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Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh was selected as Prime Minister by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), together with Mohamed al-Menfi as Chairman of the Presidential Council, Musa al-Koni and Abdullah al-Lafi as Presidential Council members.[1] Dbeibeh was required under the agreements made by the LPDF to nominate a cabinet of ministers to the House of Representatives (HoR) by 26 February 2021.[13]

On 15 February, Dbeibeh stated his intention to contact people in all 13 electoral areas of Libya for discussing proposed nominations as ministers, and for the cabinet to represent a cross-section of Libyans. The LPDF rules state that if Dbeibeh fails to present his proposed cabinet to the HoR by 26 February, or the HoR does not approve the proposed cabinet, then decision-making returns to the LPDF.[13][14] Dbeibeh said the following day that he would consult with the High Council of State, the HoR and the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission.[15]

On 15 February, about 20 HoR members were present at an HoR session held in Tobruk, chaired by Aguila Saleh Issa in the "eastern" component of the HoR; 70 HoR members were present at Sabratha, the HoR session of the "western" component. The Tobruk bloc called for GNU offices to be located in Sirte and for the HoR to hold a special session for approving the proposed GNU cabinet. According to the Libya Herald, the two branches of the HoR remained in competition with one another.[16]

On 10 March 2021, the House of Representatives met in the central city of Sirte and approved with a 12111 vote the formation of the Government of National Unity led by Mohamed al-Menfi as chairman of the Presidential Council and Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh as Prime Minister.[17]

The House of Representatives, which rules eastern Libya, passed a no-confidence motion against the unity government on 21 September 2021.[18] On 3 March 2022 a rival Government of National Stability was installed in Sirte, under the leadership of Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha.[19] The decision was denounced as illegitimate by the High Council of State and condemned by the United Nations.[20][21]

Both governments have been functioning simultaneously, which has led to dual power in Libya. The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum keeps corresponding with ceasefire agreement.[22] Since May, there have been clashes between supporters of the two governments in Libya,[23] which escalated on August 27.[24]

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Government of National Unity (Libya) - Wikipedia

TUNIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Libya's "5+5" military committee of officers from both main sides of the civil war has agreed on a coordination mechanism for the withdrawal of foreign forces in liaison with neighbouring Sudan and Niger, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The procedural step would allow for joint coordination and data exchange to facilitate the full withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya, the U.N. Libya envoy Abdoulaye Bathily announced after a meeting in Egypt.

However, any more concrete moves to pull out the hundreds of foreign fighters believed to be present in Libya after joining different sides in the conflict still face major political obstacles.

Although there has been little open warfare in Libya for nearly three years, the political standoff over control of government and access to state resources persists, with many Libyans fearing a return to conflict.

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The main eastern and western factions fighting from 2014-20 deployed fighters from African countries, Syria, and from the private Russian company Wagner, according to U.N. experts' reports. Turkey also deployed forces in Syria at the invitation of the then internationally recognised government.

According to the terms of the 2020 ceasefire agreement that led to the formation of the 5+5 committee, all foreign forces were meant to be withdrawn within months, but very few are believed to have left.

Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Jon Boyle and Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Libyan military committee agrees coordination on foreign forces ...

The US has stepped up pressure on its Middle East allies to expel the Wagner Group a military contractor owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russias President from chaos-stricken Libya and Sudan, where it has expanded in recent years, regional officials told The Associated Press.

The US effort described by officials comes as President Joe Biden's administration is making a broad push against the mercenaries. The US has slapped new sanctions on the Wagner Group in recent months over its expanding role in Russia's war in Ukraine.

The group does not announce its operations, but its presence is known from reports on the ground and other evidence.

In Sudan, it was originally associated with former strongman Omar Al Bashir and now works with the military leaders who replaced him. In Libya, it is associated with eastern Libya-based military commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Wagner has sent thousands of operatives to African and Middle East countries including Mali, Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Syria.

Wagner tends to target countries with natural resources that can be used for Moscows objectives - gold mines in Sudan, for example, where the resulting gold can be sold in ways that circumvent Western sanctions, said Catrina Doxsee, an expert on Wagner at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The groups role in Libya and Sudan was central to talks between CIA Director William Burns and officials in Egypt and Libya in January. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also discussed the group with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in a late-January trip to Cairo, Egyptian officials said.

The group and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin have been under US sanctions since 2017, and the Biden administration in December announced new export restrictions on its access to technology and supplies, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organisation.

Wagner started operating in Sudan in 2017, providing military training to intelligence and special forces, and to the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, according to Sudanese officials and documents shared with the AP.

