26 October 2016•Update: 27 October 2016
By Khaled Ibrahim, Husein Mahmoud and Jabbour Dokn
CAIRO and TRIPOLI, Libya
The head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) warned Wednesday that the constitutional validity of the Skhirat agreement, meant to pave the way to a unity government, will end this December.
Martin Kobler’s remarks came during a news conference at Arab League headquarters in Cairo after a tripartite meeting with Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and African Union High Representative in Libya Jakaya Kikwete.
“Around one year has passed on the Skhirat agreement without its entry into force, and its constitutional validity will end if not implemented," Kobler said.
In December 2015, Libyan parties signed the final reconciliation agreement in the Moroccan city of Skhirat to address the crisis the nation has faced since the ouster of the late Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.
Meanwhile, the Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord announced that it will hold consultative meetings on forming a government of reconciliation next week in western Libya’s city of Ghadames, according to the official page of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord’s media office on Facebook.
The remarks came without giving further details on the meeting’s date or agenda.
Libya has been locked in a state of violence and turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Gaddafi.
Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, one in Tobruk and another in the capital Tripoli.
Late last year, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement to establish a unity government in an effort to resolve the country’s six-year political standoff.
