Egypt announces initiative to end war in Libya

CAIRO

:

Egypt

's president on Saturday announced an

initiative

to end the

civil war

in neighboring Libya, a move accepted by the commander of the eastern Libyan forces that had suffered heavy defeats in recent weeks.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi declared the initiative at a ceremony in Cairo attended by military commander

Khalifa Hifter

and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based

House of Representatives

.

El-Sissi said the initiative, which included a cease-fire starting Monday, was meant to pave the way for elections in oil-rich Libya. He called for the withdrawal of all foreign fighters in Libya.

There was no immediate comment from the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli.

Hifter's east-based Libyan Arab Armed Forces had launched an offensive last year to capture Tripoli. But he recently lost several strategic spots in western Libya after Turkey increased its support to an array of militias loosely allied with the Tripoli-based government.

Hifter's forces are supported by France, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries. Along with Turkey, the government in Tripoli is backed by Italy and Qatar.

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.