US stresses necessity of holding Libyan elections on time

TRIPOLI, Libya

The US Embassy in Libya said Wednesday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will stress during the second Berlin Conference the importance of holding the Libyan elections as scheduled on Dec. 24.

"At the Berlin II conference on Libya today, Secretary Blinken will stress the importance of holding national elections on Dec. 24 in accordance with the roadmap produced by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum," the embassy said on Twitter.

The embassy also retweeted Blinken's tweet in which he said: "I’ll be engaging with our partners to further peace and stability through the Berlin II dialogue. Looking forward to a productive trip."

The second Berlin Conference will be held on Wednesday to discuss Libya’s political process and the Dec. 24 elections, with the participation of international actors, including Turkey.

Held under the auspices of the UN and Germany, the meeting will be attended by the head of Libya’s Presidency Council Mohammed al-Menfi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, UN Special Envoy to Libya Jan Kubis, and the foreign ministers of the participating countries.

The conference seeks to evaluate the progress made in establishing peace in conflict-ridden Libya and efforts aimed to maintain security in the country.

The event is expected to stress the necessity of holding parliamentary and presidential elections on Dec. 24 as scheduled and the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from the country.

Participants are also expected to reiterate the call for compliance with an arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council on Libya and to take binding decisions to unify security forces in the country.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat