The UN’s special envoy to Libya has handed the country’s rival governments a draft proposal for forming a unity government. It is seen as one of the last hopes to stop fighting and bring stability.
Talks in Morocco late on Monday brought together Libya’s two rival governments, in what is being viewed as a last-ditch attempt to stop ongoing violence, DW reported.
Libya currently has two parliaments, one with Islamist backing and the other in the port city of Tobruk. Fighting between forces from both governments has battered the OPEC nation since the 2011 uprising that ended the rule of longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.
The power vacuum left by Gaddafi ouster has seen militant groups flourish in Libya, with both the IS and Al-Qaeda managing to gain a foothold there.
UN special envoy Bernardino Leon called on both sides to take advantage of an opportunity to unify their country, presenting what is the fourth version of a draft proposal for forming a unity government.
“Today the people of Libya have their eyes on this gathering, on you, in the hope that you’ll save your country and your people from protracted conflict,” he said. “I am full of hope that this draft represents a fair and reasonable way forward.”
Leon hopes for an agreement to end the conflict before Ramadan begins, on June 17.
The goal is the formation of a one-year-long government of national unity, where a council of ministers headed by a prime minister, with two deputies, will have executive authority based in Tripoli.
