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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

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Libya | United Nations

There is no shortage of candidates to host the trans-Saharan gas pipeline. The project, valued at 13 billion euros, is succulent. It could supply around 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe, according to initial estimates. This is almost double the amount of gas imported from Russia by EU members in 2021. Its implementation would provide a solid alternative to Russian gas, whose dependence has undermined the ability of continental allies to act in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

The plan was first proposed just over four decades ago. In 2009 some agreements were signed between countries, but did not come to fruition. This time, with Europe in the midst of an unprecedented energy crisis, the project to build the trans-Saharan gas pipeline makes sense again. This explains why Nigeria, the country with the largest energy reserves in Africa and the main promoter of the plan, has restarted contacts to put the pipeline into operation as soon as possible, in record time. Brussels is calling for cruising speed in order to have everything ready within two years.

The route has yet to be mapped out. According to experts, there are two viable proposals on the table. The first is from Algeria and the second from Morocco. Nigeria has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the two countries, which are locked in a perpetual standoff over the Western Sahara dispute and rivals for hegemony in the Maghreb. Bilateral relations have been formally severed since August 2021. Therefore, beyond the geographical conditions, it is incompatible that the two initiatives could coexist or converge at any point. Only one can remain.

Algiers has an advantage. The length of the infrastructure is shorter than that proposed by Rabat, and it would only need to pass through Niger, the backbone of the tripartite MoU signed in July. For its part, the Moroccan proposal includes a dozen countries, those of the Gulf of Guinea plus Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, among others. Too many actors, most of them quite unstable. It is true that the jihadist insurgency has been shaking Niger's foundations for years, but the crisis, though acute, is more or less manageable. No firm decision has yet been taken.

However, Libya has, against all odds, entered the running to host the trans-Saharan gas pipeline. The Government of National Unity (GNU) revealed in September that it had formally submitted its bid to Nigeria during the African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) ministerial summit. This was announced at a press conference by the Libyan oil minister, Mohamed Aoun, whose ministry had months earlier launched "technical and economic studies on the feasibility of the project", according to the spokesman for the acting government, Mohamed Hammouda.

The starting conditions, at least from a geographical perspective, would be more profitable than those envisaged in the Algerian proposal. The distance would be shortened by approximately 1,000 kilometres and it would only be necessary to cross Chad, a country also threatened by jihadism and the political crisis reopened after Mahamat Dby's coup d'tat. Less distance translates into lower costs and shorter construction times. And that, in turn, means lower gas prices. These characteristics make the Libyan proposal feasible.

But there are major hurdles to overcome on this route. First, the political instability that has plagued the country since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Libya has been a wasteland ever since. The current institutional division and the duplicity of administrations, one in the west based in Tripoli and the other in the east based in Tobruk, undermine any chance of development. The rift between Abdul Hamid Dbeib's Government of National Unity (GNU) and Fathi Bashagha's Government of National Stability (GSN), allied with Parliamentary Speaker Aguila Saleh and General Khalifa Haftar, is complete.

The presence of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Libya also threatens Tripoli's plans. The Kremlin's PMC controls much of the oil installations and prevents the Dbeib government from accessing the oil fields. They are acting on behalf of General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, their host on Libyan soil. Analyst Robert Uniacke writes in Foreign Policy that their presence 'positions the Kremlin as a spoiler in these future calculations, or at least as a card to play in the negotiations'.

It is by no means out of the question that Russia will use its destabilisation capacity to sabotage the trans-Saharan gas pipeline in the event that Libya succeeds in getting its project approved. All the more so given that its implementation would provide a clear alternative to Russian gas, which is still flowing to Europe in dribs and drabs. This factor is compounded by the presence of Daesh-affiliated militants in the far south of Libya, an area that the infrastructure should also pass through. Attacks against the security forces are a regular occurrence there, although normality is trying to make inroads.

With all the facts on the table, the undertaking seems complicated. But Tripoli is not alone in this persuasion campaign. According to the pan-Arab daily Al Arab, Ankara is on its side. Recep Tayyip Erdoan's circle could be putting pressure on Abuja to fulfil the plans of Dbeib's Government of National Unity (GNU). The Turkish business sector could benefit from a project that would turn the vast Maghreb country into the energy nexus between Africa and Europe. Big words.

