Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt Call for Ceasefire in Libya

Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt have called for an immediate cease-fire in Libya, the foreign ministers of the countries said in a joint statement following a meeting on Wednesday in Tunis. The three countries neighbor war-torn Libya and denounced “the continuous flow of weapons” and the “influx of foreign terrorist fighters” in the North African country.  Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all countries to implement an arms embargo on Libya, saying illegal weapons transfers were fueling the fighting in the oil-rich state. Since the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been split between an internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj based in Tripoli, and forces loyal to a renegade general, Khalifa Haftar, who has made the eastern city of Benghazi his base. Haftar, who was one of the army officers who installed Gaddafi as dictator 50 years ago and helped topple him, launched an offensive in April, aiming for a total takeover. Haftar and his troops, called the Libyan National Army, have yet to capture Tripoli although forces remain deployed around the capital.