Libya’s eastern administration on Tuesday officially handed over power to a new executive set to unite the war – torn country and steer it towards elections later this year.
The Government of National Unity (GNU), elected through a UN-backed process, is the latest internationally supported bid to end a decade of chaos in the North African nation and unite rival administrations.
Under the leadership of the caretaker Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the GNU replaces both the Tripoli-based National Accord Government (GNA) and a parallel cabinet headquartered in the Cyrenaica region and not recognized by the international community.
The most important eastern region has been under de facto control of the forces of Putschist General Khalifa Haftar.
Tuesday’s handover took place at the headquarters of the parallel eastern administration, which has so far been led by Abdallah al-Thani, in Libya’s second city of Benghazi.
Hussein Attiya al-Gotrani, one of Dbeibah’s two deputy prime ministers, and several ministers who had come from the capital Tripoli, including Interior Minister Khaled Mazen, represented GNU, said an Agence France-Presse correspondent (AFP).
“The division period is over,” Gotrani was quoted as saying by local media. “The Government of National Unity is at the service of all Libyans, regardless of region.”
Libya sank into conflict after dictator Moamar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, with a series of forces fighting to fill the void.
Dbeibah swore last week after parliament approved his cabinet in a move that key leaders and foreign powers hailed as “historic.”
The interim leadership is facing daunting challenges in uniting the country’s institutions, ending a decade of international strife and preparing for the December 24 elections.
The handover came a week after Fayez al-Sarraj, the outgoing head of the Western-based GNA, formally relinquished power to the new unit administration.
Haftar has not officially participated in the political negotiations.
