Libya PM calls for 'common vision' ahead of crisis talks

TRIPOLI:
The head of Libya's UN-backed government, Fayez al-Sarraj, urged the international community to find a "common vision" for the chaos-hit North African nation, ahead of crisis talks in Sicily next week.

In an exclusive interview with AFP at his unity government's headquarters in Tripoli, Sarraj also hit out at "negative interventions by some countries" in Libya, without naming them.

Libya has been beset by violence since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, with rival groups vying for territory and oil wealth.

UN envoy says hard to hold Libya elections in December

Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) was set up under a 2015 UN-brokered deal, but a rival administration based in the country's east refuses to recognise its authority.

Rival Libyan leaders agreed to a Paris-brokered deal in May to hold a nationwide poll by the end of the year — a goal that appears unlikely to be met.

"It is necessary to unify the international (community's) position with regard to Libya," Sarraj said.

He criticised the Libyan parliament based in the country's east, saying it had failed to respect its commitments made in Paris to make the preparations needed for elections.