France will host an international conference on Libya on November 12, French President Emmanuel Macron declared.
The conference will take place a month ahead of the elections that aim to stop a decade of civil war.
“In view of the December elections, France will organize an international conference on Libya,” said French Foreign Minister. It will take place on November 12, he added.
France is asking to hold the elections and for the “departure of foreign forces and mercenaries,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian.
In June, world leaders had gathered in Berlin to seek a lasting peace agreement in Libya. The meeting came as the war-torn country prepares for new elections.
The meeting included US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as well as the foreign ministers of France and Egypt.
Representatives of Libya’s interim government have also joined the UN-sponsored meeting.
Libya has witnessed a bloody civil war since 2011, following the end of a 40-year-long dictatorship by Muʿammar Gheddafi.
Since then, Libya has been divided between the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and Haftar’s Libyan National Army in the country’s east.
However, an UN-led process produced a new interim government for Libya that promises free elections by the end of the year.
The EU has earlier welcomed a roadmap drawn up by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), that provides for Parliamentary and Presidential elections on 24 December 2021.
