NEW YORK: A national conference will be held in Libya in the first weeks of 2019 to push for elections that could take place next year, the UN envoy told the Security Council on Thursday.
Ghassan Salame said the conference will provide "a platform" for Libyans to spell out their vision for the future and "no longer be ignored" by those in power in the divided country.
Elections in Libya are meant to turn the page on years of chaos following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi that has seen a bitter rivalry emerge between two governments scrambling for control of the north African country's oil wealth.
A French-backed plan to hold elections on Dec. 10 fell apart in September when the United States, Russia and other powers at the Security Council refused to back the timetable.
Speaking to the council by videoconference from Tripoli, Salame said the national conference, which has been under discussion since last year, had been delayed because of ongoing fighting and political divisions.
"Now, conditions are more propitious," he said.
"The national conference is to be held in the first weeks of 2019. The subsequent electoral process should commence in the spring of 2019."
The envoy quoted a poll showing that 80 percent of Libyans insist on having elections and stressed that international support for the conference was crucial.
The decision to move ahead with the national conference came ahead of Italian-hosted talks in Sicily next week intended to shore up efforts to bring stability to Libya.
World powers and Arab countries have backed rival groups in the battle for influence in Libya, hindering progress toward a common approach.
In an interview with AFP, the head of Libya's UN-backed government, Fayez Al-Sarraj, appealed for a "common vision" and an end to "negative interventions by some countries."
Libya produces 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, generating $13 billion in revenue in just the first half of this year for the country of 6.5 million people.
But Salame said Libyans have been increasingly impoverished while billions are being stolen from national coffers.
Libya should start elections process in 2019 - UN envoy
Libya should start elections process in 2019 - UN envoy
- Ghassan Salame said the conference will provide "a platform" for Libyans to spell out their vision for the future
- French-backed plan to hold elections on Dec. 10 fell apart in September
Strikes blamed on US kills five Iran-backed fighters in Iraq
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early Tuesday that they had targeted a US base in the region
BAGHDAD: Five Iran-backed fighters in Iraq were killed on Tuesday in strikes their groups blamed on the United States.
The Kataeb Imam Ali group said four fighters were killed in an “American aggression” at dawn against one of their positions in the Debs district of Kirkuk province in northern Iraq.
Late Tuesday, another strike killed a fighter from the Kataeb Hezbollah group in Al-Qaem area near the Iraqi-Syrian border, a source from the group told AFP.
The bombings targeted positions occupied by the Hashed Al-Shaabi, an alliance of factions integrated into Iraq’s regular army.
It also encompasses Iran-backed fighters, including the Kataeb Imam Ali and Kataeb Hezbollah groups.
Since the start of the Middle East war, bases belonging to Hashed Al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, have been hit several times.
Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war, but it has not been spared.
Iran-backed groups have claimed attacks on US bases in Iraq and in the region, without specifying their targets.
At least five drones targeted on Tuesday a military base at the Baghdad International Airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility, a security source said.
One drone crashed near Iraq’s anti-terrorism forces and another ignited a fire at a depot, with no casualties reported, according to the source.
The autonomous Kurdistan region in the north, hosts US troops and has been a main target of drone attacks, but these have largely been intercepted.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early Tuesday that they had targeted a US base in the region.
At night, the US-led coalition air defenses downed a drone that crashed between the US consulate in Kurdistan capital Irbil and the airport, which houses US and foreign troops, a Kurdish security source said.
On Monday, a drone was downed near the UAE consulate in the city.
