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Libya’s eastern administration on Tuesday officially handed over power to a new executive who was supposed to unify the war-torn country and lead it to elections later this year.
The Government of National Unity (GNU), selected through a UN-backed process, is the latest internationally backed attempt to end a decade of chaos in the North African nation and unite administrations rivals.
Led by Acting Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, the GNU replaces both the Tripoli-based National Accord Government (GNA) and a parallel cabinet based in the Cyrenaica region and unrecognized by the international community.
The key eastern region has been under the de facto control of the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The handover on Tuesday took place at the seat of the parallel eastern government, so far headed by Abdullah al-Thani, in Libya’s second city, Benghazi.
Hussein Attiya al-Gotrani, one of Dbeibah’s two deputy prime ministers, and several ministers from the capital Tripoli, including Interior Minister Khaled Mazen, represented the GNU, an AFP correspondent said.
“The period of division is over,” Gotrani said as quoted by local media. “The Government of National Unity is at the service of all Libyans, regardless of their region.”
Libya fell into conflict after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, with a range of forces struggling to fill the void.
Dbeibah was sworn in last week after parliament approved his cabinet in a move hailed by key leaders and foreign powers as “historic.”
The interim executive faces daunting challenges to unify the country’s institutions, end a decade of fighting marked by international interference, and prepare for the December 24 elections.
The transfer came a week after Fayez al-Sarraj, the outgoing western-based leader of the GNA, formally handed over power to the new unity administration.
Sarraj and his UN-recognized GNA had never obtained the support of the authorities based in the East.
Strongman Haftar did not officially take part in the political negotiations.
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