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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Algiers- Asharq Al-Awsat

Algeria, Tunisia Propose Tribal Dialogue to Solve Libya's Conflict

Smoke rises during heavy clashes between rival factions in Tripoli, Libya, August 28, 2018. Picture taken August 28, 2018. REUTERS/Hani Amara

Libya's neighboring countries have come up with a new proposal to solve the country's longstanding conflict.

Algeria's president is suggesting that Libya's tribal groups hold meetings in a near country to find new solutions to the conflict tearing the oil-rich country.

Fighting among militias, arms and migrant trafficking, and extremism in Libya are a big concern to neighboring Algeria and Tunisia, whose presidents met Sunday in Algiers. Both leaders were elected in recent months, and are eager to protect their borders from chaos.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for meetings in either the capital of Algeria or Tunisia "with all of Libya's tribes, to begin a new era for building new institutions, allowing for the organization of general elections and establishment of new foundations of a democratic Libyan state."

Any such meetings should have UN backing, Tebboune said at a news conference after his talks with Tunisia's Kais Saied.

Tebboune insisted that any solution to Libya's conflict should come from Libyans themselves and "protected from foreign interference and weapons flows."

Libya is torn between a weak UN-recognized administration in the capital of Tripoli overseeing the country's west, run by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, and the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, based in eastern Libya.

International powers approved plans to restore peace to Libya two weeks ago, but the UN envoy for Libya accuses some signatories of stepping up weapons deliveries despite the truce efforts.

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