Libya

Libya's parliament wants the government it has appointed under Fathi Bashagha to be based for now in Sirte, it said on Tuesday, amid a stalemate over control of the capital Tripoli where another administration refuses to hand over power.

Extending the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for three months today, the Security Council decided that the Mission will be led by a Tripoli-based Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

Moscow has pulled more than 1,000 Syrian and Russian mercenaries from Libya, as it faces setbacks and personnel losses in its invasion of Ukraine. According to the Financial Times, about 200 Russian mercenaries from the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, and about 1,000 pro-Russian Syrian fighters have been withdrawn from the North African country.

Libya's Parliament-appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, discussed with U.S. senior officials efforts to hold timely and transparent elections and to "establish economic and political security," he said in a tweet early on Wednesday.

In its two years of operation to date the European Union (EU) Naval Force (NavFor) Mediterranean Operation Irini investigated over 6 200 ships, conducted 250 plus “friendly approaches” and inspected 22 suspect vessels.

Rival Libyan officials began talks Wednesday in the Egyptian capital on disputed constitutional arrangements for their country’s elections. The UN-brokered talks come as the North African nation is increasingly deadlocked.

The UN Advisor, Stephanie Williams, said that she had received a positive response from the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, as he welcomed the initiative of the UN, adding that the situation now is only a matter of bringing the HoR and High Council of State (HCS) together, and then launching negotiations.

The UN Libya mission said consultative meetings with legislators about election rules would start on Tuesday even though the eastern-based parliament has not yet named members to a joint committee on the subject.

Discord about how to resolve a political impasse has once more put Libya in danger of fracturing in two. The priorities are for the camps to agree on a way forward and for outside powers to stay united in backing whatever peaceful option Libyans choose.

Amid a political impasse that threatens to see Libya fractured again by two parallel governments, the priority must be maintaining hard-won gains and fulfilling the electoral aspirations of nearly three million registered voters, the UN political affairs chief told the Security Council on Wednesday.