Algeria is well advanced in the negotiations and is unlikely to give in. Even less so in this area, even if there are fluid relations between the Algerian leadership and Dbeib's Government of National Unity. Algeria backed Fayez al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord (GNA) and before that, the Islamists. It also has good relations with Erdoan's Turkey, but here there are insurmountable cross-interests.

The alliance between Ankara and Tripoli was strengthened after Monday's diplomatic visit, which resulted in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for hydrocarbon exploration, implying a consolidation of support for the interim government of Dbeib, but in reality "Turkey does not agree with the time that the acting prime minister has been in power", explains Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist and associate member of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Turkey is thus playing both sides of the fence, maintaining contacts with both factions so as not to irritate its internal and external partners.

Harchaoui stresses that Turkey "acts according to Erdoan's needs". The president needs political capital to be re-elected in the next elections, and the polls are not favourable for the Islamist leader. This type of agreement "improves his image", the analyst told Atalayar, because, among other things, "Libya is really useful for Turkey, especially from a nationalist point of view", he added.

The MoU signed by the parties on Monday put Turkish businessmen in the front line to take advantage of Libya's vast energy resources, both on land and sea. "At the moment, nothing has been done to favour Turkish companies," Harchaoui says. In the hypothetical future, if the institutional rift is resolved and the Dbeib government takes back control of the National Oil Company (NOC), this is likely to be the case. If the Libyan plan for the trans-Saharan pipeline is approved, Ankara stands to gain because, among other things, 'Dbeib cannot refuse any deal. He is not in a position to say no because of his position of vulnerability", the analyst argues.

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Is Turkey behind Libya's bid to host the trans-Saharan gas pipeline? - Atalayar

The Government of National Unity's Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah called on the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) and its Head Emad Al-Sayeh to update the voters' registry to register those who didn't have the chance to register before and those who turned legal by age to vote.

Dbeibah addressed a letter to Al-Sayeh, asking him to continue the process of checking the candidates registration for the parliamentary and presidential elections before announcing the electoral lists, and to inform the local public opinion of developments in this regard, as well as to consider the proposed election law prepared by the "Committee for the Return of the Trust to the People".

Dbeibah also asked Al-Sayeh that he needed to start the logistical and organizational preparations according to the electoral laws and the postponement of all preparations that are expected to change, in addition to planning for an electoral simulation day with the Ministries of Interior and Education and the rest of the concerned sectors as per a date set by the HNEC. He also asked for a cooperating with the National Libyan Channel and to provide the opportunity for candidates to present their vision and electoral program.

Dbiebah said that his statement to the HNEC came as a motivation for all official and popular parties to push for the speedy holding of the elections and the transition in Libya from the transitional phase to the permanent one based on electoral legitimacy.

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Dbeibah urges HNEC to update voters' registry and candidates' information - The Libya Observer

CAIRO (AP) Libyan authorities said Saturday they found at least 15 migrants dead in the desert on the borders with Sudan, the latest tragedy involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe via perilous journeys through the conflict-wrecked nation.

The Department for Combating Irregular Migration in the southeastern city of Kufra said the migrants were on their way from Sudan to Libya when their vehicle broke down due to lack of fuel.

The agency said nine other migrants survived while two remain missing in the desert. There were women and children among the migrants, but the agency did not elaborate on how many. It also did not reveal causes of the migrants death, but said they did not have enough food and water.

It said the migrants were all Sudanese from a country in turmoil for years. The migrants likely attempted to reach western Libya in efforts to board trafficking boats to Europe.

The agency posted images on Facebook showing bodies purportedly of the dead migrants who were later burned in the desert.

The tragedy was the latest in Libyas sprawling desert. In June, authorities in Kufra said they found the bodies of 20 migrants who they said died of thirst in the desert after their vehicle broke down close to the border with Chad.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the countrys lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

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Libya officials: 15 migrants found dead on border with Sudan