TRIPOLI: Representatives of Libya’s rival political groups signed on Sunday a UN-backed agreement that was presented as a step towards holding much-delayed national elections in the deeply divided country.
The two sides signed the text, a result of talks held in recent months in Rome and Tunis, in the capital Tripoli at the headquarters of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), with its chief Hanna Tetteh in attendance.
The agreement provides for legislative and presidential elections to be organised within 24 months — though on the condition that they be held “under a single executive authority and unified national institutions”, which is not yet the case.
The oil-rich North African country has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled longtime ruler Muammar Qadhafi.
Two governments are currently vying for power: the UN-recognised administration in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.
