US Calls for Legal Framework for Libya’s Elections

Bathily reiterated the importance of the 6+6 committee’s role and responsibilities to produce the laws necessary to hold general and inclusive elections in Libya. Photo: UNSMIL’s Twitter Account
Bathily reiterated the importance of the 6+6 committee’s role and responsibilities to produce the laws necessary to hold general and inclusive elections in Libya. Photo: UNSMIL’s Twitter Account
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US Calls for Legal Framework for Libya’s Elections

Bathily reiterated the importance of the 6+6 committee’s role and responsibilities to produce the laws necessary to hold general and inclusive elections in Libya. Photo: UNSMIL’s Twitter Account
Bathily reiterated the importance of the 6+6 committee’s role and responsibilities to produce the laws necessary to hold general and inclusive elections in Libya. Photo: UNSMIL’s Twitter Account

The United States has renewed its call for an agreement on a legal framework for the delayed presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya.

US Ambassador Richard Norland said in a tweet that his country supported the call of Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily “for the 6+6 committee to reach agreement on a legal framework for elections and urge all of Libya’s political leadership to bring their influence to bear without delay.”

Meanwhile, Bathily received a delegation of the 6+6 committee at the headquarters of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya in Tripoli.

“Bathily reiterated the importance of the committee’s role and responsibilities to produce the laws necessary to hold general and inclusive elections in Libya,” UNSMIL said on Twitter on Saturday.

“Bathily joined by UNSMIL’s technical team, exchanged views with committee members on issues related to legal framework for elections. He renewed the Mission’s offer to provide all required support to enable the committee to conclude its work as soon as possible,” it added.



Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.

The Hamas visit to Cairo was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, that would include a hostage deal.

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza were now more likely.

"(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts," he told CNN on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I'm not going to predict exactly when it will happen ... we've come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line."

Palestinians say Israel's operations on the northern edge of the enclave are part of a plan to clear people out through forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone. The Israeli military strongly denies this and says it is fighting against Hamas.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas militants in that part of Gaza as it fights to stop the faction regrouping. It has also lost around 30 soldiers there in combat with Hamas fighters over the past two months, a relatively high death toll.