Wagner mercenaries are not operating in a combat role in Sudan, officials said. The group, which has dozens of operatives in the country, provides military and intelligence training, as well as surveillance and protection of sites and top officials.

The US is making efforts to convince power brokers in Libya and Sudan to expel the Russian private military company Wagner, regional officials tell The Associated Press. AP

Sudanese military leaders appear to have given Wagner control of gold mines in return. The documents show the group has received mining rights through front companies with ties to Sudans powerful military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Two companies have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for acting as fronts for Wagners mining activities.

The main camp of Wagner mercenaries is in the contested village of Am Dafok on the border between the Central African Republic and Sudan, according to the Darfur Bar Association, a legal group that focuses on human rights.

In Libya, Mr Burns held talks in Tripoli with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, head of one of Libya's two rival governments.

The CIA director also met with Mr Haftar in eastern Libya, according to Libyan officials.

UN experts said Wagner mercenaries have been present Libya since 2018, helping Mr Haftar's forces in their fight against Islamist militants in the east. The group was also involved in his failed offensive on Tripoli in April 2019.

CIA Director Bill Burns held talks in Tripoli as the US is pressuring allies in the region to expel the Wagner Group from Sudan and Libya. Reuters

Since the 2020 ceasefire, Wagner's activities have centred around oil facilities in central Libya, and they have continued providing military training to Mr Haftar's forces, Libyan officials said. It is not clear how many Wagner mercenaries are still in Libya.

US officials have demanded that mercenaries be pulled out of oil facilities, another Libyan official said.

Mr Haftar did not offer any commitments, but asked for assurances that Turkey and the militias it backed in western Libya would not attack his forces in the coastal city of Sirte and other areas in the central part of the country.

Egypt, which has close ties with Mr Haftar, has demanded that Wagner not be stationed close to its borders.

There is no evidence yet that the Biden administrations pressure has yielded results in either Sudan or Libya, observers said.

Updated: February 03, 2023, 7:06 PM

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US seeks to expel Wagner Group from Sudan and Libya

CAIRO -- Italys prime minister held talks in Libya on Saturday with officials from the countrys west-based government focusing on energy and migration, top issues for Italy and the European Union. During the visit, the two countries' oil companies signed a gas deal worth $8 billion the largest single investment in Libyas energy sector in more than two decades.

Libya is the second North African country that Premier Giorgia Meloni, three months in office, visited this week. She is seeking to secure new supplies of natural gas to replace Russian energy amid Moscow's war on Ukraine. She previously visited Algeria, Italys main supplier of natural gas, where she signed several memorandums.

Meloni landed at the Mitiga airport, the only functioning airport in Libyas capital, Tripoli, amid tight security, accompanied by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, her office said. She met with Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, who heads one of Libyas rival administrations, and held talks with Mohamed Younis Menfi, who chairs Libyas ceremonial presidential council.

At a round-table with Dbeibah, Meloni repeated her remarks from Algeria, saying that while Italy wants to increase its profile in the region, it doesnt seek a predatory role but wants to help African nations grow and become richer.

During the visit, Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Italys state-run energy company, ENI, signed an $8 billion deal with Libyas National Oil Corporation to develop two Libyan offshore gas fields. NOC's chairman Farhat Bengdara also signed.

The agreement involves developing two offshore fields in Block NC-41, north of Libya and ENI said they would start pumping gas in 2026, and estimated to reach 750 million cubic feet per day, the Italian firm said in a statement.

Meloni, who attended the signing ceremony, called the deal significant and historic and said it will help Europe securing energy sources.

Libya is clearly for us a strategic economic partner, Meloni said.

Saturday's deal is likely to deepen the rift between the rival Libyan administrations in the east and west, similar to previous oil and military deals between Tripoli and Ankara. It has already exposed fractions within the Dbeibahs government.

Oil Minister Mohamed Aoun, who did not attend the signing, criticized the deal on a local TV, saying it was illegal" and claiming that NOC did not consult with his ministry.

Bengdara did not address Aouns criticism during his conference but said those who reject the deal could challenge it in court.

ENI has continued to operate in Libya despite ongoing security issues, producing gas mostly for the domestic market. Last year, Libya delivered just 2.63 billion cubic meters to Italy through the Greenstream pipeline well below the annual levels of 8 billion cubic meters before Libya's decline in 2011.

Instability, increased domestic demand and underinvestment has hampered Libyas gas deliveries abroad, according to Matteo Villa of the Milan-based ISPI think tank. New deals are important in terms of image, Villa said.

Also, because of Moscow's war on Ukraine, Italy has moved to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. Last year, Italy reduced imports by two-thirds, to 11 billion cubic meters.

