Western embassies in Libya back Dec 24 elections

The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US in Libya have called for "all Libyan actors" to ensure the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections slated for Decemver 24.

"All actors should recognise that now is the time to engage and finalize the electoral framework, taking into account all legitimate concerns of the Libyan people," Xinhua news agency reported on Monday citing the embassies as saying in a joint statement.

The statement stressed that such elections, as determined in the Roadmap of the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in November 2020, and asserted in UN Security Council Resolution 2570, are an essential step in further stabilising and uniting Libya, and their results should be respected by all.

The general elections were initially slated be held in early 2019, after having earlier been planned for December 2018.

The elections are intended to consist of presidential and parliamentary elections - IANS