Algeria to host dialogue between rival Libyan parties next month

Algeria will host a dialogue session between rival Libyan parties next month, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said.

Lamamra expressed his country’s willingness to welcome rivals Libyan political parties to the negotiating table, saying that he is “waiting for negotiations to begin in October in Algeria”.

The minister made the statements during a mini-ministerial meeting on Libya organised by the US State Department on Monday, held on the side-lines of the meetings during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly held in New York, and then published by the official Algerian news agency yesterday.

He did not provide any more details regarding those participating in the talks or the agenda.

Earlier this month, Algeria made an official offer to the rival Libyan parties to host a comprehensive dialogue in order for them to resolve their country’s crisis.

The foreign ministers of 13 countries that participated in the mini-ministerial meeting on Libya urged all concerned parties in Libya to reach an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and to engage in constructive and peaceful political dialogue in order to resolve the crisis at hand and refrain from confrontational acts.”

Libya is suffering from a violent armed conflict in several of its cities, especially in Tripoli and Benghazi, between armed brigades fighting over control. It is also witnessing a political crisis between a liberal party and a political Islamist party that has recently escalated, causing there to be two wings of authority in each of the country’s institution.

One wing of authority is represented by the new parliament held in Tobruk and headed by Abdullah Al-Thinni and by the Libyan Army Chief of Staff Abdul Razzaq Al-Nazhuri.

The second wing, which is not recognised by the international community, consists of the General National Congress (the former parliament that resumed its sessions last month), the Prime Minister Omar Al-Hasi and the Libyan Army Chief of Staff Jad Allah Al-Obaidi.