A total of 78 prisoners of war, who had fought with the camp of the strong man of eastern Libya Caliph Haftar During his attack on the capital Tripoli, they were released yesterday, Wednesday night, according to an AFP team that was there.
The detainees were released following a ceremony held at Jeddah Prison in Tripoli on “reconciliation”, which was attended by many officials, including Justice Minister Halima Ibrahim Abderahman.
They were then able to meet their families, who were waiting for them there, according to an AFP team.
The 78 detainees were released on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which is celebrated as a family.
They were arrested during an attack by Caliph Haftar aimed at capturing the capital, which was repulsed.
The battles between the forces loyal to the former Government of National Accord (GNA, recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli) and those of General Khalifa Haftar began in April 2019 and ended in the summer of 2020.
A ceasefire has been in place since October, and a new government of national unity was formed in March, following a UN-sponsored process to unify institutions, pull the country out of an international conflict and complete the transition to presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 December.
Libya is trying to emerge from a decade of conflict following the fall in 2011 of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, a chaos marked by rival powers in western and eastern Libya in recent years.
In December 2020 and January 2021, rival camps exchanged several dozen detainees under the ceasefire agreement. This exchange was facilitated by a joint military committee consisting of five members from each side.
By the end of March, 120 Haftar detainees had been released near Tripoli as part of a political settlement.
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