The leaders of Libya's two legislative chambers will meet in Geneva next week for last-ditch talks on a constitutional basis for elections, the United Nations said on Thursday, as tensions in the war-torn country are again on the rise.
Two security forces clashed in Tripoli late Wednesday, killing one fighter and damaging property nearby, the Interior Ministry said Thursday, further demonstrating the tense ties between powerful factions in the Libyan capital.
A young man was also killed in a traffic collision as he fled the area along with other civilians, his friends told Reuters.
Two forces associated with the Presidential Council exchanged gunfire in a central part of Tripoli, ministry spokesperson Abdel Monaem al-Arabi said, adding that an investigation into the cause of the incident had begun.
"I saw people running and cars rushing onto the opposite side of the road from fear," passerby Ali Errhoma, 31, told Reuters.
Much of Libya has for years been dominated by rival armed forces that control territory and vie for position while formally acting as paid elements of state security.
Tensions over a political standoff between the government that was installed last year through a U.N.-backed process and a rival administration appointed by the parliament have added to fears of an escalation.
A Reuters reporter said the area where the clashes took place was quiet on Thursday, with shop owners repairing damage to windows and normal life returning.
National elections have long been held up as a crucial element in any long-term solution to Libya's decade of chaos and conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed ousting of Moammar Gadhafi.
Presidential and parliamentary elections that were planned for December 2021 as part of a peace process after a truce in the civil war in 2020 fell apart at the last minute because of disputes over the rules.
Libya's rival factions have since come to a standoff over how to move the political process forward and who should rule the country in the meantime.
The eastern-based House of Representatives parliament said in December that the Tripoli administration of prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah had expired and it announced a new political roadmap and appointed Fathi Bashagha to replace him.
However, Dbeibah has rejected the parliament's moves and refused to hand over power, leaving Bashagha unable to enter Tripoli or take over control of the government.
Under an internationally recognized 2015 political agreement, major decisions need the involvement of both the House of Representatives and another legislative body, the High State Council, which is in Tripoli.
The United Nations has been facilitating talks between the two chambers in Cairo to try to bridge their differences and find agreement on how to hold elections to resolve the crisis.
However, the U.N. special adviser to Libya, Stephanie Williams, said the final round of talks between delegations from the two chambers ended this week without a breakthrough.
The talks between parliament speaker Aguila Saleh and HSC head Khaled al-Meshri, announced by Williams on Twitter, may represent the last chance at diplomacy for now.
Although all sides have said they do not want or expect another round of warfare, tensions between rival factions in western Libya have shown signs of escalation in recent weeks.