Political parties from Libya agreed to sign the UN-facilitated agreement to form a national unity government on December 16, according to a written statement from the United Nations News Centre. The objective is to end a crisis that has left about 2.4 million Libyans in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, the UN declared.
Talks in the Tunisian capital culminated in agreement on a number of relevant points, said Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, Martin Kobler.
He said the political settlement should be held on the basis of the Libyan Political Agreement negotiated within the framework of the UN Support Mission-facilitated political dialogue. He also stated that notwithstanding the legitimate concerns by some of the parties regarding some elements of the Libyan Political Agreement, there would be no reopening of the text.
About 40 men and women who participate in the political dialogue in Libya concluded December 16 was the day they were supposed to sign, they also made a call to the political actors to generate a favorable environment to permit a future Government of National Accord to assume its responsibilities in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, the UN declared.
“Critically, participants in the political dialogue highlighted the urgency, the time factor. Libya is in a race against time, it’s very social fabric, national unity and territorial integrity are directly endangered by the forces of extremism and terrorism, the likes of Daesh, which are actively consolidating and seeking to extend their influence beyond areas under their immediate control” said Mr. Kobler.
2.4 million people are in need of imminent humanitarian assistance, declared the UN envoy, 435,00 are estimated to be internally displaced. Also, anarchy has reached high levels in consequence of the expansion of terrorist groups. However, Libyans are united in an overpowering way, he said they are united on one key point, which is that they can no longer wait for peace to come, instead the time has come to make peace.
Council members pointed out that a unity government must be formed swiftly to counter the threat that the Islamic State extremists represent. They also menaced sanctions against those impeding the restoration of peace and stability, Washington Post reported.
It is known that the production of oil in Libya has decreased to almost half of the 1.6 million barrels that were produced each day before Gaddafi fell. As a consequence the central bank and state oil company, National Oil Corporation, are wrestling to administer the economy depending on the crude oil, which is getting a price drop worldwide.
Source: United Nations News Centre