UN welcomes agreement on Libya ceasefire, polls

United Nations, Aug 22 (IANS) The UN has welcomed the points of agreement on a ceasefire and elections in Libya.

In a statement on Friday, the UN Secretary General to Libya Stephanie Williams hailed the points of agreement in the declarations issued by Libya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and Speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives (Parliament) Aguila Saleh, Xinhua news agency reported.

Williams urged for the rapid implementation of the two leaders’ call for the resumption of oil production and exports, it added.

The UN official also called on all parties to “rise to this historic occasion and shoulder their full responsibilities before the Libyan people”.

Earlier in the day, Serraj and Saleh issued statements announcing the ceasefire, as well as calling for resumption of oil exports and elections in the country.

Williams noted that the initiatives “have created hope for forging a peaceful political solution to the longstanding Libyan crisis, which will affirm the desire of the Libyan people to live in peace and dignity”.

The eastern-based army and the UN-backed government had been engaged in a deadly armed conflict for more than a year over the control of capital Tripoli before the UN-backed government announced taking over all of western Libya following the eastern-based army’s withdrawal from the region.

After the eastern-based army withdrew from western Libya, the UN-backed government has been trying to take control of the city of Sirte and Jufra district tn the country’s central region.

–IANS

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