Rival Libyan Factions Sign UN Peace Deal

General Khalifa Haftar (R), commander of the armed forces, shakes hands with United Nations envoy Martin Kobler, the head of the UN.

As the representatives from both sides taking part in the Morocco talks do not hold official titles to represent their respective parliaments in the talks, the number of people who actually show up in Morocco will be an indication of how much support the U.N.-led deal has, Toaldo said.

“Italy is ready to make its contribution to Libya and so are other countries, including members of the European Union (EU)”, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said at the signing ceremony in Skhirat.

Four years after the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, world powers have been pressuring the North African nation’s two rival administrations to form a unity government amid concerns about the rise of the ISIL group there.

“You must not forget that this is the beginning of a hard journey. Signing is only the first step on the road to putting Libya back on the right track”, he said at the ceremony.

Over a year ago, it was further torn – in addition to having two parliaments – between the internationally recognized government, based in the country’s east, and the government in Tripoli.

On Tuesday, parliament leaders Aguila Saleh and Nuri Abu Sahmain met for the first time since the two sides set up competing bodies in Tripoli and Tobruk.

The agreement which calls for a unity government and a ceasefire, was scheduled to be signed on Wednesday.

Mr Abusahmein and those MPs who support him are not against an agreement, but say they want more time to negotiate it.

Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Haftar said that he was not satisfied with the United Nations deal, which stipulates that if the rival authorities fail to agree on who should head the army within 10 days, a new military chief will be appointed.

Both leaders said that whoever signs the peace deal will represent only themselves, leaving it unclear about how the rest of Libya’s warring factions fit into the agreement.

Under the deal, a nine-member presidential council will form a government with the current, eastern-based House of Representatives as the main legislative and a State Council as a second consultative chamber.

“We have reached an agreement, but the biggest challenge now is to implement it”, said Salah Huma, a parliament member and negotiator for the eastern government.