Major General Khaled Al-Mahjoub, Director of the Moral Guidance Department at the Libyan National Army (LNA), said that the advance team of the UN observer mission had arrived in Benghazi on Monday. It held meetings with LNA members of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee (JMC).
Al-Mahjoub added that upon its arrival, the team held an expanded meeting with LNA officers to discuss arrangements for starting the work of international observers. This is in preparation for the final meetings in Sirte.
The LNA and UN observers also discussed the reopening of Libya’s coastal road. “The meeting dealt with the evacuation of foreign forces and mercenaries, and the completion of the Geneva ceasefire agreement that were signed in October,” Al-Mahjoub noted.
“The UN mission praised the readiness of the LNA in implementing the ceasefire agreement. It also hailed the cooperation between the JMC parties and their keenness to implement the deal,” he concluded.
Last week, an advanced team of ten UN observers arrived in Tripoli to monitor a ceasefire between the country’s two rival parties. The unarmed team is tasked with verifying the departure of thousands of mercenaries and foreign fighters who have been deployed in the oil-rich North African country, and have so far shown no sign of leaving.