Benghazi - Fatima Al Saadawy
Libyan Red Crescent discovered a new mass grave in Ganfouda district of the Libyan city of Benghazi, as the Libyan authorities found over 42 bodies inside it
Red Crescent department of Benghazi announced lifting several bodies that were found inside a farm belonging to one of ISIS leaders. The bodies has been counted, registered and transferred to Benghazi Medical Center, the DNA of corps will be tested and identified officially, supposedly the bodies belongs to Police or Army forces.
According to Benghazi’s Mayor Abdel Rahman Al Abar, the Libyan authorities found dozens of mass graves in the Libyan city, which included hundreds of bodies Libyan soldiers and terrorists. He stressed that they found mass graves in the different areas liberated from the grip of extremists.
On the political side, UN envoy Martin Kobler was today again in Tripoli for his latest round of talks with Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj and State Council (SC)President Abdulrahman Sewehlim again focusing on the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).
He described his meeting with Sewehli as “great” and said they looked at the next steps towards political talks.For his part, Sewehli said their discussions were “frank” and looked at “getting on with LPA amendments via LPA mechanisms to achieve stability and security in Libya.”
Under the LPA’s provisions, amendments to the LPA have to be proposed by the House of Representatives and the SC acting in consensus. In effect, this means delegates from both working together and coming up with suggested changes which are then voted on by both bodies.
Little was revealed about Kobler’s talks with Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj, although the UN envoy did mention that there is strong international support for the political process. Kobler has increased the frequency of talks with key leaders in Tripoli since he revealed that UNSMIL had moved full-time to Tripoli.
In the same context, In Tunis talks with foreign minister Khemaies Jhinaoui today Kobler said decisive decisions had to be taken to bring about change, adding there needed to be limited revision to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) for this to happen.
It was critical that the Libyan Dialogue between Libya’s factions restarted as soon as possible.
Though Italy has been praised for bringing together State Council head Abdulrahman Sewehli and House of Representatives president Ageela Saleh, Tunisia was reportedly also working behind the scenes to set up the Rome meeting.
Kobler’s talks with the Tunisian foreign minister follow last Friday’s Tunis visit by Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj and his foreign minister Mohamed Siala.
Jhinaoui said Khalifa Hafter “must be involved in any political solution in Libya, given his important role in the Libyan scene as Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army.”
Tunisia’s continuing drive to end the Libyan crisis stems from February’s ‘Tunis Declaration’ signed by the Egyptian, Algerian and Tunisian foreign ministers cast as a fresh initiative to bring about reconciliation.