Libya, Algeria discuss plans to hold stalled elections

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Chairman of Libya’s Presidency Council, Mohamed Menfi, held talks in Tripoli on Sunday with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra to discuss political developments and plans to hold the country’s stalled elections.

A statement by the council said Lamamra reiterated Algeria’s support for the Presidency Council to achieve aspirations of the Libyan people for national reconciliation.

Talks between the two sides also took up the prospects for cooperation and joint coordination between Libya and Algeria, the statement said.

Lamamra arrived in Tripoli earlier Sunday to attend a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Libyan capital.

The top Algerian diplomat met earlier in the day with his Libyan counterpart Najla Elmangoush to discuss a host of regional and international developments, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Last week, Libya’s Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh said the country’s stalled elections will be held before November after an agreement between the rival legislative chambers.

Oil-rich Libya has remained in turmoil since 2011 when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted after four decades in power.

The situation has worsened since last year when the Libyan parliament appointed a new government led by former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, but the head of the Tripoli-based government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, said he will cede authority only to a government that comes through an "elected parliament," raising fears that Libya could slip back into a civil war.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report