The third round of talks for constitutional reforms for Libya's elections resumed Sunday, as Libyan officials convened in Cairo, Egypt amid tensions between two rival administrations in the war-torn country.
The talks in Cairo come on the heels of clashes between rival administrations that caused residents of the Libyan capital Tripoli to panic and revived nightmares of previous bouts of fighting in the chaos-stricken nation.
Lawmakers from Libya’s east-based pro-putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar parliament and the High Council of State, an advisory body from western Libya, began the U.N.-brokered negotiations amid concerted international pressure on the two chambers to put their disputes aside and agree on the election’s legal basis.
The U.N. special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, said talks in a Cairo hotel will continue till June 19 with the aim of establishing a constitutional framework "required to take the country to national elections as soon as possible."
In the previous two rounds of talks, the parties came to an initial consensus on 137 articles of the constitutional draft, including on rights and freedoms. They would continue discussing a handful of disputed articles on legislative and judicial authority, Williams said.
The dispute over the constitutional framework of the election was among the major challenges that caused planned national elections to fail in December.
The failure to hold the vote was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in Libya. It has opened a new chapter in its long-running political impasse, with rival governments now claiming power after tentative steps toward unity in the past year.
On Friday, clashes broke out in Tripoli between rival militias, spurring residents to take shelter and women and children to flee a busy park as artillery shells flew across the night sky. It was not clear what caused the clashes. Authorities in Tripoli said an investigation was opened.
Williams, the U.N. adviser, condemned the fighting, saying in a Twitter post, "Enough is enough!" She called for those responsible to be held accountable.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, threatened to sanction those responsible for the fighting, saying they "will pay a price with the Libyan people and the international community."
The violence was the latest bout of infighting in recent weeks between rogue militias, especially in the western region, which is ruled by an array of militias loosely allied with the Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
East and south Libya are controlled by forces loyal to Haftar, who is allied with a rival government led by parliament-appointed Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha. His rival, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, based in Tripoli in the country’s west, has refused to step down, insisting he will hand over power only to an elected government. As an interim prime minister, Dbeibah was to have led the country through elections in December, but the vote never took place.
Lawmakers have argued that Dbeibah’s mandate expired after Libya failed to hold presidential elections on schedule. The failure was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in Libya. The country reverted to its long-running political impasse, with rival governments claiming power. Dbeibah has repeatedly promised to hold elections soon.
Bashagha said he doubts his rival can unite the country and organize orderly voting, claiming Dbeibah does not command enough loyalty outside of the capital.
The oil-rich country has been wracked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country has for years been split between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by different militias and foreign governments.