3 Libyan Leaders Agree on Necessity of Forming New Unified Government

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, seated center left, meets with leaders of three parties of the conflict in Libya, at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, seated center left, meets with leaders of three parties of the conflict in Libya, at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem)
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3 Libyan Leaders Agree on Necessity of Forming New Unified Government

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, seated center left, meets with leaders of three parties of the conflict in Libya, at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, seated center left, meets with leaders of three parties of the conflict in Libya, at the Arab League headquarters, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem)

Three key Libyan leaders said on Sunday they had agreed on the "necessity" of forming a new unified government that would supervise the elections.
The leaders are the president of the Presidential Council (PC) Mohamed Menfi, the head of High State Council (HSC) Mohamed Takala, who are both based in Tripoli, and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) in Benghazi.

They met in Cairo at the invitation of Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

In a joint statement, the three leaders called on the UN Mission in Libya and the international community to support their proposals.

They said they had agreed to form a technical committee to "look into controversial points.”

"The measures that were agreed upon today, we believe, are a very important beginning. They are results that live up to the ambition of Libyans to hold elections," Menfi told the media after the meeting.



Egypt Offers Proposal to Get Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Back on Track, Officials Say

Palestinians rush an injured girl away from the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in central Gaza City on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians rush an injured girl away from the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in central Gaza City on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Egypt Offers Proposal to Get Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Back on Track, Officials Say

Palestinians rush an injured girl away from the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in central Gaza City on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians rush an injured girl away from the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in central Gaza City on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Officials say Egypt has introduced a new proposal to try and get the Israel-Hamas ceasefire back on track, The Associated Press reported.

Hamas would release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, in return for Israel allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and a weekslong pause in the fighting, an Egyptian official said. Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

A Hamas official said the group had “responded positively” to the proposal, without elaborating.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the closed-door talks.

Israel ended the existing ceasefire last week by launching a surprise wave of airstrikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians. That came after Hamas rejected Israeli-backed proposals to change the agreement in order to free more hostages before talks on a lasting ceasefire, which were supposed to begin in early February.

Hamas has said it will only free the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.