Senior Libyan officials hold UN-led talks on constitutional arrangement

Two senior Libyan officials have begun talks on constitutional arrangements for elections, in the latest U.N. effort to bridge a gap between the country’s rivals.

The meeting of Aguila Saleh, the influential parliament speaker, and Khaled al-Meshri, head of the Tripoli-based government’s Supreme Council of State, has taken place at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

According to the United Nations, the talks will focus on a draft constitutional framework for elections after Libya’s rival factions failed to reach an agreement in their last round of talks in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

“The criteria for a presidential candidacy were a contentious point in the talks”, according to Libyan media.

The Tripoli-based council insisted on banning military personal from running for the country’s top post apparently a move directed at the divisive commander Khalifa Hifter, whose forces are loyal to the east-based administration.

Hifter had announced his bid in elections slated for last December but the vote was not held because of myriad issues, including controversial hopefuls who had announced bids and disputes about election laws.

There are growing tensions on the ground, and sporadic clashes between rival militias recently erupted in Tripoli.

Living conditions have also deteriorated, mainly because of fuel shortages in the oil-rich nation where tribal leaders have shut down many oil facilities, including the country’s largest field.

The blockade was largely meant to cut off key state revenues to the incumbent Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who has refused to step down even though the vote was not held in December.

Now, Dbeibah and another prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, appointed by the east-based parliament to lead a transitional government, are claiming power.

The rivalry has sparked fears the oil-rich country could slide back to fighting after tentative steps toward unity last year.

Libya has been wrecked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The country was then for years split between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by different militias and foreign governments.

africanews