Libyan sides declare cease-fire, call for return to political process
Libya's Tobruk-based government reciprocated a call for a cease-fire by the UN-backed government in Tripoli, in a potential breakthrough for peace.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord called today for an immediate cease-fire in his side’s conflict with eastern Libya’s forces and a resumption of the fractured country’s political process.
The cease-fire call was reciprocated by Aguila Saleh Issa, speaker of eastern Libya’s parliament, in a move hailed by the United Nations.
Sarraj’s stand-down order reverses his government’s vow to press its counteroffensive against the coastal city of Sirte and airbase at Jufra, both held by eastern forces aligned with Gen. Khalifa Hifter.
“The final goal of the cease-fire is to restore complete sovereignty over Libya and expel foreign forces and mercenaries,” Sarraj said in a statement published online.
