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Fayez al-Sarraj (C) is at the head of Libya's national agreement government. By Mahmud TURKIA (AFP)
The UN-backed Libyan leader of the government, Fayez al-Sarraj, is a trained architect who has been fighting for years against political and economic crises to rebuild this country of North Africa.
A business man who has worked for years in the private and public sectors, Sarraj, 59, joined Parliament in June 2014.
Just two months later, a militia alliance took control of the capital Tripoli, forcing the government and the newly elected parliament to flee into eastern Libya.
Sarraj escaped to Tobruk, where the parliament still remains, while his architect wife and their three children have moved abroad.
He began following in the footsteps of his father, Mostafa, who played an influential role in the creation of the Libyan state after independence in 1951.
Described as "very calm" by a childhood friend, the young Sarraj grew up in a well-to-do family with commercial interests and land in Tripoli.
Political Novice As a result of the ousting of dictator Moamer Gaddafi in 2011, Sarraj gained international notoriety in December 2015 when he was chosen to lead the Government of the National Accord backed by the I & # 39; 39; UN.
After years of chaos and violence after the uprising, he was tasked with putting order in state institutions and initiating a process of reconciliation.
But his prime minister's post had a difficult start, seeing him stuck in Tunisia until April 2016, when a Libyan navy vessel brought him to Tripoli.
The first successes saw Sarraj join the country's economic and political authorities. But he has not managed to get support from the East administration, which is backed by his main rival, Khalifa Haftar.
Only a few months after taking the helm, GNA forces took over ISIS jihadist Sirte City in December 2016.
But the government has revealed itself unable to set up a regular police force or an army, and militias remain a powerful force in Tripoli and in western Libya.
Sarraj has agreements with armed groups in the capital to ensure relative stability, but some badysts say that such deals have made hostage militias.
The few positive developments in the context of the GNA have been overshadowed by many failures, particularly the government's inability to improve daily life in Libya in the face of current insecurity and economic difficulties.
While Sarraj failed despite continued support from the United Nations, Haftar and his so-called Libyan National Army grew stronger.
Haftar, a former army officer, recruited a series of foreign lenders, including Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. This week, his troops advanced towards the capital.
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