By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 28 May 2017:
A year and a half after it was signed in Doha, the Tebu and Tuareg communities have at last agreed to put into practice an agreement aimed as bringing peace to the south western town of Obari, scene of bitter fighting between the two in 2014 and 2015.
In the months following the November 2015 deal, various attempts to implement it failed in the face of fresh clashes.
Exhaustion, the current dire situation in Obari and the realisation that neither side could win appear to have finally brought both communities to accept the need to put the Doha deal into action.
Under it, neither community will have militias in the town.
In Obari yesterday, Tebu representatives described it as a “historic and blessed day”. It was significant that it fell on the first day of Ramadan, they added.
Hussein Al-Koni, the Tuareg Tribal Council president in Libya, noted the previously strong peaceful relationship between his people and the Tebu. Prior to the revolution, both had lived in peace for over 100 years, as both Tebu and Tuareg representatives pointed out.
The mayor of Obari, security and military figures and other tribal leaders were among those present and credited with bringing about the agreement.
UN envoy Martin Kobler was the first to praise the move, tweeting his welcome for “the historic Tebu-Tuareg reconciliation agreement in Awbari [Obari]. Hope this facilitates return to harmonious normal everyday life”.
