UN Holds 'First Inclusive' Military Leaders' Talks In Libya In Decade

Tripoli hosted Libya's rival military leaders this week for UN-led talks on a new timeline for general elections which the UN mission called the "first inclusive meeting inside Libya in a decade"

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2023) Tripoli hosted Libya's rival military leaders this week for UN-led talks on a new timeline for general elections which the UN mission called the "first inclusive meeting inside Libya in a decade."

The 5+5 Joint Military Committee, which is in charge of the military track of Libyan reconciliation, met Sunday with a group of eastern, western, and southern military commanders under the auspices of UN envoy for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily.

"I call on all leaders in the east, west and south to support consolidating peace in Libya," Bathily said, referring to a national consensus need to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in 2023.

The Military Committee and the regional leaders agreed to push the eastern-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council panel in the country's west to pursue the elections. The next meeting will take place in Benghazi by April 20.

Libya has been grappling with multiple crises after the Western military intervention of 2011 overthrew its longtime leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and created a power vacuum that split Libya into rival factions. The UN has been struggling to fill the void by helping Libyans hold a general election, although internal divisions led it to cancel the vote set for 2021.