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Libya rival factions reject national unity government deal

United Nations envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon (C), holds a press conference in the Moroccan city of Skhirat on October 8, 2015. (AFP photo)

Rival factions in Libya have rejected a recent UN-brokered agreement on the formation of a national unity government.

Reacting to the deal, Mahmud Abdel Aziz, a lawmaker from the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC), said on Monday that it would deepen rifts in the North African nation.

"This government is rejected... it will deepen differences between the Libyan people," media outlets quoted Abdel Aziz as saying.

The Tripoli-based government has been demanding amendments to the UN-proposed peace agreement for Libya.

Meanwhile, Ali Tekbali, a lawmaker from the internationally recognized parliament, which is based in the northeastern city of in Tobruk, also dismissed the UN plan, saying the government it has proposed is one of "divisions, not unity."

Tekbali also noted that UN special envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon, "wants to impose a fait accompli on us."

The Tobruk-based parliament members are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the UN-proposed unity government.

Leon, the head of the UN Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL), has proposed the formation of a unity government in the violence-hit country. 

Since August 2014, when militias seized the capital, Tripoli, Libya has had two parliaments and two governments with one, the GNC, run by the rebels in the capital and the other, which is internationally-recognized, based of Tobruk.

This June 3, 2015 file photo shows Libya's Prime Minister of the self-declared government in Tripoli, Khalifa al-Ghweil (2 R) standing next to the Army Chief of Staff, Jadallah al-Abidi (L) during the Libyan Army Officers 5th Forum at Tripoli's maritime base. (AFP photo)

 

Talks have been held between the two sides for months, with Leon trying to produce an agreement that will lead to the formation of a government and an end to the militancy in the country.

Libya has been grappling with violence and political uncertainty since 2011.


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