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Rival parliament says UN talks must be held inside Libya | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Members of the Libyan army watch black smoke rise from the city’s port after a fire broke out at a car tire disposal plant during clashes against Islamist gunmen in Benghazi, on December 23, 2014 (AFP PHOTO / ABDULLAH DOMA)


Members of the Libyan army watch black smoke rise from the city's port after a fire broke out at a car tire disposal plant during clashes against Islamist gunmen in Benghazi, on December 23, 2014 (AFP PHOTO / ABDULLAH DOMA)

Members of the Libyan army watch black smoke rise from the city’s port after a fire broke out at a car tire disposal plant during clashes against Islamist gunmen in Benghazi, on December 23, 2014 (AFP PHOTO / ABDULLAH DOMA)

Tripoli Reuters—Libya’s rival parliament decided on Sunday that it would attend UN-sponsored peace talks only if they were held inside Libya, officials said.

Nearly four years after a NATO-backed revolt ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is in turmoil. Two rival governments and two parliaments are backed by armed factions who Western governments fear may drag the country into civil war.

The United Nations last week brought factions vying for control of Libya together in Geneva, but key representatives from the self-declared government and associated parliament based in the capital Tripoli stayed away.

The Tripoli assembly, known as the General National Congress (GNC), proposed to hold the talks in the remote southern city of Ghat, its spokesman Omar Hmeidan said. “Talks must be in Ghat, not in Geneva.”

GNC member Abduqader Hawaili said 100 of the 110 members attending Sunday’s session of the GNC had voted in favor of the proposal.

There was no immediate reaction from the United Nations. Its special envoy for Libya, Bernadino Leon, said in a video message published on Sunday that “essential work” would start at the talks next week.

“We have agreed on confidence-building measures, or at least on measures that will improve the life of the Libyans,” he said, without mentioning the GNC decision.

The internationally recognized government, under Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thani, and the elected House of Representatives have operated out of the east since the Libya Dawn faction took over Tripoli in the summer, set up its own government and revived the old parliament, the GNC.

In September, the United Nations held a first round of talks bringing together rival factions in the southern city of Ghadames, but little progress has been made.

Libya’s conflict involves a myriad of factions and armed groups who helped to topple Gaddafi but are loyal above all to local or regional leaders, making any agreement hard to reach or enforce.

Last week’s talks were attended by a delegation from Misrata, Libya’s third city, associated with Libya Dawn, in a possible sign of a split among the Tripoli rulers.

The conflict has been complicated by a separate battle in the main eastern city of Benghazi, where Thani’s forces have allied themselves with Khalifa Haftar, once a general under Gaddafi, to fight Islamist groups such as Ansar Al-Sharia.

About 600 people have been killed in three months of heavy fighting in Benghazi since Thani’s forces started an offensive, medics said. Since the start of January alone, 34 people have been killed and 23 wounded.

A Reuters reporter in Benghazi said most parts of the city were controlled by special forces or Haftar’s fighters, and that some districts had suffered heavy damage.