UN envoy announces landmark peace plan for Libya
Bernardino Leon says text finalised at marathon talks in Morocco aimed at solving Libya’s crisis.
The United Nations has presented a framework agreement to end the political crisis in Libya.
UN special envoy Bernardino Leon, who has been meeting with Libya’s rival governments for days of negotiations in Morocco, said late on Monday that the UN’s work was done and “we now have a final text”.
“It is now up to the participants in this dialogue to react to this text,” he said.
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Libya, in chaos since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster in 2011, has two rival administrations – one in Tripoli known as the General National Congress (GNC) and an internationally recognised government based in Tobruk in the east.
The rising influence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Libya and the country’s emergence as a smuggling hub for refugees risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean have added urgency to the long-running and often derailed UN talks.
Leon had pushed for a deal to be reached by September 20, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
He gave few details about the agreement in Monday’s news conference, but praised the negotiation efforts.
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays described the document as “a moment of hope for Libya”, but stressed that the final deal has not yet been signed.
He said some details remain to be finalised, such as who will get which position in the future administration.