China.org.cn
The General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli has denied on Saturday pulling out Libyan political dialogue in Morocco.
The GNC’s negotiating team chief, Awad Abdul Sadiq, told reporters in the talks avenue in the city of Skhirat that the GNC “will continue the dialogue to find an applicable solution” to the Libyan crisis.
The confirmation came as a response to the news by some Arab media which reported earlier Saturday that the GNC’s team withdrew from the talks.
On the other hand, he said the GNC holds its suggested amendments to the UN-brokered political agreement, which was initialed in July by the other participants in the dialogue.
He said the meetings with the UN envoy Bernardino Leon addressed the GNC’s suggested amendments, adding that “they will be included in the final agreement.”
Leon said at the opening of the latest round of talks between Libya’s warring factions on Thursday that Sept. 20 must be the deadline to reach deal for Libya’s crisis.
“We are very hopeful that they (parties) will understand that this deadline of the 20th of September must be the last one, must be the one that will allow Libya to get out of this crisis,” he pointed out.
The parties in this round of talks are discussing annexes of the UN-brokered political agreement and the formation of the Government of National Accord.
The UN-brokered political agreement was initialed in July by the Tubrok-based parliament alongside representatives of political parties, municipalities and civil society groups, whereas the GNC did not join the accord.
Libya, a major oil producer in North Africa, has been witnessing a frayed political process after former leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled during the 2011 political turmoil.
The country is now deadlocked in a dogfight between the pro-secular army and Islamist militants, which has led to a security vacuum for homegrown extremism to brew.
The UN has brokered several rounds of dialogues between the conflicting parties since last September, but clashes persisted despite a truce agreed by the warring factions.
