Mercenaries back in Sirte: Libyan army

By Gulsen Topcu

TRIPOLI (AA) - Mercenaries who withdrew outside of Sirte for a vote of confidence of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s government are back in the city, a Libyan official said on Saturday.

Abdulhadi Dirah, spokesman for the Sirte and Jufra Operation Department, told Anadolu Agency that the Wagner security company and Sudanese Janjaweed militia were taken 4 miles (6 kilometers) outside the city.

However, 12 buses carrying militia forces returned to the al-Ghardabiya base in Sirte and were deployed to the headquarters of Al Calid.

Dirah said that return of mercenaries meant a violation of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission agreement.

On Oct. 23, the UN announced a permanent cease-fire agreement between Libya’s warring rivals during a meeting of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission in Geneva.

The commission is made up of five senior military officers chose by the government and five chosen by warlord Khalifa Haftar.

Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas