Deal opens path to reunification

DELEGATES from Libya’s warring factions have selected four leaders to guide the country through to national elections in December, in a major – if uncertain – step towards unifying a nation with two separate governments in the east and west.

In what could become a landmark achievement to end one of the intractable conflicts left behind by the Arab Spring a decade ago, the 74 delegates yesterday chose a list of candidates in a United Nations-hosted process aimed at balancing regional powers and various political and economic interests.

Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat with a support base in the country’s east, has been chosen to head the threeperson Presidential Council. Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, a powerful businessman backed by western tribes, is interim prime minister.

National elections planned for December 24.

Capping a UN-led diplomatic process that began in Berlin in January last year, delegates began meeting on Tuesday at an undisclosed location near Geneva, in the hope of bringing stability to an oil-rich country that has been largely lawless since dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in 2011.

Dbeibah must now form a cabinet and present its programme within three weeks.

The UN secretary-general’s acting special representative for Libya, Stephanie Williams, said the interim government must fully support a ceasefire, uphold are the election date, and launch ‘‘a comprehensive national reconciliation process’’.

Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two governments, one in the east and another in the west of the country, each backed by a vast array of militias.

In April 2019, Khalifa Hifter, a military commander allied with the eastern government, launched an offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli. His campaign failed after 14 months, and last October the UN convinced both parties to sign a ceasefire agreement and embark on a political dialogue.

The internationally recognised government in Tripoli has had the backing of Turkey, while Hifter has been supported by countries including Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.