The US Special Envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, said that Libya made progress over the past months on several fronts, pointing out that the violence that erupted in the capital, Tripoli, could hinder this progress.
In an intervention with Al-Jazeera TV channel from Tunisia on Tuesday, Norland talked about the release of the commander of 444 Brigade, Mahmoud Hamza, and the ceasefire, based on negotiations that took place between military leaders and government officials, and added that the US was monitoring the course of events on the ground to make sure the fighting would stop.
Norland called on all warring parties to stop destabilizing, noting that Libya made great progress in the past months toward unifying the country and holding elections, and it is in no one's interest to impede this progress, and stressing that the US intended to continue to support Libyan leaders to engage in dialogue to unify the country and hold elections.
He also spoke about the progress of the (5+5) committee to achieve a unified military structure to control Libya's southern borders with Sudan and other neighboring countries, as well as progress in terms of efforts to achieve transparent control over oil revenues by establishing a higher financial committee.
Norland has indicated that the return to fighting is always a matter of concern, but stressed that "it is now important to contain the violence immediately and considered that there are legitimate demands for different parties, but they can be resolved through dialogue."
Clashes erupted in southeastern Tripoli after the Special Deterrence Force (SDF) had detained the commander of the 444 Brigade, Mahmoud Hamza, at Mitiga airport when he was on his way to the city of Misrata on Monday evening, and then the elders of Al-Souq Al-Jumua announced on Tuesday evening that Hamza would be handed over to a neutral party, and begin a ceasefire, after which the damages would be compensated based on an agreement with the Government of National Unity.
