Libya’s rival parliaments sign unity government deal

SKHIRAT, Morocco, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Delegates from Libya’s warring factions signed a U.N.-brokered agreement on Thursday to form a national unity government, a deal that Western powers hope will bring stability and help to combat a growing Islamic State presence. “This is always like this in hard situations”, United Nations envoy Martin Kobler told reporters after a briefing in the east. “We have only 75 percent of people who are happy with it. But I think it’s a good start”.

Many GNC members are against Haftar as army chief. “Now they are going to impose a third government on us instead of bringing together the two rival authorities”.

“You must not forget that this is the beginning of a hard journey”.

Libya’s Tobruk and Tripoli-based parliaments on Thursday finally signed a UN-sponsored peace deal following extended talks in Morocco, Associated Press reports.

The country backs some members of the internationally recognized government, causing some Libyan participants to cast doubt on the Leon’s neutrality.

The agreement aims to create a new national government in Tripoli, end the divide between the rival parliaments, governments and military coalitions, and give the global community a partner for its battle against the IS’s affiliate in Libya and human traffickers. “We will continue to work to broaden the basis of support for the new Government”, he added. “Signing is only the first step on the road to putting Libya back on the right track”, he said at the ceremony.

One major concern is that while parliamentarians from both camps have engaged in the process, neither parliament has voted on or endorsed the deal.

Some 1,500 armed factions, including ISIS, are deployed across divided Libya, gripped by chaos and insecurity since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He’s also concerned the deal did not address who would oversee disarmament of the various militias across Libya.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius welcomed the deal, called in a statement for “a national unity government to be set up…as soon as possible in Tripoli”.

Following broad consultations throughout the year facilitated by the Secretary-General’s former Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino León, it was announced in mid-October that a national unity government could be proposed.

Accelerated worldwide diplomacy reflects fears in Western capitals that instability in Libya will allow IS-allied groups to expand beyond a small section of coastline they now control around the city of Sirte. The nation has been further torn by a tug of war between the internationally recognized government, located in the east of the country, and the Islamist government in Tripoli.