The 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) announced the results of its last meeting in Cairo, with representatives of Sudan, Chad and Niger, regarding coordination to remove mercenaries and foreign fighters from the country.
The consultative meeting with neighboring countries stressed the need to start establishing permanent and effective channels of communication to find common ground, enabling these countries to cooperate to begin practical steps on the ground to withdraw mercenaries and foreign fighters.
The JMC indicated that the representatives of the countries of Sudan, Niger and Chad confirmed their readiness for coordination and cooperation that would ensure the exit of fighters who belong to their countries from Libya.
The meeting, which was held in the presence of the UN Special Envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis, discussed scheduling the withdrawal of these countries’ mercenaries from Libyan territory. The mercenaries’ number, according to some sources, is estimated at 23,000 fighters – all coming from Libya’s southern neighbors.
The sources added that the agendas of the JMC, during the meeting; focused on rejecting any proposals calling for the integration of foreign elements into state institutions in the context of rebuilding the military institution, in addition to trying to identify and limit the parties that obstruct deportations or funding; in preparation for the call for the imposition of international sanctions on them, and to ensure the deportation of the largest group of African mercenaries first, then other nationalities, according to a fixed schedule.
It is noteworthy that the neighboring countries of Libya called for a safe and orderly exit of mercenaries stationed in Libya, as the countries of Sudan and Chad refused to receive fighters of their nationalities before disarming them, which is rejected by the armed formations, the majority of which belong to factions opposed to the governments of those countries.
