Haftar Visits Rome, Parliament Discusses Implementation of the Skhirat Amendment

Then-General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, east of Benghazi May 21, 2014. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Then-General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, east of Benghazi May 21, 2014. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
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Haftar Visits Rome, Parliament Discusses Implementation of the Skhirat Amendment

Then-General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, east of Benghazi May 21, 2014. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Then-General Khalifa Haftar speaks during a news conference at a sports club in Abyar, east of Benghazi May 21, 2014. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

While the election file prevailed over the political scene in Libya on Tuesday, Italy considered that the Skhirat agreement, signed in Morocco under UN auspices two years ago, does not end by December 17, the deadline previously set by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander-in-chief of the Libyan National Army.

Haftar, who continued on Tuesday his second official visit to Rome, has agreed with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano that holding the elections was necessary and that next Sunday would mark the anniversary of the Skhirat agreement, not its expiry date, as reported by Italy’s AKI news agency.

The same agency quoted Alfano as saying that the election is a “train the destination of which has been determined, and the only question that remains on the table is the speed of this train,” referring to the date of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame has stated in his proposed roadmap that September would be the deadline for holding the elections. Alfano and Haftar also agreed to support the UN envoy’s efforts to reach a political solution to the Libyan crisis. Haftar arrived in Rome on Monday for his second visit to Italy this year.

On a different note, the head of the Libyan Parliament, Aguila Saleh, chaired an official session in the city of Tobruk, east of the country, to discuss the amendment of the constitutional declaration and take practical measures to implement the proposal approved by parliament last month on amending the Skhirat agreement.

Ahead of the meeting, Saleh met with the head of the Electoral Commission, Imad Sayeh, where the discussion focused on the upcoming electoral process in Libya.

Salameh on Tuesday said that he did not call for holding the elections, “but to start work on securing the conditions necessary for the elections.”

“This requires long months of work to secure the legislative, technical, political and security conditions,” he told representatives of the municipal council in Gharyan.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused European governments of being “knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants detained by Libyan immigration authorities in appalling conditions in Libya.”

In a report published on Tuesday, the organization said that hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants trapped in Libya were at the mercy of officials, militias, armed groups and smugglers “often working seamlessly together for financial gain.”



Syria’s Reconciliation Committee Prioritizes Stability after Anger Over Prisoner Releases

Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
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Syria’s Reconciliation Committee Prioritizes Stability after Anger Over Prisoner Releases

Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)

Syria’s High Committee for National Reconciliation has defended recent controversial prisoner releases, saying the decision aims to preserve national stability amid ongoing tensions.

Committee member Hassan Soufan confirmed that several officers recently freed had voluntarily surrendered in 2021 at the Iraqi border and in the Al-Sukhna region, under a formal request for safe conduct.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus on Tuesday, Soufan addressed public backlash following the releases and acknowledged the deep pain felt by victims’ families.

“We fully understand the anger and grief of the families of martyrs,” he said. “But the current phase requires decisions that can help secure relative stability for the coming period.”

The controversy erupted after the Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday the release of dozens of detainees in Latakia, many of whom were arrested during the “Deterrence of Aggression” operation, which contributed to the fall of the Assad regime.

Among those involved in the mediation effort was Fadi Saqr, a former commander in the regime’s National Defense Forces, who has been accused of war crimes, including involvement in the Tadamon massacre in southern Damascus.

Soufan explained that the released officers had undergone investigation and were found not to have participated in war crimes. “Keeping them imprisoned no longer serves a national interest,” he said. “It has no legal justification.”

He stressed that Syria is in a delicate phase of national reconciliation, in which balancing justice and peace is critical.

“There are two parallel tracks - transitional justice and civil peace - and today, the priority is civil peace, as it lays the groundwork for all other strategic efforts,” he said.

Soufan added that the committee has requested expanded powers from the Syrian president, including the authority to release detainees not proven guilty and to coordinate directly with state institutions.

He insisted that the aim is not to bypass justice, but to prevent further bloodshed. “Vengeance and retribution are not paths to justice,” he said. “They allow real criminals to slip away while deepening divisions.”

While affirming that transitional justice remains essential, Soufan noted that it should focus on top perpetrators of atrocities, not individuals who merely served under the regime. “Justice means accountability for those who planned and carried out major crimes, not blanket punishment.”