Peace talks to resume in Libya: UN

A fresh round of talks between Libya’s warring sides will resume in the country “within days,” the United Nation (UN) has announced, following the failure of previous negotiations.

“It has been agreed to hold the next round of the peace talks in Libya within days,” Bernadino Leon, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said on Monday following a meeting with General National Congress (GNC) officials in the capital, Tripoli.

However, citing security concerns, he refrained from revealing more details about the exact venue or date of the talks.

Leon further added that the UN would first facilitate a ceasefire between the warring sides before the talks are resumed in Libya.

Last month, the GNC, which took over Tripoli in the summer of 2014, and established its own government and parliament, refrained from attending the first round of talks with the internationally recognized government in Geneva on January 14. They were also absent for the second round of talks on January 27.

Since summer 2014, the GNC has pushed Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni’s internationally recognized government to operate from the eastern city of Tobruk.

Libya plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising against the dictatorship of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The ouster of Gaddafi gave rise to a patchwork of heavily-armed militias and deep political divisions.

The country has been witnessing numerous clashes between government forces and rival militia groups that refuse to lay down arms. Battles among the rival militants, who had participated in the anti-Gaddafi uprising, are mainly over the control of oil facilities in eastern Libya.