TRIPOLI: A ceasefire has been reached between armed factions fighting over the Libyan capital for more than a week, the United Nations said on Tuesday, but it was unclear how it would be implemented.

Dozens of people have been killed in fighting engulfing Tripoli as rival armed groups vie for power and money in the chaos persisting in the oil producer since the toppling of Muammar Qadhafi in 2011.

“A ceasefire agreement was reached + signed today to end all hostilities, protect civilians, safeguard public and private property,” the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on Twitter.

The Tripoli Matiga airport — closed since Friday — would also be reopened under the deal, the United Nations said, showing pictures of the meeting hosted by UN Special Envoy Ghassan Salame but giving no immediate details.

It was not clear how the ceasefire would be implemented as militias have ignored previous calls to lay down arms by the UN-backed government which is largely powerless.

There is no police or army or functioning state to enforce peace in a country ruled by armed groups who defy authority and form flexible alliances.

“Today does not aim to fix all the Libyan capital’s security problems; it seeks to agree on a broader framework on the way to start addressing the issues,” UNSMIL quoted Salame as saying.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2018