Libya parties agree UN-brokered political agreement without Tripoli parliament

Libyan parties agreed late Saturday in Morocco on the UN-brokered political agreement despite the absence of the General National Congress (GNC), the Tripoli-based parliament.

While the Tubrok-based parliament alongside representatives of political parties, municipalities and civil society groups initialed the agreement, the GNC did not join the accord. The latter rejected on Tuesday the deal, calling on the UN facilitation to reopen negotiations on its proposed amendments on the political agreement.

In his address at the ceremony of initialing the Libyan Political Agreement in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, the UN envoy Bernardino Leon said the door remained open for the GNC, expressing his confidence that "the logic of peace will prevail in the GNC, as it has been the case until now."

"This is one but a very important step on the road to peace. A peace which all Libyans have been long seeking to achieve," he said.

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. Endit