TRIPOLI: Libya embarked Saturday on a new phase of its post-Qadhafi transition after an interim executive was selected to lead the country until December elections following a decade of chaos.
In a potential turning point accord widely welcomed by the international community, four new leaders from Libya's west, east and south now face the task of unifying a nation torn apart by two rival administrations and countless militias. Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old engineer, was selected Friday as interim prime minister by 75 Libyan delegates at UN-led talks outside Geneva, the culmination of a process of dialogue launched in November.
It marked the start of a new chapter for Libya after the failure of a 2015 UN-brokered deal that established a Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Sarraj. Libya has been mired in violent turmoil with divisions between the GNA in Tripoli and a rival administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east. Acting UN envoy Stephanie Williams, who facilitated the week-long talks in Switzerland, called it a "historic moment".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "I do believe it is a breakthrough".
In the centre of the capital Tripoli, citizens guardedly welcomed the news.
"At first, Libyans were not optimistic," said 43-year-old Adil al-Kakli. "But yesterday, the joy was palpable, because we saw these initiatives for the emergence of a state," he added, while cautioning that the plan to hold elections in December remained too ambitious.
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