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11/22/2024 05:20:51 am

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Libya Calls For UN–Supervised Ceasefire

Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq

(Photo : REUTERS/ISMAIL ZITOUNY)

The newly-elected Libyan Parliament said it would act upon the warring militias who refuse to abide the call for immediate ceasefire, which is supervised by the United Nations.

The parliament announced the ceasefire on Wednesday after its members met with the city of Tobruk, Tripoli and Benghazi, the nation's second largest city.

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According to the statement, the parliament calls upon all warring parties -- with no expectation -- to acknowledge an immediate ceasefire to end civilian attacks.

The announcement was made after neighboring nations like Algeria, Egypt and the United States expressed "deep concern" on the extreme violence in the country.

The governing body said the immediate ceasefire is one of first actions it will take before foreign intervention arrives.

A number of lawmakers and politicians supported the idea of international interference. They said that only the intervention can help them end the fighting.

However, several Libyans believe that foreign help would just spark more tension on their civil war. They said they fear to see a repeat of the NATO intervention that happened in 2011, when many civilians died because of the backlash between Gadhafi's forces and U.S. brigades.

The parliament also made ramifications on Thursday on a previous government declaration to give itself more power and authority that is believed to help overrule the militias.

However, the call for ceasefire could just fall on deaf ears like the other appeals made by the interim government during the past few months.

Meanwhile, the instability and violence in Libya, forced embassies, U.N. employees, foreign nationals and other Libyans to flee the country.

According to Egypt's state news agency, more than 11,000 Egyptians have left Libya since Wednesday and have travelled to the Saloum border to cross to Egypt. 

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