TLTP
\nTUNIS
\nRival Libyan factions met Monday for UN-led talks aimed at bringing a lasting peace to their war-torn North African country and preparing for elections.
\nThe meeting in neighbouring Tunisia follows months of relative calm and a key ceasefire deal in October between the two major camps in the long-running conflict.
\n\u201cYou have the opportunity to end a tragic conflict,\u201d UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told delegates in a video message at the opening ceremony. \u201cNow it\u2019s your turn to shape the future of your country.\u201d
\nThis week\u2019s talks in Gammarth, near the Tunisian capital Tunis, aim to unify the country under a single executive and pave the way for national elections.
\nThe UNSMIL-led dialogue follows months of relative calm in Libya, which tumbled into chaos following the toppling of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
\nLast month the two main sides in the complex conflict signed a landmark ceasefire agreement, opening the way to a resumption of economically vital oil production and progress on efforts to end years of political deadlock.
\n\u201cThis is a unique opportunity,\u201d UN acting envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams told journalists in Tunis. \u201cThere has been significant progress on the ground.\u201d
\nThe latest political talks, part of a multi-track process also involving military and economic negotiations, aim to unify the country under a single executive and pave the way for national elections.
\n\u201cElections need to be the ultimate objective here,\u201d Williams added, calling for \u201ca clear road map\u201d towards holding polls as soon as possible.
\nLibya has been dominated by armed groups and divided between two bitterly opposed administrations: the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, backed by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.
\nHaftar, backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive on Tripoli in April 2019 but was beaten back in June by the GNA with military support from Turkey in an operation that pushed Haftar\u2019s troops back to the central coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi\u2019s birthplace.
\nThe fighting left hundreds dead and displaced tens of thousands of people. The warring factions returned to the negotiating table in September in UN-supported talks held in Morocco, Egypt and Switzerland.
\nPeter Millett, a former British ambassador to Libya, warned on the first day of talks that \u201cif potential spoilers like Haftar and the militias don\u2019t see themselves benefitting, hostilities could break out again\u201d.
\n\u201cThe most important thing is a timeline for elections,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIt needs to be short, maximum nine months, with key milestones for implementing and a clear message from the international community that they will impose sanctions on anyone who obstructs it.\u201d
\nGuterres urged world powers to support peace efforts and to respect a long-standing UN arms embargo, words echoed by the host of the talks, Tunisian President Kais Saied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP TUNIS Rival Libyan factions met Monday for UN-led talks aimed at bringing a lasting peace to their war-torn North African country and preparing for elections. The meeting in neighbouring Tunisia follows months of relative calm and a key ceasefire deal in October between the two major camps in the long-running conflict. \u201cYou have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n