This came on the lips of representatives of the Union at the meeting of the Libyan Joint Military Committee “5 + 5”, which met in Tunisia on Tuesday and Wednesday in order to discuss the file of the withdrawal of mercenaries, in the presence of representatives of the neighboring countries of Libya “Sudan, Chad and Niger”, under the direction of the United Nations Mission for support in Libya.
The Military Committee said in a statement that the Tunis meeting came as a continuation of the outcomes of the Cairo meeting, which was held in early November, in the presence of international parties, and discussed a mechanism for communication and coordination in the file of removing mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory.
The committee added that a positive atmosphere prevailed in the meeting, in terms of proposals, words and themes of discussion, and the attendees stressed the need to complete building permanent and effective channels of communication on this subject, and thanked the African Union and the United Nations mission.
The strategic expert, Muhammad Al-Rajbani, praised the new strides made by the “5 + 5” committee towards achieving its most prominent mission, which is “the removal of mercenaries, foreign forces and foreign fighters with all their names”, especially with the approach of the presidential elections on December 24, where practical steps are required to be taken. The land contributes to securing the voting process.
The presence of the countries of Sudan, Chad and Niger is also linked to the file of securing the south of Libya, which is of great strategic importance. Al-Rajbani warned of the suffering of the south from the spread of terrorist elements and criminal formations and the phenomenon of illegal immigration in the vast and rugged areas there, which prompted the army to launch a large-scale military operation months ago to achieve Security control, and “these understandings will contribute to imposing more control and security on this vast area.”
As for the mercenaries active in the south, political researcher Mohamed Qashchot explains that they are elements of the Chadian opposition, who have taken the Libyan south as a place to hide and launch attacks inside Chad during the last 10 years.
He pointed out that these people were involved in the conflict inside Libya, and the “Third Force” militias used them in Misurata during confrontations in the past years, then the militia leader Osama al-Juwaili used them to fight the Libyan National Army during the battles in the cities of the West Coast in 2020.
Qashut added that the Libyan army forces have dealt with these militants in the south, since the start of their operations in 2017 until now, by pushing them to leave the country, so that they do not pose a security threat to it, and the last period witnessed confrontations with them in which the army was able to destroy their sites.
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