Libya’s Rivals Swap Prisoners

Arab World

December 26th, 11:24am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Photo of released prisoners posted by GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha on his Twitter account

Libya’s rivals kicked off a UN-brokered prisoner exchange, which was part of a ceasefire agreement they inked over two months ago in Geneva. The exchange of a first batch of prisoners, supervised by a joint military committee, took place Friday in the southwestern village of al-Shwayrif, according to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The Libyan National Army and the Government of National Accord signed a nationwide, UN-brokered cease-fire deal in October that included an exchange of all war prisoners. UNSMIL announced the prisoner exchange without giving details on how many prisoners were freed for each side. It called for both sides to speed up the implementation of the ceasefire deal, including the exchange of all prisoners. Fathi Bashagha, GNA’s Interior Minister, hailed the exchange in a tweet, attaching photos of released prisoners. The Tripoli Protection Unit, a militia allied with the GNA, also posted a 31-second video apparently showing the prisoner exchange, with an official reading the names of those released.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2704636/libya%E2%80%99s-rivals-swap-prisoners