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Tubrok parliament formally accepts UN political agreement to end war in Libya

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Libyan House of Representatives, the Turbok-based parliament formally accepted late Thursday in Morocco the United Nations political agreement to end war in Libya, while the rival Tripoli-based parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), decided to continue consultations on the latest UN proposal in Tripoli.

Tubrok parliament alongside civil society figures and independents who are participating in the Libyan dialogue said in a joint statement that they are "certain" that the UN-brokered deal "will put Libya on the track of the aspired solution."

The signatories of the statement said they are looking forward to GNC's "positive" decision in the coming few days "to complete the consensus that was built throughout this process."

"We are committed to start working, immediately after initialing the agreement, on the formation of a Government of National Accord that will quickly start functioning to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of Libyans for dignified livelihoods as well as to finalizing the annexes. All that shall be done together through consensus among all the participants in the Libyan political dialogue," the statement added.

The signatories called on all participants in the different tracks of the dialogue to support the agreement and to create conducive circumstances for its full implementation, stressing the need for exercising restraint and avoiding escalation.

The GNC said on Wednesday that its negotiating team at the peace talks had postponed returning to the Moroccan city of Skhirat until next week to continue consultations and deliberations on the amendments.

The GNC spokesman, Omar Humaidan, said in a televised statement that the draft agreement "did not include substantive amendments made by the GNC."

The Libyan political talks, which are facilitated by the UN envoy Bernardino Leon, resumed in Morocco earlier Thursday to making an end to the war in the North African country.

In a landmark move, representatives from Libya's two rival parliaments sat on Sunday together in formal talks for the first time since the talks began in January.

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 persisted despite a truce agreed by the warring factions. Enditem