Libya is debating a fresh cease-fire with both overlapping and conflicting terms by the warring parties, very much in the style of the blind men describing an elephant. In any case, the current equilibrium — the result of Turkey’s military intervention in favor of the Tripoli forces and the ensuing “red line” that Egypt and Russia set at Sirte and al-Jufra — is dictating a return to the negotiating table.
On Aug. 21, both Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, and Aguila Saleh, the leader of the rival House of Representatives in eastern Libya, called for a cease-fire following a flurry of diplomacy marked by German and American efforts.