Libya: Tripoli-based PM and Presidential Council chief meet to discuss unification of military

The head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, and Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, discussed the unification of the country’s military establishment during a meeting held with several security officials in Tripoli yesterday, according to an official statement issued by the Presidential Council.

Menfi is also the commander in chief of the armed forces and Dbeibeh serves as defence minister by virtue of his position as prime minister.

Security officials who attended the meeting included army chiefs, members of the joint military committee, commanders of military areas, as well as officials from the counter-terror apparatus, the Presidential Guard, the intelligence, the military police and the operations unit.

During the meeting, the Libyan officials discussed the latest military developments, the work of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee, and steps taken to unify the military establishment apart from political divisions.

READ: Libya is a game of guns and militias with no end in sight

They also discussed the continuation of the ceasefire, which was signed in Geneva in October 2020 as a result of a Turkish-Russian initiative.

The meeting comes amid the country’s continued political crisis resulting from the existence of two rival governments: one headed by Fathi Bashagha, which was appointed last May by the same House of Representatives that backs the eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar. And another, headed by Tripoli-based Dbeibeh who refuses to step down except to an elected parliament.