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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 14 January 2020:
Khalifa Hafter, leader of the forces attacking the Libyan capital Tripoli, left Moscow today without signing the a long term peace deal proposed by Russia and Turkey.
This came after Faiez Serraj had signed the deal yesterday and left Moscow. Hafter had asked to be given time to consider the deal until today.
The proposed deal came after a ceasefire was agreed on Sunday to end Hafter’s Tripoli attack launched last April.
At the time of publication there has been no official comment on the situation by the Faiez Serraj-led Government, Khalifa Hafter or House of Representatives head Ageela Saleh.
A series of telephone calls to Tripoli by Libya Herald this morning confirmed that although there have been reports of some violations of the ceasefire heard on the outskirts of the capital, residents reported a continuation of Sunday’s relative calm.
Schools that had been closed have announced the resumption of study and Mitiga airport has reopened.
Meanwhile, in a statement today, UNSMIL has urged both sides to adhere to the ceasefire and give diplomacy a chance to succeed.
UNSMIL said ‘‘For the sake of the civilian population in Tripoli, the hundreds of thousands who fled their homes and the 116,000 children who are unable to go to their classes, UNSMIL urges the parties to continue to adhere to the announced ceasefire and to give the ongoing diplomatic efforts an opportunity to yield a more permanent cessation of hostilities and return to the political process’’.
During the weekend, Germany confirmed that the Berlin conference on Libya will be held on 19 January.
Mitiga airport reopened – first sign of Tripoli ceasefire holding
