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Libyan National Army Dismisses Ceasefire Push by Rivals

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari. Reuters file photo
LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari. Reuters file photo
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Libyan National Army Dismisses Ceasefire Push by Rivals

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari. Reuters file photo
LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari. Reuters file photo

The Libyan National Army (LNA) dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli as a marketing stunt on Sunday, saying rival forces were mobilizing around front lines in the center of the country.

LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said the army was ready to respond to any attempted attack on its positions around the coastal city of Sirte, and Jufra, to the south.

Mismari's comments were the first by the LNA after the announcement on Friday of a ceasefire and a call for the resumption of oil production by GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj.

"The initiative that Sarraj signed is for media marketing," Mismari said during a briefing for journalists. "There is a military build-up and the transfer of equipment to target our forces in Sirte."

"If Sarraj wanted a ceasefire, he would have drawn his forces back, not advanced towards our units in Sirte."

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Lebanese President to Consult on New Prime Minister from Monday

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanese President to Consult on New Prime Minister from Monday

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)
Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun smiles as he walks into a meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, on January 10, 2025. (AFP)

Newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will hold consultations with members of parliament from Jan. 13 to nominate a prime minister, the presidency said on Friday.

Once named, the new prime minister must form a government, a process that often takes many months. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner, but opposition parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi may have the backing of a number of lawmakers, political sources said.

The post is reserved for a Sunni figure in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, which also reserves the presidency for a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament post for a Shiite.

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Aoun as president on Thursday, filling a post that has been vacant since October 2022 with a general who has US support and showing the weakened sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.

In his first remarks as president on Thursday, Aoun said that he would work to assert the state's right to hold the monopoly on arms.

Mikati said on Friday that the state would begin disarming in southern Lebanon, to assert its presence across the country.

Lebanon and Israel agreed in November to a 60-day ceasefire that stipulates that only "official military and security forces" in Lebanon are authorized to carry arms.

The proposal refers to both sides' commitment to fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, including provisions that refer to the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon".