GENEVA
UN-backed peace talks with one of the two formal sides of Libya's warring factions started on Wednesday in Geneva in an effort to end the country's political and security crisis.
"We are starting a process, it’s going to be a long process, it’s going to be difficult," UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Bernardino Leon, said in a press conference at the UN Headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday.
Speaking about the aims of the Libya talks in Geneva, Leon said, "There are two main goals: number one, to reach a political settlement, a political settlement that will be acceptable for all Libyans, including a national unity government."
"The second goal is to stop the fighting. I am sure you all know that Libya is falling really very deeply into chaos," he added.
"We have recently a statement by the governor of the Central Bank in Libya alerting that the country was really running out of time. We need to address all this if we want to avoid this total chaos in the country," Leon said.
"This is a process, this is going to take time, we are not expecting to have a breakthrough tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. There is a gap between the parties, which is becoming more complicated, there is more fighting on the ground," he said.
"The idea is that we will not take decisions here in Geneva. We will make proposals, they will agree on proposals that will be debated and should be supported by a majority of Libyans," he said.
Commenting on who is present for talks at the UN Office in Geneva, Leon said representatives who attend sessions in the Tobruk parliament are present, as well as "those who are boycotting the Parliament sessions. Some of them from Misrata, some of them from Tripoli."
"The Parliament in Tripoli, as you know, is the controversy we have. And their colleagues met on Tuesday. They were supposed to vote to come here. But they decided... to vote next Sunday. We had been working on a ceasefire as I explained before, in contact with the fighting groups. The situation is so fragile in Libya," he added.
Regarding when the talks will come to an end, Leon said, "This round will last until Friday. This first round will end on Saturday and I would like some of the participants in these rounds to get in touch with their Tripoli colleagues and to explain the first meetings and the first discussions and to encourage them to join. They will take their decision on Sunday and then we will resume our work hopefully next Monday or Tuesday."
Leon warned the representatives of the Tripoli parliament, saying, "If they miss this opportunity it is very difficult to imagine that there will be a situation in the country that will allow easily to start a new process."
Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011. Rival militias have frequently clashed in Libya's main cities, including capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.
The government has remained largely absent from the scene. Political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government in the country, each of which has its own institutions.
Vying for legislative authority are the newly-elected House of Representatives, which convenes in Tobruk, and the General National Congress, which – even though its mandate has ended – continues to convene in Tripoli.
The two assemblies support two different governments headquartered in the two respective cities.
