Libyan HoR Concerned over Geneva Talks, Outcomes

Arab World

January 30th, 10:28am

Cairo - Jamal Jawhar

Police officers are seen outside a building of parliament headquarters during the first session of lawmakers allied to Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli, Libya, May 2, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

The Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) still opposes the formation mechanism of the committee assigned to discuss the political process, which was supposed to kick off talks in Geneva this month under a UN sponsorship. MP Mohamed al-Abbani said Wednesday that the Berlin Conference is an international conspiracy against the victory of the Libyan National Army and hinders its purging operation in Tripoli. He also underscored the Libyans’ right in managing their affairs, calling for distancing UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salameh from the political scene. He considered that Salameh is the reason behind the crisis, conflicts escalation, and waste of potentials. The UN mission suggested earlier to form the committee with 40 Libyan figures as follows: 13 deputies from the HoR in Tobruk and 13 others from the High Council of State, in addition to 14 independent figures representing all Libyan cities. Meanwhile, Second Deputy of HoR Speaker Dr. Ahmid Houma expressed discomfort towards the plots preceding the conference in Geneva as he expressed little hope in this dialogue and its outcomes. Houma said he conveyed to the mission all the inquiries of the MPs regarding the dialogue. He further stressed backing armed forces in the war against terrorism and militias. Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Fawzi al-Nuwair urged the UNSMIL to reconsider the number of parliament participants in the Geneva talks. He highlighted the inequivalence in participants’ numbers between the HoR and the High Council of State in terms of number and political approaches. Since the beginning of May, around 60 deputies boycotted the parliament’s sessions in Tobruk, which were chaired by Libyan parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh. They started holding sessions at Tripoli's Rixos Hotel. A total of 49 deputies elected Sadiq al-Kahili as head of the parliament.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2106771/libyan-hor-concerned-over-geneva-talks-outcomes