Panafrican News Agency

Libyan newspapers highlight continued wrangling in govt and parliament, plan for departure of mercenaries

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Newspapers last week focused on cracks within the Government of National Unity (GNU) following a statement issued by the first deputy prime minister, Hussein Al-Qatrani, ministers, deputy ministers and mayors of the eastern region (Cyrenaica) in which they criticised the prime minister's handling of the state of affairs.

They denounced the failure of the prime minister to respect the political agreement, especially the distribution of the country's potential, as well as the continuing differences with parliament.

The Libyan press also focused on the signing by the 5+5 Joint Military Commission of an Action Plan for the departure of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces.

Under the headline "Parliamentary and governmental quarrels threaten the electoral process", Al-Wassat newspaper wrote that as if the animosity with Parliament was not enough, a quarrel has broken out within the government, after parliament passed a vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba.

The chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, says that he is committed to resolving "all the problems" contained in the statement.

He has discussed with Mr. Al-Dbaiba the "reasons and repercussions" of the statement and pledged to work with all parties to maintain the progress of the political process.

Al-Wassat newspaper said that some voices from the West, East and South have warned against the consequences of using the name of Cyrenaica for the aggravation of Libya's problems.

They said "there are big conspiracies being hatched against the unity of Libya.

Meanwhile, the newspaper added, international pressure is mounting on the government over the issue of mass graves, as there is a need to speed up the disclosure of the fate of the missing and legal action against the perpetrators while the UN Fact Finding Mission has refrained from revealing the names of those involved in these crimes.

The newspaper said that what has increased international pressure on the government, is the raid by security forces in Tripoli at migrant centres and group them in shelters that do not satisfy humanitarian organisations.

Focusing on the departure of mercenaries, the Afrigatenews newspaper, reported that the issue of clearing Libya of foreign forces and mercenaries has entered a decisive phase.

It cited well-informed sources as saying that the agreement has four basic steps.

According to the newspaper, each of the two parties to the conflict will gather the foreign fighters with whom they are cooperating at two assembly points to confirm good faith.

The Arabic-language electronic newspaper added that after this, foreign observers will be called to work in cooperation with local colleagues to supervise the gradual, balanced and simultaneous evacuation of the fighters.

The third step is to monitor and count the actual number of foreign fighters and document them scientifically and not leave the matter to chance.

The fourth step is the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries via border posts to be agreed.

It is expected, according to the newspaper, that the evacuation process will take place within three months, provided that it includes all foreign fighters without exception, including Turkish experts.

Al-Wassat returned to the issue of illegal immigrants detained in Libya, after the mass escape of about 2,000 migrants who were detained in the reception centre in the Ghout Al-Chaal district of Tripoli, two days after the escape of 500 migrants from the centre in Gharyan, 80 km southwest of Tripoli.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called, according to the newspaper, on the Libyan authorities to release all the migrants and "put an end to their evacuation".

For its part, the GNU has said it is grappling with a "complex issue" due to the human tragedy, in addition to its social, political and legal consequences at the local and international levels.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/MA 17Oct2021