Libyen

Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s march on Tripoli has ground to a halt in a war of attrition with the internationally recognised government’s forces on the city’s outskirts. The parties should conclude a ceasefire including Haftar’s partial withdrawal as a prelude to renewed UN peace talks.

Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar told French President Emmanuel Macron that conditions for a cease-fire were not in place, although he would be ready to talk if those conditions were met, a French presidency official said. Macron and French officials have for several weeks called for an unconditional cease-fire in the battle for Tripoli after Haftar last month launched an offensive on the Libyan capital.

The damage done to Libya will already take “years to mend” but unless fighting around the capital Tripoli stops, the country risks “descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country”.

All warring groups in Libya must commit to a ceasefire and return to U.N.-led mediation, the European Union said on Monday, calling the situation a threat to international security.

The United Nations Security Council called on all parties to the Libya conflict on Friday to commit to a ceasefire and return to UN-led mediation, said Indonesian UN Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, president of the 15-member body for May.

United Nations sanctions monitors are investigating the likely use of an armed drone by eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, or a supporting "third party", in an attack last month on troops affiliated with Libya's internationally recognised government, according to a confidential report to the UN Security Council.

The U.N. health agency says 443 people have died and 2,110 have been wounded in violence in Libya's capital since the head of the self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive against Tripoli last month.

France on Wednesday called for an unconditional ceasefire in the Libya conflict under international supervision after a meeting between President Emmanuel Macron and U.N.-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar shot down a Tripoli government warplane purportedly flown by a foreign mercenary south of the Libyan capital on Tuesday, the Libyan National Army (LNA) said. … The escalation is a setback for efforts by the United Nations and Western states to end the chaos and political division in Libya … .

Since fighting broke out on the edge of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, earlier this month, over 42,000 people have been displaced and thousands are believed trapped in the city’s southern outskirts. As UN humanitarian teams work around the clock to provide life-saving assistance, human rights chief Michelle Bachelet stressed on Tuesday the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, and humanitarian corridor for civilians.