Libyan Rival Officials Discuss Unifying 2021 Budget

A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
TT
20

Libyan Rival Officials Discuss Unifying 2021 Budget

A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)

Officials from Libya’s rival governments met Tuesday in the strategic eastern oil town of Brega for talks aimed at unifying the national budget, officials said, another step forward in efforts to end the yearslong conflict in the oil-rich country.

Finance minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital Tripoli, Faraj Bumatari, and his counterpart from the eastern Libya-based administration, Muraja Ghaith, attended the meeting.

Also attending was Tripoli-based Foreign Minister Mohammed Tahir Siyala.

A statement by the Tripoli-based Finance Ministry said the sides would work on a final draft for the 2021 national budget in the coming days. The draft would be presented to a transitional government that will be established to lead the country to presidential and parliamentary elections late this year.

Siyala said in video comments posted by the ministry’s official account that a joint team would carry out the agreed-on budget arrangements according to estimated resources this year. He did not elaborate.

The UN support mission in Libya, or UNSMIL, called the meeting an “encouraging and much-needed step” and urged both sides to prepare the budget in “a transparent manner.”

“The unification and rationalization of the national budget is crucial to establishing a more durable and equitable economic arrangement,” it said.

Tuesday’s meeting came a month after Libya’s Central Bank approved a single official exchange rate for its currency at 4.8 dinars per US dollar.

The advisory committee of the Libyan political dialogue forum, meanwhile, was to meet Wednesday in Geneva to provide recommendations for resolving disputes over a mechanism to choose the transitional government, the UN mission said.

The forum reached an agreement late last year to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021. However, it failed to break the deadlock on the selection mechanism for the executive authority despite numerous online meetings since their face-to-face talks in Tunisia in November.

The mission called for “genuine efforts” in the political track of the UN-brokered talks to form a unified government.

The forum is part of the UN efforts to end the chaos that has engulfed the oil-rich North African nation since the 2011 overthrow and killing of ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi.



Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Pressing Hard to Secure Gaza Truce Deal

A Palestinian boy searches through garbage in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Monday (AFP)
A Palestinian boy searches through garbage in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Monday (AFP)
TT
20

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Pressing Hard to Secure Gaza Truce Deal

A Palestinian boy searches through garbage in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Monday (AFP)
A Palestinian boy searches through garbage in Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza on Monday (AFP)

Hamas sources have described the ongoing indirect negotiations with Israel in Doha as “more serious” than previous rounds, when they said both Israel and the United States lacked genuine commitment.

One Hamas figure told Asharq Al-Awsat that while it remains difficult to predict the outcome, “there is cautious optimism about a possible breakthrough, especially given the clear American pressure aimed at reaching an agreement soon.”

The talks, which began Sunday evening in the Qatari capital, focus on a potential two-month ceasefire that would halt military operations and secure the release of hostages from Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has traveled to Washington for meetings with US President Donald Trump.

According to the sources, negotiations have not stalled and are expected to continue for several days. “At least for now, they cannot be described as negative,” one official said. “Mediators are making serious efforts to achieve progress and conclude a deal as quickly as possible.”

If talks continue positively, the sources said an announcement could come as early as Thursday. But they stressed that any breakthrough depends primarily on Israel’s willingness to accept key Palestinian demands, particularly the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and guarantees that the war will end definitively.

The sources declined to specify any obstacles currently impeding talks, preferring to “wait for the outcome in the coming hours or days.”

Hamas negotiators, they said, remain committed to “securing the Palestinian demands submitted as amendments to the latest US proposal drafted by envoy Steve Witkoff.”

“These conditions are essential for a fair ceasefire that gives the people of Gaza hope the war will truly end,” the official added, “and prevents Israel from resuming attacks under any pretext as long as negotiations continue.”

The diplomatic efforts coincide with continued Israeli military escalation in Gaza, where intensive airstrikes have struck apartment blocks, shelters, and aid distribution points. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the Palestinian death toll has risen to 57,523 since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Israeli ground forces have expanded operations in northern, southern, and western Khan Yunis, advancing further into Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya and Tuffah neighborhoods. In the south, the military is pushing into the Zeitoun district, edging closer to Gaza’s Old City and the Latin Convent, which houses thousands of displaced civilians.

Israel reportedly aims to widen a buffer zone inside Gaza by over a kilometer - an issue it also tried to cement in January’s ceasefire agreement. Hamas is insisting this time on a clear, staged Israeli withdrawal, with agreed timelines and maps, while Israel appears determined to retain positions near the border fence and along the Philadelphi Corridor with Egypt.

Trump said Sunday there was “a good chance” for a Gaza ceasefire agreement “this week” before meeting Netanyahu in Washington. He added the US is also working with Israel on several issues, perhaps including a permanent deal with Iran.

Netanyahu arrived in the US on Monday for talks with Trump, envoy Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.