Arab League urges Libya rivals to pursue dialogue

By Khalid Ibrahim

TRIPOLI, Libya

The Arab League has called on Libya’s rivals to pursue dialogue for resolving the conflict in the war-torn country.

Last week, the Tobruk-based parliament refused to give confidence to the UN-backed unity government, in a setback to efforts aimed at resolving the Libyan conflict.

“The Arab League meets all parties [in Libya] to listen to their views and we encourage them to pursue dialogue to resolve this crisis,” the league’s assistant secretary-general, Hossam Zaki, told reporters in Cairo on Thursday.

Asked about the possibility of naming an Arab League envoy to Libya, Zaki said “the idea is possible”.

“Our brothers in Libya asking for [naming an envoy],” he said.

Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli, each of which boasts its own military capacity and legislative assembly.

Late last year, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-sponsored agreement that established a national unity government.

The UN-backed unity government, however, has remained beset by difficulties and has yet to apply its governing mandate across the troubled North African country.