By Walid Abdullah
TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Libya's High Council of State on Saturday welcomed UN Security Council Resolution 2570, which calls for timely presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya scheduled for Dec. 24 this year.
On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously called on the interim Libyan government to undertake the necessary preparatory work for holding free presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24 as approved by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.
The High Council of State also urged the House of Representatives (parliament) to "commit to working together to complete the necessary legal entitlements to hold the electoral process on time”.
The statement called on all UN member states to support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, including the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya, and support the work of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee.
A cease-fire between the UN-recognized government and forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar has largely held since it was brokered last October, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for international monitors to be deployed to monitor the situation.
The UNSC unanimously approved on Friday the deployment of 60 cease-fire monitors to Libya. It also adopted a second resolution extending the ban on illicit oil exports from Libya.
Libya has been beset by conflict since former longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. Civil war ensued in the aftermath it has persisted for nearly a decade.
The oil-rich country has recently witnessed positive developments following a breakthrough in which rival parties agreed on Feb. 5 on a unified new executive authority that will govern Libya in the lead-up to national elections on Dec. 24.
*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar