TRIPOLI
Agreement has been reached between Libyan factions taking part in a UN-backed national dialogue in Morocco on the criteria for selecting the head of a proposed unity government, a member of Libya's Tripoli-based parliament said Friday.
Libya's main political factions agreed that each side would field a single nominee who does not hold foreign nationality, does not belong to a particular political camp, and is not a member of either of Libya's two active parliaments, the source, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency.
Delegates from both camps will return to their respective assemblies to form lists of possible nominees to be presented at a dialogue session in Morocco next week, the source said.
The source added that both sides continued to disagree as to which legislature would ratify the unity government, approve its budget and oversee its activities.
Libya's Tobruk-based parliament, which enjoys international recognition, views itself as the elected representative of the Libyan people.
Libya's Tripoli-based assembly, meanwhile, claims legislative authority based on a verdict delivered last November by Libya's High Court dissolving the Tobruk parliament.
'Breakthrough' made in Libya talks: UN envoy
UN-sponsored talks between Libya's warring camps have seen a "breakthrough," UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon said Friday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, Leon said the Morocco-hosted talks had made progress both in terms of the formation of a proposed unity government and security issues.
He went on to voice hope that an agreement would be hammered out soon.
Mezouar, for his part, called on Libya's warring camps to resolve their conflict through dialogue.
"We need a stable and unified Libya," he told reporters.
Earlier Friday, a member of Libya's Tripoli-based parliament told The Anadolu Agency that agreement had been reached between Libyan factions on the criteria for selecting a prime minister.
UN-sponsored dialogue talks kicked off in Morocco on Thursday with the aim of resolving the conflict in crisis-hit Libya.
The North African country has remained in a state of turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the decades-long rule of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.
Since then, the country's stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each with its own institutions and military capacities.
Vying for legislative authority are a Tobruk-based parliament and an Islamist-led parliament, the latter of which – even though its mandate ended last year – continues to convene in capital Tripoli.
The two assemblies support two rival governments respectively headquartered in the two cities.
