Libya's foreign minister said on Wednesday international powers had made progress at talks in Berlin on the removal of foreign fighters from the country, although a final communique from the UN-backed conference specified no concrete new measures.
Wednesday's meeting in Berlin aimed to make progress on removing foreign fighters, mercenaries and other foreign forces from Libya, months after the ceasefire reached last October called for their withdrawal, as well as on steps towards securing a December election.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Berlin Wednesday and issued a joint statement, pledging to join hands to help Libya.
Libya has been wracked by conflict for nearly a decade, since the overthrow and killing of then head of state Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
It has since been dominated by armed groups and divided between two bitterly opposed administrations – the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based in capital Tripoli, and a rival administration Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
"Hopefully within coming days mercenaries (on) both sides will be withdrawn," Libya's Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush said without giving details.
Addressing the Berlin meeting, Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, who was appointed in March, called on his country's parliament to approve an election law to allow the December election to go ahead and to pass his government's budget.
The gradual withdrawal of mercenaries
The UN estimates that 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries are still in Libya – a presence seen as a threat to the UN-recognized transition leading to the December election.
The two sides' October ceasefire called for the withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries by January. However, they remained in place and both sides argue over which group should leave first.
A senior official at the U.S. State Department said Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Libya, had reached an initial understanding to work towards a target of pulling out 300 Syrian mercenaries from each side of the conflict.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also said he believed there was an understanding between Russia and Turkey on a step-by-step withdrawal of their fighters. "This will not mean that everybody will take their mercenaries back overnight," Mass said.
"Foreign forces must leave the country in a gradual and uniform manner so that there won't be a sudden military imbalance that could be used by one side for a sudden offensive," Mass was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.
(With input from agencies)
