Libya's rival governments shun UN, sign separate peace deal

Lawmakers from Libya's rival parliaments have reached a power-sharing agreement in Tunisia, shunning a UN-brokered deal to avoid the "foreign intervention" tainting it, an internationally recognised government representative has said.

However, it appeared the deal had failed to gain broad acceptance by either side, with representatives from both parliaments coming out to slam the newly minted agreement yesterday.

Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The oil-rich country has been torn between an internationally recognised government in the far east and Islamist-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

The UN's unity government deal, which is aimed at ending the conflict, was drafted by its former envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon, who accepted a job last month from the United Arab Emirates.
 
The country backs some members of the internationally recognised government, casting doubts on the international body's neutrality.

Yesterday's move seemed to splinter the north African country's governing bodies even further, with members from both sides coming out to praise or criticise the deal.

"We believe this is a step on the right track away from intervention of foreign entities and manipulation," prominent internationally recognised parliament member Abu Bakr Beira said in the eastern city of Tobruk, where his parliament is based.

Meanwhile, his parliament's spokesman told The Associated Press the new deal does not represent the body.

"This is an individual effort and a childish attempt to get out of signing the real peace deal," Faraj Abu Hashim said.

If successful, yesterday's deal would see the formation of two 10-member committees, with both camps enjoying equal representation. One committee would name a prime minister and two deputies one from each body in the next two weeks.

The trio would then form the unity Cabinet. The other committee would draft a constitution and prepare for parliamentary elections within two years.

According to the media offices of both parties, nearly half the members of each body are still in favour of the UN deal despite Leon's departure, albeit with conditions. The UN has repeatedly refused to reconsider changing the proposal.

The UN deal, due for endorsement next week in Rome, had been rejected by the internationally recognised government because it would have given the unity government the power to fire all senior Libyan officials not unanimously approved by its members a clause they interpreted as an attempt to remove their fiercely anti-Islamist army chief, Gen Khalifa Hifter, whose forces have been battling Islamist militias nationwide for over a year.