Sputnik News
© AFP 2015/ MAHMUD TURKIA
UN, Libya’s Dawn Militia Agree on Principle of Ceasefire,Political Dialogue
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — The next round of United Nations-led talks on stabilizing the political situation in Libya will take place later this week in Morocco, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Tuesday in an official statement.
“The parties have formally communicated their decision to take part in the dialogue following close consultations with Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernardino Leon during his visit to Tobruk and Tripoli on 2 March 2015,” the UNSMIL statement read.
The talks will be focused on the formation of a government of national unity, security arrangements aimed at a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of all armed groups from towns and cities. Measures for weapons and arms control, and the completion of the constitution drafting process within clear time-lines will also be discussed, according to the UNSMIL.
All parties stressed the need for a united Libyan front and an empowered Libyan State in order to confront the growing threat of terrorism in Libya.
© AFP 2015/ Tauseef MUSTAFA
Libya and Syria: Two Wars Against ISIL, Two Different Western Reactions
The latest round of Libya talks under the aegis of the UNSMIL took place in January in Geneva. During the second round of the Geneva negotiations the parties agreed to hold fresh talks in Libya given that the effort helps improve the security situation in the country.
Libya is facing its worst wave of violence since the beginning of the civil war prompted by the 2011 overthrow of long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi. There are now two rival governments in the country. The group controlling the Libyan capital of Tripoli and adjacent western areas is not recognized internationally.
Government forces are also fighting numerous rebel groups, including Islamic State-affiliated extremists.
The UNSMIL was deployed in Libya in September 2011 to restore public security in the wake of civil war.
