UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said Monday that a deal between Libyan rival camps over long-delayed elections contained “politically contested issues” that could spark a new crisis in the divided country. The main stumbling block he identified was “the eligibility criteria for candidates for the presidential election”. “Short of this, related provisions in the laws would surely remain unimplementable and might even trigger a new crisis,” he added. He urged Libyan decision-makers to act “in a spirit of compromise” and strike a political agreement to ensure “buy-in and inclusion of all major stakeholders”. Haftar also holds US citizenship, and his detractors accuse him of seeking to restore military dictatorship in Libya.

Source: Libya Today June 20, 2023 17:20 UTC