The United Nations hopes Libya’s rival factions will come closer in the coming days to reaching a deal on a unity government for the troubled oil producer, a UN special envoy said yesterday.
Western leaders say the UN talks are the only way to end the chaos in Libya, where two rival governments and armed factions are battling for control and Islamist militants have gained ground in the resulting mayhem.
Both sides have attacked each other with war planes in the past few days, but UN Special Envoy Bernardino Leon said he hoped the factions would make progress on an accord to form a unity government over the coming three days.
UN Special Envoy hopes factions will make progress on accord over the coming three days
“By Sunday [tomorrow], we would like to have these documents ready and, if possible, published,” he told reporters in Morocco at the start of the latest round of negotiations. Leon was referring to a framework deal not only on a possible government but also on local ceasefires for frontlines across the North African country.
The UN Special Envoy gave no details and did not say whether he expected the warring factions to sign an agreement.
Diplomats are under no illusions that moderates attending the talks for both sides will face difficulties in persuading hardliners to accept any deal.
Both sides are facing internal divisions and are dominated by former rebels who helped oust autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but who now use their weapons to fight for territory.
Leon said a militant attack killing 23 people in Tunis on Wednesday, claimed by Islamic State, might push the Libyan factions towards a possible peace and unity accord.
“In the last days, we have seen more fighting, more air strikes... not only in Libya but also in the region,” Leon said.
“There is a sense of emergency so we believe this is going to be a decisive moment,” he said.
The two gunmen who attacked a Tunisian museum on Wednesday, killing foreign tourists, had been trained at a jihadist camp in Libya, Tunisia said on Thursday.