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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud

LNA, Presidential Council, UN Discuss Efforts to Unify Libyan Army

UN envoy Jan Kubis (L), LNA chief Haftar (C) and Vice President of the Presidential Council, al-Kouni meet on Saturday.

Vice President of the Presidential Council, Moussa al-Kouni held talks with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar on efforts to unify the military in eastern and western Libya.

The meeting on Sunday night was attended by head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Jan Kubis.

Al-Kouni said the meeting followed up on previous discussions on the unification of state institutions and the army.

Haftar’s office issued a brief statement confirming that the meeting was held at the General Command’s headquarters in al-Rajma near the eastern city of Benghazi. It did not provide further details.

On Sunday, al-Kouni and head of the Presidential Council, Mohammed al-Menfi, toured the eastern city of Tobruk without their security guards.

Menfi had kicked off on Saturday a visit to Derna city, the first by a high-ranking official since the February 17 revolution.

He met with senor officials, elders and civilian and military leaderships to discuss several pending issues, such as the return of the displaced and national reconciliation.

In a statement, he vowed to support the city in all fields, in coordination with the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Kubis met on Sunday with Menfi in Tobruk. They discussed ways to expedite the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in full, without any further delay with the opening of the coastal road as a necessary confidence-building step, said a UN statement.

They discussed needed steps at national and international levels to start the withdrawal process of mercenaries and foreign fighters and forces from the entirety of Libya without any delay as requested by the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, GNU chief Abdulhamid Dbeibeh held a meeting that included the finance minister and Tripoli officials to address efforts to improve the power supply to the capital.

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