BREAKING NEWS

UN Libya envoy urges factions to accept unity plan

UNITED NATIONS - The outgoing United Nations envoy to Libya on Thursday urged Libya's rival factions to halt their attempts to obstruct a power-sharing plan intended to end a long-standing political crisis in the conflict torn country.
Bernardino Leon, who is due to be replaced soon by veteran German diplomat Martin Kobler, also defended himself against suggestions that it was a conflict of interest for him to accept a job in the United Arab Emirates training diplomats from one of the Arab countries most involved in the Libyan crisis.
"I urge the respective leaderships ... to listen to calls within their respective houses, and those of the Libyan people, and to desist from any further attempts and maneuverings to obstruct the democratic process," Leon told the UN Security Council.
Libya has fallen into turmoil with its internationally recognized government and elected parliament on one side and a self-styled administration holding Tripoli on the other, each backed by regional, tribal or Islamist armed factions.