The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, renewed his address to the Security Council regarding his proposal to deploy international observers in Libya so as to monitor the ceasefire agreement near Sirte.
Guterres said in his interim report to the Security Council that, “a team should be sent to the capital, Tripoli, as a first step to providing the foundations for a scalable UN mechanism for monitoring the ceasefire based in Sirte.”
He confirmed that the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) had requested the deployment of international observers. These observers would be unarmed individuals not wearing military uniforms and would operate under the auspices of the United Nations. He indicated that the observers would work alongside joint monitoring teams from the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the eastern-based Interim Government.
Guterres also emphasized that the Libyan parties refused to allow the deployment of any foreign forces, including United Nations’ uniformed personnel. He reiterated the commitment of the UN to assist and support the JMC in activating the ceasefire agreement.
Guterres’ original proposal was for the formation of an international observers committee that would include civilians and retired military personnel from international bodies, such as the African Union, the European Union, and the Arab League.