AU calls for permanent ceasefire

The African Union has called for a permanent ceasefire in Libya on Saturday after deadly clashes in the capital earlier this month and demonstrations demanding the Prime Minister's resignation, reports the New Arab. The latest fighting in the conflict-hit North African country pitted an armed group aligned with the Tripoli-based government against factions it has sought to dismantle, resulting in at least eight dead, according to the UN. Despite a lack of a formal ceasefire, the clashes mostly ended last week, with the Libya Defence Ministry saying this week that efforts towards a truce were ‘ongoing’. On Saturday, the AU's Peace and Security Council condemned the recent violence, calling for an ‘unconditional and permanent ceasefire’. In a statement on X, the council urged ‘inclusive, Libyan-led reconciliation’, adding that it ‘appeals for no external interference’. Libya is split between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east. The country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 Nato-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. The clashes were sparked by the killing of an armed faction leader by a group aligned with Dbeibah's government – the 444 Brigade, which later fought a third group, the Radaa force that controls parts of eastern Tripoli and the city's airport. It came after Dbeibah announced a string of executive orders seeking to dismantle Radaa and dissolve other Tripoli-based armed groups but excluding the 444 Brigade.

Full report on the New Arab site