Oil money could be split between banks in different regions, opening way for ceasefire

Forces loyal to the Libyan warlord Gen Khalifa Haftar may be willing to end their blockade of the country’s oilfields, opening the way for a ceasefire, as a result of talks between the UN, US, France and Egypt.

Under a deal under discussion for the past two weeks, the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) – one of the few institutions that has avoided a split between the country’s east and west – would restart production and exports, but the oil revenue would not be sent immediately to the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya, which Haftar’s eastern faction has accused of failing to hand over its fair share.

Loss of al-Watiya airbase south of Tripoli deals major blow to renegade general Khalifa Haftar

Forces allied with Libya’s UN-supported government have wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of the country’s capital from Khalifa Haftar, dealing a significant blow to the renegade general’s military and its morale.

Pro- and anti-Haftar media reported that his eastern-based forces had withdrawn from al-Watiya airbase 90 miles south of Tripoli. Footage posted on social media appeared to show Government of National Accord (GNA) forces driving down runways at the base unhindered.

Khalifa Haftar’s forces have suffered series of military reverses amid surge in violence in war-torn country

A surge in violence in Libya, including indiscriminate shelling of clearly marked hospitals, has ended with a promise by the renegade general Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of the country, to honour a ceasefire for the holy month of Ramadan.

His Libyan National Army (LNA) has suffered a series of military reverses and the ceasefire offer came in the week he had declared a popular mandate to take control of the country, saying all existing political institutions were a thing of the past.