Meloni is the top European official to visit oil-rich Libya since the country failed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2021. That prompted Libya's east-based parliament to appoint a rival government after Dbeibah refused to step down.

Libya has for most of the past decade been ruled by rival governments one based in the country's east, and the other in Tripoli, in the west. The country descended into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising turned civil war that toppled and later killed longtime autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Piantedosis presence during the visit signaled that migration is a top concern in Meloni's trip. The interior minister has been spearheading the governments crackdown on charity rescue boats operating off Libya, initially denying access to ports and more recently, assigning ports in northern Italy, requiring days of navigation.

At a joint news conference with Meloni later Saturday, Dbeibah said that Italy would provide five fully equipped boats to Libyas coast guard to help stem the flow of migrants to the European shores.

Alarm Phone, an activist network that helps bring rescuers to distressed migrants at sea, criticized Italys move to provide the patrol boats.

While this is nothing new, it is worrying, the group said in an email to The Associated Press. This will inevitably lead to more people being abducted at sea and forced to return to places they had sought to escape from.

Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that Meloni needs to show some kind of a step-up, compared to her predecessor in terms of migration and energy policy in Libya.

But it will be difficult to improve upon Romes existing western Libya tactics, which have been chugging along, he said.

The North African nation has also become a hub for African and Middle Eastern migrants seeking to travel to Europe, with Italy receiving tens of thousands every year.

Successive Italian governments and the European Union have supported the Libyan coast guard and militias loyal to Tripoli in hopes of curbing such perilous sea crossings.

The United Nations and rights groups, however, say those European policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuse.

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Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that Libya is the second North African country that Meloni visited in January, not third; she did not travel to Tunisia.

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Italy, Libya sign $8B gas deal as PM Meloni visits Tripoli

Libyas opposing factions agreed to reach a constitutional base for a political road map on Thursday following years of being entrenched in a deadly war.

The meeting was hosted and facilitated by Egyptian parliament Speaker Hanafy El-Gebaly. Egypt has been engaged in the Libyan file, mediating talks in a bid to end the division in the North African country.

The meeting was attended by Khaled al-Mishri, chairman of the High Council of State an advisory body to the Tripoli-based government and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the parliament in eastern Libya.

The US Embassy in Libya welcomed the agreement in a tweet encouraging the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections, thanking Egypt for the role it played.

1/2 Special Envoy Ambassador Richard Norland: "The conclusion of discussions between the leaders of the HoR and HSC today in #Cairo leaves no reason to delay setting an early date for parliamentary and presidential elections. #Libya pic.twitter.com/FRA2r4OiBZ

A joint communique issued by Saleh and Mishri provides an overview of the agreement in which both parties agreed to establish a road map that would legally and effectively launch the election process and carry out the unification of institutions.

No timeline or details for the constitutional base have been discussed.

Why it matters: Libya has been divided and drowning in chaos since a revolt that ended with the killing of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country is split between two governments, one led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah based in Tripoli, garnering the support of the United Nations and the international community, and another led by Fathi Bashagha in eastern Libya.

The chaos that ensued left a power vacuum that was filled by different groups and a tangible power struggle with armed militia forces scattered everywhere.

Militant activities and sporadic warfare have spread across the country and across the border into the Egyptian desert area.

Know More: Egypt has been trying to facilitate an agreement between the rival Libyan parties for years. Concerned about growing militant activities and cross-border attacks, the countrys internal fights pose a threat to Egypts national security. Last month, Egypt announced defining its maritime border with Libya.

Following the meeting, a press conference was held where Saleh said, according to Egyptian media outlets, that Egypt has always sided with the interests of Libya and Libyans in order to be able to solve their crises, put an end to foreign intervention into their country's internal affairs and help the Libyan state restore sovereignty. The brotherly neighboring state of Egypt has always encouraged Libyans to close ranks and exchange views, not to mention that it has hosted and sponsored on its eternal land the different meetings and talks among Libyans to enable them to reach a consensus and find final solutions to their internal political divisions that have negatively impacted the lives of Libyan citizens.

There seems to be a political will to stabilize the Libyan file. Italian press reports mentioned a Qatar-sponsored meeting between Libyan political and Islamist figures.

Stability in Libya is also paramount to Italy that suffers waves of immigrants arriving on its shores as the country battles economic difficulties and political challenges. According to media reports, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Libyas stability is the absolute priority of Italys strategy, as it is an essential element to ensure the security of the entire region. We are ready to do our part to achieve this stability in support of the United Nations, while respecting Libyan sovereignty, further calling for parliamentary and presidential elections as soon as possible.

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Libya rivals agree to pursue 'constitutional base' for settlement