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Military engineers from the UN-recognized Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) arrive at the site where ammunition will be disposed of in the Libyan capital Tripoli on October 12, 2020. Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP
CARTHAGE, Tunisia – The UN envoy to Libya on Monday urged rival parties to put national interest before political ambitions when they meet for talks next month aimed at ending a decade of bloodshed.
The North African country is dominated by armed groups, driven by local conflicts and divided between two bitterly opposed administrations: a United Nations-recognized unity government based in Tripoli and its rival in the east backed by the strongman. Khalifa Haftar.
Neighboring Tunisia is scheduled to host talks in early November with representatives of civil society, tribal members, political leaders, and members of bodies representing both administrations.
“What we want to see in terms of participation is people who are not there for their own political aspirations, but for their country,” UN envoy Stephanie Williams said on Monday after meeting with Tunisian President Kais Saied.
When asked whether Haftar or the head of the unity government, Fayez al-Sarraj, would be present, he said that the participants could participate on the condition “that they withdraw from the consideration of high government officials.”
This included membership in the key Presidential Council, the post of prime minister and ministerial posts, he told AFP.
The talks are aimed at preparing for national elections, he added.
Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi called for “a dialogue among Libyans that could lead to a political solution to the crisis.”
Saied spoke to his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday, who welcomed the renewed dialogue and said that Algeria, another Libyan neighbor, was “always on the side of Tunisia.”
Tebboune also spoke of a visit to Tunisia after the November 1 referendum on constitutional reform in Algeria.
The Algerian president’s office confirmed that the two men had spoken by phone.
“The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, received a phone call from his counterpart Kais Saied, and they reviewed bilateral relations and his planned visit to Tunisia,” he said in a statement.
Tebboune “welcomed Tunisia’s organization of the Libyan dialogue under the auspices of the UN,” the statement said.
A previous agreement between rival Libyan camps, signed in Morocco in 2015, created a unity government that was never recognized by Haftar.
In April 2019 he launched an offensive to seize Tripoli, but was repulsed after more than a year of fighting.
Since its forces were driven out of western Libya, the rival parties have resumed talks on specific topics: institutions, military and political issues.
The Tunisia talks will begin on October 26 via videoconference, before continuing face-to-face in early November.
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