Skhirat, Morocco - The United Nations plans a new round of talks between Libya's warring factions next week in Geneva in an effort to form a unity government and end the country's crisis, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
Western governments see a UN-backed peace deal as the only solution to chaos in Libya where two rival governments battle for control, leaving a security vacuum which has been exploited by migrant smugglers and Islamic militants.
Months of negotiations have been stalled by hardliners on both sides and fighting among armed groups siding with the two loose factions that emerged four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
In the latest delay, delegates from Tripoli's self-declared government dropped out of talks in Morocco this week, saying they needed a new negotiating team after a chief member resigned. But they said they would attend the next round with the rival internationally recognized government.
Speaking in Morocco, UN envoy for Libya Bernardino Leon said he expected both sides to return to the next round with names for the new unity government.
“I do not think it makes sense for any institution that wants to play a relevant role in Libya not to bring names,” Leon told reporters.
In the turmoil after the uprising against Gaddafi, a former rebel faction called Libya Dawn took over the capital Tripoli last year, setting up its own government and reinstating the old parliament.
The internationally recognised government and its elected parliament now operate out of the east of the country, allied with another coalition of former anti-Gaddafi rebels.
The UN deal on the table calls for a one-year-long government of national accord, where a council of ministers headed by a prime minister, and two deputies, will have executive authority.
The House of Representatives will be the legislative body, but the accord also sees the creation of a 120-member State Council, consisting of 90 members of the Tripoli parliament.
The recognised government agreed to a peace deal last month, but the Tripoli faction refused to sign. The latest round of talks was meant to iron out remaining differences.
Reuters