US backs UN efforts to sponsor Libyan intra-dialogue

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – The United States on Saturday reiterated full support to efforts by UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily to sponsor Libyan intra-dialogue for holding elections.

"We fully support his efforts in leading dialogue among Libyan political institutions that can accelerate Libya’s path to elections," US Charge d'Affaires to Tripoli, Leslie Ordeman, said following his meeting with Bathily.

Ordeman also stressed on "the necessity to reach solutions to the current crisis" in Libya.

Elections were supposed to take place in Libya on December 24, 2021, but the country’s rivals failed to hold the polls amid deep differences.

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 March when the Libyan parliament appointed a new government led by former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, but the head of Tripoli-based unity government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, insists 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.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar