Four Libyan leaders agreed Tuesday to hold elections on December 10 after a peace conference in Paris aimed at unifying the war-torn north African country.
The four men, who represent most but not all of Libya’s rival factions, also agreed to “accept the results of elections, and ensure appropriate funds and strong security arrangements are in place”.
The commitment to holding parliamentary and presidential polls this year came after four hours of talks in Paris where the leaders faced pressure to agree on a political roadmap to end seven years of conflict.
European leaders see stabilising Libya as key to tackling jihadist threats and migration from the fractured country, which has become a departure point for hundreds of thousands of Africans trying to reach Europe.
“I’m optimistic,” UN envoy Ghassan Salame told AFP at the end of the talks which he called “historic” because they had brought together the main Libyan protagonists as well as regional countries for the first time.
The Libyan invitees were Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, and 75-year-old military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose rival Libyan National Army dominates the country’s east.
Also present were Aguila Saleh Issa, the parliament speaker based in the eastern city of Tobruk, and Khalid Al-Mishri, the newly-elected head of the High Council of State.
“There is no solution other than via you,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi told the Libyan leaders at the opening of the talks. “If things go badly, it’s your responsibility.”
Despite the French-led efforts to seek a political settlement, many analysts and diplomats were sceptical that a statement that was verbally agreed — but not signed — could lead to real change on the ground.
Some have voiced doubt whether the country, which is swamped by weapons and controlled by a patchwork of political groups and armed militias, will be able to hold credible elections.
