Fighters of the UN-backed Libyan government move explosive remnants in an old military camp in southern Tripoli, Libya, Oct. 12, 2020. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

Rival Libyan military officers have agreed on a road map for implementing a cease-fire deal reached in October, UN acting envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams said Tuesday. 

The announcement came after a meeting of a joint military commission to discuss the implementation of the deal opened Monday on home soil for the first time.

The sides agreed to "establish a military subcommittee to oversee the withdrawal of military forces to their respective bases and the departure of foreign forces from the front lines," Williams said. 

The commission also decided to "meet in Sirte as soon as possible" and make the central coastal city its headquarters, Williams added.

Sirte has been on the front line of recent conflict since mid-June. 

The meeting follows a "permanent" cease-fire agreement signed by the warring factions in Switzerland in October, intended to pave the way toward a political solution to the country's grinding conflict.

Talks are taking place in the remote desert oasis of Ghadames, some 465 kilometers southwest of the capital Tripoli and near Libya's borders with both Algeria and Tunisia - far from the power bases of either side.

Williams said that a meeting on reunifying the Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) would be held on November 16 at the Brega terminal, while air links would be restored "immediately" with Ghadames and with Sebha in the south.

Libya's oil production, which is a vital source of income, has been repeatedly halted as various groups seized and blockaded key installations and export terminals.

The Guards, under the control of Libya's defense ministry before the country's 2011 revolution, have since morphed into armed groups with shifting allegiances.

AFP