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The United Nations, the European Union and 13 countries, including those suspected of supporting rival sides in Libya, signed an agreement Monday that calls for an end to any "outside interference" in the country that is plagued by violence and torn between two governments and parliaments.

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which may have launched airstrikes against Islamic militias over the past month, along with Turkey and Qatar, which some believe have backed the militias, all signed off on a joint communique that calls for a political solution to the ongoing violence. The communique was released following a meeting of the foreign ministers of the 13 countries and top E.U. and U.N. diplomats that was hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly session.

"We reject any outside interference in Libya," they said. "The people of Libya fought to overthrow 42 years of dictatorship, and we continue to support their effort to transform Libya into a secure democratic state."

In addition to Egypt, the UAE, Turkey and Qatar, the communique was signed by Algeria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Tunisia.

Monday's meeting followed a weekend agreement between rival Libyan factions to hold talks later this month, the first such negotiations since the latest surge in violence.

That announcement came amid a deeply polarized Libya, which has grown increasingly lawless and which has been witnessing the worst bout of violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Weeks of fighting among rival militias has forced nearly a quarter million people to flee their homes.

The violence, which erupted in July, also forced Libya's elected House of Representatives to convene in the eastern city of Tobruk after Islamist-allied militias seized the capital, Tripoli, and the country's second-largest city, Benghazi. The militias, meanwhile, formed their own government and revived Libya's outgoing parliament in Tripoli.

In a statement on Sunday, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said the rival groups agreed to hold talks on Sept. 29 and that a joint UN-Libyan committee would oversee a future ceasefire.

The statement urged the rivals to agree on a timeline to pull out fighters and armed groups from major cities, airports and other key installations.

It also hinted at the possibility that Islamist militias in control of Tripoli could agree to recognize the elected, Tobruk-based parliament, saying the talks will be based on the "legitimacy of the elected institutions" and that they would also set the venue and date for a "handover ceremony" from the previous parliament to the one elected earlier this year.

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Libya Rival Backers Reject Outside Interference

Libya's rival groups have agreed to hold talks later this month, the first such negotiations since the latest surge in violence that left the country torn between two parliaments and governments, the United Nations mission in Libya said.

The announcement comes amid a deeply polarized Libya, which has grown increasingly lawless and which has been witnessing the worst bout of violence since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Weeks of fighting among rival militias has forced nearly a quarter million people to flee their homes.

The violence, which erupted in July, also forced Libya's elected House of Representatives to convene in the eastern city of Tobruk after Islamist-allied militias seized the capital, Tripoli, and the country's second-largest city, Benghazi. The militias, meanwhile, formed their own government and revived Libya's outgoing parliament in Tripoli.

In a statement on Sunday, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said the rival groups agreed to hold talks on Sept. 29 and that a joint UN-Libyan committee would oversee a future ceasefire.

The statement also urged the rivals to agree on a timeline to pull out fighters and armed groups from major cities, airports and other key installations.

It also hinted at the possibility that Islamist militias in control of Tripoli could agree to recognize the elected, Tobruk-based parliament, saying the talks will be based on the "legitimacy of the elected institutions" and that they would also set the venue and date for a "handover ceremony" from the previous parliament to the one elected earlier this year.

On Monday, the speaker for the outgoing Tripoli-based parliament said a series of mysterious airstrikes in Libya in the past month, attributed to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and which targeted Islamist-allied militias in the capital, had killed at least 30 people.

The airstrikes reinforced the perception that Libya has also become a proxy battleground for larger regional struggles with Turkey and Qatar backing the Islamist militias while Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE support their opponents.

Omar Houmidan, the speaker for the outgoing General National Congress in the capital, gave the death toll, citing an investigation by the Tripoli-based parliament. It was the first time any toll had been released in connection with the airstrikes. Houmidan also claimed that his parliament remains the "legitimate" authority in Libya.

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UN Says Libya's Rival Groups Agree to Hold Talks

More than 140,000 people have fled conflict areas in Libya since fighting among feuding militias started weeks ago, the United Nations said, as the world body, European Union and 13 nations called for an immediate cease-fire.

The rapidly deteriorating security situation is causing new waves of displacement, particularly on the western outskirts of the capital, Tripoli, and in the eastern city of Benghazi, where fighting has killed dozens of people, according to a joint statement from the UN Refugee Agency and its World Food Programme.

A communique issued yesterday on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting by the UN, EU, the U.S. and 12 European, Middle Eastern and North African states also calls for Libyas warring factions to participate in a UN-sponsored dialogue beginning Sept. 29.

The document also rejects outside interference in the conflict and calls on the interim Libyan government and legislature to adopt inclusive policies to benefit all Libyans. The group agreed to meet again in the coming weeks in Algeria, and to reconvene in Madrid in 60 days to assess progress.

Rival militias have been fighting for more than seven weeks in the worst unrest since 2011, when an uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi. Since then the country has slid into chaos as armed militias defy central control, while deep political divisions have led to the emergence of two rival parliaments and governments.

The Libyan UN mission said that agreeing on a plan for a handover of power from the outgoing legislature to the newly elected one would be one of the main topics of the initial talks.

A UN convoy arrived in western Libya on Sept. 20, bringing food and humanitarian supplies for those displaced by the fighting in Tripoli, according to the aid agencies. Most displaced Libyans live in schools and host communities, placing a growing strain on those supporting them, they said.

The renewed violence has caused prices of food and basic items such as cooking fuel and wheat flour to double. Humanitarian agencies are struggling to access areas affected by the conflict, with roadblocks preventing the delivery of food and medical supplies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Salma El Wardany in Cairo at selwardany@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net Ben Holland, John Walcott

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Libya Fighting Leaves More Than 140,000 People Displaced: UN

Published September 22, 2014

CAIRO The United Nations mission in Libya says the country's rival groups have agreed to hold talks on September 29 for the first time since the latest surge of violence that left the country torn between two parliaments and governments.

In a Sunday statement, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said a joint UN-Libyan committee has agreed to oversee a future ceasefire and that rival groups must agree on a timeline to withdraw armed groups from major cities, airports and other public installations.

Libya's elected House of Representatives was forced to convene in the eastern city of Tobruk after Islamist-allied militias seized the capital, Tripoli, and the second-largest city, Benghazi.

The militias formed their own government and revived an outgoing parliament to serve as parallel bodies in Tripoli.

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Talks among Libya rival groups on Sept. 29; committee to supervise possible ceasefire

Libyan Fighter Jet crashes into large city - Tobruk, Libya
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