By Fatih Erel
GENEVA
The United Nations on Friday highlighted "optimism" and "progress" during a new round of peace talks in Geneva between representatives from the two rival Libyan factions aimed at resolving the political crisis in the country through a unity government.
Since the ouster and death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011, Libya has been dogged by lawlessness and frequent clashes between rival groups that have caused thousands of casualties.
The representatives of the Tripoli parliament -- General National Congress (GNC) -- joined the negotiations with Tobruk-based House of Representatives. The two-day talks in the U.N. Office at Geneva saw the parties hold separate meetings with Bernardino Leon, special representative and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
"We are making progress and my first comment is that we are now, after the meetings we had yesterday and today in Geneva, in a better position than when we started," Leon said in a press conference.
"We might be starting the final days of these talks and hopefully have the possibility to reach an agreement, that as you know we would like to have ready, endorsed, and signed, by 20 September," Leon said.
"We really have a chance to reach a final agreement in the coming days and that we cannot afford, Libya cannot afford, to miss this opportunity," he said.
Noting that UNSMIL has not received the names proposed by the GNC for prime minster and deputy prime minister, Leon said: "We have the names from the HoR [House of Representatives] but not yet from the GNC [General National Congress]. Hopefully we will have the names when we meet again, probably next Wednesday."
"We are optimistic, that's why we are here, there is a chance of getting an agreement," one of the four representatives of the GNC delegation, Abdurrahman Shaibani A. Sewehli, told journalists on Thursday.
About presenting their candidates for the prime minister and two deputies to lead the national unity government, Sewehli said, "It is to early for us to start talking about names and lists. We are still waiting to resolve the issue of the draft agreement" to reach a political deal.
"If we resolve the issue of the amendments, we could move towards the signing of the final agreement," he added.
The country's stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each of which boasts its own institutions and military capacities.
Vying for legislative authority are a Tobruk-based House of Representatives and a General National Congress that convenes in Tripoli.
The two assemblies support two rival governments, respectively headquartered in the two cities.
