France’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that some 300 foreign mercenaries had left eastern Libya, hailing the start of a phased withdrawal of thousands of foreign forces that have fought on both sides of the conflict in Libya.
The move, initially announced in November by “Libya’s eastern-backed forces”, was intended to stimulate a UN-backed agreement struck between the warring sides in the conflict through the 5+5 Joint Military Commission.
“This first withdrawal has taken place, which constitutes a positive first signal after the Nov. 12 conference,” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said, referring to a Paris meeting that was aimed at breaking the deadlock in Libya.
She added that 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.
Legendre did not say when the mercenaries had left or where they were from. Diplomats have said the departing mercenaries were from neighboring Chad.
