On Tuesday, the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) agreed to appoint a single Commander-in-Chief for the Libyan military.
The Commission, which is composed of military leaders representing rival parties from eastern and western Libya, held a meeting in Tripoli yesterday for the first time. The Chief of Staff of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Lieutenant-General Abdulrazek Al-Nathouri, and the Chief of Staff of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Major General Mohamed Al-Haddad attended the talks.
In a statement, the JMC members confirmed their “complete and absolute rejection of the return of fighting.” They also stressed their renunciation of violence, their full support for the civil state, and keeping the military establishment away from any political quarrels.
The military commanders agreed to “proceed with identifying realistic steps for the unification of the military institution,” according to the statement. They also agreed to form a committee to handle the exchange of prisoners and cases of missing persons.
The JMC members discussed coordinating data exchange, bilateral training, and joint border patrols to stop the smuggling of migrants. According to the statement, the Commission will continue to hold meetings for follow-up on the implementation of mutually agreed procedures.
Monday’s meeting aimed to review ways to reunify the Libyan military, in addition to discussing the importance of maintaining the ceasefire and avoiding a renewal of violence.
JMC member Lieutenant-General, Khairi Al-Tamimi said that this was a continuation of a previous meeting within the framework of a program to unify the military institution and build confidence between the two parties.
Al-Tamimi added that “this step goes in the right direction.” The Libyan newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, quoted sources as saying that the meeting discussed the current arrangements for the deportation of foreign fighters.
Libya has two rival armies present in the East and the West. They were engaged in fierce conflict, before signing an UN-brokered ceasefire agreement in October 2020.