Daily Times

Libya’s foreign minister said on Sunday that some foreign fighters have left the country as the unity government seeks to marshal international help to withdraw the many who remain.

“The reports are correct. There is a very modest start,” Najla Mangoush said at a news conference in Kuwait when asked whether some foreign fighters had been removed. “We are still seeking a larger and comprehensive organisation for the exit of mercenaries,” she said.

Libya’s warring sides, backed by regional powers, remain entrenched with allied foreign mercenaries along front lines in defiance of a ceasefire agreement.

Any more significant withdrawal of foreign mercenaries has appeared far off amid arguments over the role of regional forces allied to each side and stumbles in efforts to agree ground-rules for a national election.

There has been little peace or security in Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. The country split between warring eastern and western factions in 2014.

Eastern forces were backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt. The previous government in Tripoli, in the west, which was recognised by the United Nations, was supported by Turkey. The warring sides brought in mercenaries, including via Russia’s Wagner group, from Syria, Sudan and Chad among other countries, the United Nations has said.