UN urges Libyan rivals to reach agreement

UN envoy Bernardino Leon on late Saturday urged the Libyan conflicting parties to quickly expedite the dialogue to end the conflict in their country.

"Let's try to make it possible this week. What is possible now will be final solution, will be a solution that will seem difficult in the short perspective, but I am sure it will be the right one," Leon told Libyan peace talk participants who sat down for an iftar during the current round of talks in Morocco.

The UN special representative also called the participants to show more flexibility, expressing his hope that a deal could be reached within days.

The UN-backed Libya political talks resumed in the Moroccan city of Skhirat on Thursday amid hopes that this round would be the last between the country's rival parties.

The parties are expected to reach an agreement on the formation of a year-long mandate transitional government of national unity, in which a council of ministers headed by a prime minister and two deputies will have executive authority based in Tripoli.

Libya, a major oil producer in North Africa, has been witnessing a frayed political process after former leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled during the 2011 political turmoil.

The country is now deadlocked in a dogfight between the pro-secular army and Islamist militants, which has led to a security vacuum for homegrown extremism to brew.

The UN has brokered several rounds of dialogues between the conflicting parties since last September, but clashes remained despite a truce agreed on by factions. Endit