Libya’s High State Council to resume dialogue with parliament

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libya’s Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) on Monday voted to resume dialogue with the East Libya-based Libyan parliament after a three-week hiatus.

The HCS, which acts as a senate, suspended dialogue with the East Libya-based parliament on Dec. 7 amid tension over a move by the assembly to pass a law establishing a constitutional court in the eastern city of Benghazi.

“The HCS voted to resume dialogue with the House of Representatives on all sovereign, constitutional and executive tracks,” a council member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.

On Dec. 23, the Libyan parliament retracted the law establishing the constitutional court.

The council member said the HCS also voted to reject an invitation by Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh to Council Chairman Khaled al-Mishri for a meeting in the city of Ghadames on Jan. 11.

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