To form a national unity government,delegates from Libya’s rival factions has recently signed a U.N.-brokered peace agreement at a ceremony in Morocco.
Chants of “Libya! Libya!” erupted as representatives from both parliaments signed the accord along with local councils and political parties in the Moroccan coastal town of Skhirat, after more than a year of hard-scrabble negotiations.
“The doors remain wide open to those who are not here today,” U.N. envoy Martin Kobler said at the ceremony, attended by regional foreign ministers. “The signing of the political agreement is only the first step.”
Under the deal, a nine-member presidential council will form a government, with the current, eastern-based House of Representatives as the main legislature, and a State Council as a second, consultative chamber. The presidential council will name a new government in a month and a U.N. Security Council resolution will endorse it.
“There are some people who want to hold on to little kingdoms, but very, very small kingdoms, little tiny patches where they hold authority, but Libya’s going to move on,” U.S. envoy to Libya Jonathan Winer told Reuters. “Ultimately, Libyans have to be responsible for Libya.”The U.S. State Department said Washington was committed to providing the unified government with “full political backing and technical, economic, security and counterterrorism assistance”.
Some of Libya’s armed brigades have backed the deal, while others are closely allied with political leaders who oppose it.”We have reached an agreement, but the biggest challenge now is to implement it,” said Salah Huma, a Member of Parliament and negotiator for the eastern-based government.
Since revolution ousted Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi four years ago, Libya has been struggling with instabilityas rival parliaments wrestled for control of the vast country and its oil resources.
