PARIS : Some 300 foreign mercenaries have left eastern Libya, France's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, hailing the start of a phased withdrawal of thousands of foreign forces that have fought on both sides of the conflict in the North African country. "It must now be followed up with the implementation as quickly as possible of a complete process for the withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces." She did not say when the mercenaries had left or where they were from. A ceasefire agreed in 2020 in Geneva had already called for the removal of all foreign forces and mercenaries in January 2021 and that call was echoed during the Paris conference. Both sides in Libya's conflict have extensively deployed mercenaries according to U.N. experts, including from Chad, Sudan and Syria.

Source: Libya Today January 04, 2022 16:23 UTC