Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Paris Conference Seeks Political Roadmap for Lawless Libya

Paris Conference Seeks Political  Roadmap for Lawless Libya

PARIS — A top adviser to the head of Libya’s U.N.-recognized government based in Tripoli has tweeted that the country’s rival leaders reached consensus on Tuesday at a Paris meeting to hold both parliamentary and presidential elections in battered Libya on Dec. 10. Taher El-Sonni, a senior political adviser to Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, tweeted about the agreed-on date ahead of the closing of the brief international conference in Paris.
Final decisions agreed to by four leading Libyan officials who symbolize the divisions in the North African country will be announced at the close of the conference, attended by representatives of some 20 countries and the U.N. special envoy for Libya.
El-Sonni said in his tweets in Arabic and English that the two sides would finalize a “constitutional base” by Sept. 16.
The rivals had come together for the Paris meeting to try and forge a political roadmap that would help restore order in the country, where lawlessness has fed Islamic militants, human trafficking and instability in the wider region. Moving toward parliamentary and presidential election, if possible by the end of 2018, was also a key goal.
Earlier Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Libyan leaders have agreed in principle to a non-binding accord.
“There will be a collective commitment to this scenario for coming out of the crisis,” an official at the French presidency said Monday. “The very important issue is about simplifying the Libyan institutions” because they are “extremely complex.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose details publicly ahead of the conference.
Libya is split between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias. (AP)