Merkel urges UN-backed Libyan PM Sarraj to sign ceasefire

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj on Thursday, urging him to move quickly towards signing a ceasefire agreement, a German government spokesman said.

The phone call came days after Khalifa Haftar, military commander of the opposing side in Libya’s civil conflict, visited Merkel in Berlin for talks.

Merkel and Sarraj “discussed the current political and military situation,” according to the statement. “The chancellor stressed, as she did on Tuesday in her conversation with General Haftar, the importance of signing the ceasefire that was recently agreed in Geneva by representatives of the conflict parties,” the spokesman added.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army and forces aligned with the internationally recognized Government of National Accord in Tripoli have been fighting for control of the capital since last April.