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The Libyans have agreed to end the fighting and form a new government and presidency council, but they did not agree to turn the page on the past and overcome the pain of war and division.
Friday 28/05/2021
Tunisian President Kais Saied, left, and Stephanie Williams, Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General attend the opening ceremony of the Libya’s peace talks in Tunis, Nov. 9, 2020. (AP)
Ten years after their respective uprisings, Tunisia and Libya are still at a crossroads.
Libya is indeed inaugurating a new chapter of its political transition by the formation of a new interim government on February 15, 2021, which must confront the gigantic task of securing and unifying a deeply-divided country and preparing the ground for general elections set for the end of the year.
For its part, Tunisia is struggling to consolidate its own democracy in the context of serious economic, social and political crises, further complicated by a devastating pandemic. The country is still also testing the political governance set up by the 2014 Constitution, a semi-parliamentary system with dual executive branches that are unable to manage and contain the rise
Tuesday, 18 May, 2021 - 17:30
US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood meets with GNU head Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, in Tripoli, Libya May 18, 2021. (Handout via Reuters) Asharq Al-Awsat
The United States on Tuesday sent its highest-level official to Libya since 2014 in what it called a signal of Washington s increased focus on efforts to resolve the country s crisis.
Acting assistant secretary of state Joey Hood met Libya s new Government of National Unity (GNU) head Abdulhamid Dbeibeh and Presidential Council chief Mohammed al-Menfi. The goal of the United States is a sovereign, stable, unified Libya with no foreign interference, and a state that is capable of combating terrorism, he said at a joint news conference with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush.
Wednesday, 5 May, 2021 - 05:30
Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohammed al-Menfi meets with a Turkish delegation in Tripoli on Monday. Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud
Differences “as clear as day” have become apparent between Libyan Presidential Council, chaired by Mohammed al-Menfi, and the Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, over the future of relations with Turkey.
The differences emerged during a surprise visited carried out by a senior Turkish delegation to Tripoli this week, informed sources from the GNU told Asharq Al-Awsat. The delegation included Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
The sources said that Dbeibeh, Foreign Minister Najla al-Manqoush and Menfi are divided over how to deal with Turkey and persuade it to withdraw its Syrian mercenaries from Libya.