Fighting Resumes In Tripoli As Strongman Haftar Leaves Moscow Without Inking Libya Ceasefire Deal

Armed clashes resumed early Tuesday in the south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, as the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar left Moscow without signing a ceasefire agreement, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported.

In talks that lasted about eight hours, mediators Russia and Turkey urged the rivals to sign a binding truce and pave the way for a settlement that would stabilize the North African country mired in chaos since the NATO-led operation that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Fayez al-Serraj, who heads Libya’s Tripoli-based internationally recognized government which is battling to fend off an offensive by the Haftar’s eastern based Libya National Army (LNA) faction, signed the ceasefire agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Libya has two parallel bodies of executive power: the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by al-Sarraj, and Abdullah Abdurrahman al-Thani’s interim government, operating in