the two parties of the JMC had reached a considerable degree of consensus in Ghadames;
- on November 2, Tunisian President Kais Saied said the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which is due to be hosted in his country at the beginning of next week, will be a genuine opportunity for all Libyans to agree on a political settlement.
