UN announces mechanism for withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya- What is it? What are the obstacles?

The United Nations envoy to Libya revealed after a meeting in Egypt, yesterday, that the (5+5) Libyan military committee adopted a coordination mechanism for the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country in cooperation with Sudan and Niger, neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Turkey, which is considered the most prominent element in the file of mercenaries in Libya, did not engage in any talks.

Abdoulay Bathily, the UN envoy to Libya, announced after a meeting of the committee in Egypt that the procedural step would allow for joint co-ordination and data exchange to facilitate the complete withdrawal of foreign mercenaries and fighters from Libya, Reuters reported.

However, significant political obstacles remain in taking further concrete steps to withdraw the hundreds of foreign fighters believed to be in Libya after they joined various parties to the conflict.

Although direct confrontations have subsided in Libya over the past three years, political confrontations over control of the government and access to state resources continue, and many Libyans have fears that the conflict could re-ignite.

According to reports from UN experts, major factions in the east and west of the country that engaged in fighting from 2014 to 2020 have deployed fighters from African countries, some of them with Turkey, to deploy troops from Syria.

According to the terms of the 2020 ceasefire agreement that led to the formation of the 5+5 committee, all foreign forces were supposed to withdraw within months but very few are believed to have left so far.

The mercenary forces found their way to Libya after an agreement signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with former Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in late 2019.

After that agreement, mercenaries, mainly from Syrian factions, started pouring into Libya, mainly to the west and south of the country controlled by militias and extremist groups.