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UN's Ban arrives in Libya amid militia violence

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AP Tripoli
Last Updated : Oct 11 2014 | 11:00 PM IST
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today traveled to Libya's capital to back a UN-launched reconciliation process urging rival groups to resolve the bloody rift that has left their oil-rich North African nation deeply split with two separate parliaments and governments.
Ban's visit is his second to Libya since the 2011 fall of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. It comes after the UN launched a dialogue late last month to mediate between the warring Libyan groups.
Libya witnessed a spasm of violence this summer when militias mainly from the western city of Misrata and groups allied to Islamists swept through the capital, backing a government appointed by the country's previous parliament.
Meanwhile, Libya's newly elected parliament and government backed by non-Islamists, driven out of the capital, have been meeting in the country's east.
In a televised session attended by Ban, as well rival politicians and European diplomats, the UN Special Representative for Libya Bernardino Leon said the Libyan capital will be "for the next few hours again the capital of a united Libya."
The meeting was attended by the deputy head of the elected parliament and a representative of the parliamentarians who have boycotted the new House of Representatives.

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First Published: Oct 11 2014 | 11:00 PM IST

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