A member of Libya’s 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), General Al-Fitouri Ghribel said that there may be an indefinite delay in withdrawing all mercenaries and foreign forces from the country.
Despite the promising progress made, the General attributed the reason for the delay to, “the current political division.”
“We were counting on holding elections that would result in unified authorities, so that the plans that we had laid out for the exit of mercenaries and foreign forces could begin to be implemented,” Ghribel told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
“Unfortunately the elections were obstructed by the current divided political bodies,” he added.
Ghribel explained that the JMC has completed its technical role, in coordination with the United Nations and regional actors. As well as Libya’s neighbours, and countries that have forces and mercenaries in Libya.
“We previously formed communication committees during both the Cairo, and Tunis meetings in November. We also visited the countries involved in the Libyan conflict, particularly Russia and Turkey, and informed them of the results of our meetings,” he explained.
“There would be an opportunity to expel the mercenaries, even by force, if a Parliament, a President, and a unified government were elected,” he concluded.
On Thursday, former Libyan Interior Minister, Fathi Bashagha was sworn in as the country’s new Prime Minister during a session at the Libyan Parliament, in the eastern city of Tobruk.
Bashagha took his oath of office after his government emerged from a confidence vote on Tuesday. 92 of the 101 lawmakers in attendance approved the decision, in a live broadcast from the city of Tobruk.
The outgoing Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba has previously warned that the appointment of a new interim government could lead to war and chaos in the country. He renewed his pledge to only hand power over to an elected government. He also announced a plan that is likely to be unrealistic, which is to hold elections in June.
Observers fear that Libya will return to having two opposing governments, threatening a resurgence of violence, and risking the nation’s vital oil sector.
An estimated 7,000 Syrian fighters are believed to remain in Libya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). A ceasefire agreement between Libya’s warring parties called for all foreign mercenaries to be withdrawn within three months of its signing in October 2020.