Algeria Seeks Sending African Military Troops to Enforce Libya Ceasefire

Diplomatic sources in Algeria revealed that authorities have been urging members of the African Union AU to send forces to Libya to enforce a ceasefire.

The aim of the endeavor is to limit Turkey’s direct interference in the Libyan issue, both politically and militarily.

Sources accredited both Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum for working extensively on the issue, especially during the AU High Level Committee on Libya meetings, which were held in capital of the Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville.

African countries, in principal, voiced their agreement to the proposal.

Sources explained that the next step for Algerian diplomacy would be to lay out the proposal to conflict parties in Libya, but suggested that Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army, would reject it because of his lukewarm relationship with Algeria.

Haftar considers Algeria a "biased regional power" which backs his rival in Libya, prime minister of the Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources confirmed that Algeria is working on two prominent goals in Libya: ending the interference of foreign countries in the region, and accelerating a comprehensive political solution to the crisis.

To achieve the two goals, Algeria believes that the dispatch of an African military force under the cover of the United Nations is the best mechanism to stop the escalation of military action in Libya.

More so, Algeria had offered to host a reconciliation forum on Libya during a meeting of African leaders discussing ways to end the long drawn-out conflict.

An AU statement said it “has taken note of the Algerian offer to host a forum of national reconciliation” and underscored the pressing need for “an inclusive dialogue uniting all the Libyan parties… to find a Libyan solution to the crisis.”