Libya's prime minister and several foreign powers on Thursday endorsed the holding of a national election on Dec. 24 as envisaged in a UN-backed peace plan.
"We support the efforts of the higher election committee to hold (the vote) on the planned date. I call for a wide and effective participation of Libyans in the elections," Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah told the Libya Stabilization Conference held in Tripoli.
The final communique at the conference, which included foreign ministers from France, Italy and Arab states and US and United Nations officials, stressed the importance of taking confidence-building measures in order to hold a vote in a fair, transparent and inclusive manner on Dec. 24.
The conference aims to forge an agreement with all parties on “some permanent mechanism to coordinate efforts in order to solve pending issues," said Dbeibah in his opening remarks.
Rosemary A. DiCarlo, the UN's under-secretary-general for political affairs, also addressed the attendees reiterating her organization's call for the withdrawal of foreign fighters from Libya.
France's foreign minister said that a conference on Libya in Paris next month aimed to give a final international push so that elections would be held by year-end and to endorse the departure of foreign forces.
"It will provide the last international impetus needed in support of the elections at the end of the year...(and) endorse the Libyan plan for the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries and support its implementation, to put an end to foreign interference," Jean-Yves le Drian said in a speech.
