TOBRUK, Libya

The Libyan Parliament passed a national reconciliation law by a majority vote late Tuesday, in the latest effort to heal rifts in the North African country.

In a statement, parliamentary speaker Abdullah Blehig said a majority approved the law during a session held in the eastern city of Benghazi.

"After completing discussion and deliberation of the articles of the draft law, the House of Representatives approved the national reconciliation law," he added.

In September 2021, Libya’s Presidency Council launched an initiative to achieve national reconciliation in Libya after years of conflict since the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011.

In August 2024, Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh was tasked by the assembly to draft a law for national reconciliation in Libya.

In November, Saleh and Mohamed Menfi, who heads Libya’s Presidency Council, called for the assembly to pass the national reconciliation bill “without any amendments.”

Since Gaddafi’s fall, oil-rich Libya has remained divided into two parts. One is governed by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, which enjoys international recognition, and the other by Benghazi-based military commander Khalifa Haftar.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar