A UN-sponsored ceasefire in Libya has once again collapsed after clashes erupted between militias in the capital Tripoli, when unknown gunmen killed an armed militia leader, Khairi al-Kikli, dubbed Hankoura, while other gunmen cut off the city's drinking water supply line.
Security sources and eyewitnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that on Tuesday morning, gunmen assassinated Hankoura, one of the leaders of the so-called Tripoli Brigade, in front of a hotel in the center of Tripoli.
According to observers of the security situation in the country, these developments mean the collapse of the ceasefire sponsored by the United Nations.
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, asserted that “the presidential and parliamentary elections (in Libya) should take place as soon as possible, but with the right security and political framework.”
She explained that the political framework is the legal framework that makes it clear for what the Libyans are going to vote.
Speaking at a press conference after the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, AKI news agency quoted the EU official as saying that EU’s presence in Libya had intensified in the past weeks, putting this support at the disposal of the Libyan people and the UN.
“The message that comes out of the foreign ministers’ meeting on Libya is a message of unity and of determination to work even more to support a Libyan-found solution to the situation in the country under UN auspices,” she added.
On Tuesday, Libyan Foreign Ministry was suddenly evacuated for security reasons according to security sources. However, local residents and eyewitnesses recounted to Asharq Al-Awsat a massive and sudden deployment of militants in the area.
In spite of the three rockets in the vicinity of the international airport in Tripoli, flights continued at the only civil airport operating in the city.
Meanwhile, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Ghassan Salame and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) Stephanie Williams met with newly-appointed Minister of Interior Fathi Bashagha in Tripoli to hear about his plans for the Ministry and discuss next steps for the capital's new security arrangements.
Salame and Williams returned from a two-day trip to Egypt where they met with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Sec-Gen of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and Speaker Aguila Saleh and discussed the latest political developments in Libya.
In other news, a group of armed men cut off drinking water from the capital of Tripoli and the city's municipality announced that the water of the artificial river was cut off late Tuesday evening after the group in Tarhona forced the operators at the headquarters to stop pumping water, in protest against the power outages at the cement plant in Thursday Market and the plant in Ben Ghashir Palace.
The House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk called for questioning those responsible for the deterioration of the security situation in the south.
