Libyan rivals resume talks in Morocco to break political deadlock

Delegations from rival Libyan institutions resumed talks in Morocco on Wednesday to try to break a political deadlock and prevent the country from sliding back into chaos.

Libya has undergone a turbulent decade since it split in 2014 between two administrations in its east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The talks in Bouznika, near the Moroccan capital Rabat, were between rival legislative bodies known as the High Council of State based in Tripoli in the west and the House of Representatives based in Benghazi in the east.

Speaking at the opening of consultations between the institutions, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita urged participants to work together to preserve Libya's unity and prepare for "credible elections."

"The numerous international and regional conferences on Libya will not replace the inter-Libyan dialogue which has credibility and ownership," he said.

A political process to end years of institutional division, outright warfare and unstable peace has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed, amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.

The House of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition.

Under a 2015 Libyan Political Agreement, reached in Morocco's Skhirate near Rabat, the High State Council was formed as a consultative second chamber with an advisory role.

But the House of Representatives then appointed its own rival government, saying the mandate of the prime minister of a government of national unity had expired. The eastern-appointed government has had little clout, but its appointment revived Libya's east-west division.