Libyan cities ink reconciliation pact after 7-year feud

By Mohamed Fahd

DOHA, Qatar (AA) – The Libyan cities of Misurata and Tawergha have signed a peace treaty, ending a seven-year feud.

On Sunday evening, officials from the two cities signed the agreement, which calls for the repatriation of Tawergha residents forcibly expelled from the city in 2011.

After a bloody NATO-backed uprising ended in the ouster and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, thousands of Tawergha residents were forcibly expelled from the city for alleged pro-Gaddafi sympathies.

For the last seven years, those displaced residents of Tawergha (which is located roughly 35 kilometers east of Misurata) have remained in displacement camps.

During this time, civilian and military representatives from Misurata -- which had staunchly opposed the Gaddafi regime during the uprising -- opposed their return to Tawergha.

There are no official statistics regarding the number of displaced Tawergha residents, but unofficial sources put them at roughly 40,000.

On Monday, Qatar welcomed the reconciliation agreement between the two cities.

"Qatar hopes this will be a first step towards reestablishing order and stability between the people of the two cities and reestablishing the [rule of] law and restoring trust in existing institutions…,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.