Lavrov Says World Should Help New Libyan Government To Secure Political Settlement

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) The new Libyan authorities have been tasked with reaching a comprehensive political settlement, something that the international community should help promoting in every possible way, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the head of the Libyan Government of National Unity, arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian officials, including Lavrov and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

"Our meeting is taking place at a turning point for your country after years of destructive civil war. The Libyans have to take a step toward a comprehensive settlement, and the task of the international community is to promote this in every possible way," Lavrov said at a meeting with Dbeibah.

Since the overthrow and assassination of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been split between two rival governments. The administrations known as the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) have been in control of the country's west and east, respectively.

In February, the Swiss-hosted Libya Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) elected an interim caretaker unified authority to take charge until a national general election scheduled for December 24. The LPDF picked Mohammad Younes Menfi, a former GNA ambassador in Greece, as the new head of the Presidential Council, while Mossa Al-Koni, a representative of Libya's south, and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi, a representative of the west, became his deputies. Abdul Hamid Dbeibah was elected prime minister.