Fighting broke out on Monday between the powerful 444th brigade and the Rada Force or the Special Deterrence Forces (SDF), both working under Libya’s so-called National Unity Government (GNU) led by Abdul Hameid Dbeibah

The failure of the two rival administrations in Libya to agree on a new electoral law is delaying the national elections and endangering the fragile ceasefire achieved through UN mediation in November 2020

UNSMIL head Abdoulaye Bathily has been meeting with Libya’s rival political and military leaders in order to find a consensus on holding elections, with emphasis on the expulsion of all foreign mercenaries from the war-torn country

The elections scheduled on December 24 last year were postponed due to disagreements over electoral law and the candidature of interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah

This was the second attempt by Fathi Bashagha to get hold of capital Tripoli since he was elected as prime minister by the Tobruk-based Libyan parliament in February

The UN Security Council in a meeting on Monday discussed the latest developments in Libya and the future of the peace process which has been stalled for months now over the delay in holding national elections 

Differences over the draft constitution and the electoral law have raised fresh fears of resumption of fighting between the different factions in Libya. The country has faced a decade-long war following the NATO-led invasion in 2011

Pentagon report on airstrikes in Syria that killed in Syria, US eases sanctions against Venezuela, Ola Bini’s trial resumes, and Libya’s PM retreats from Tripoli

While Bashagha was appointed as prime minister this year in February by the Tobruk-based Libyan parliament, the Abdul Hamed Dbeibah-led government has refused to resign and hand over power

Prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has refused to step down despite the Libyan parliament electing Fathi Bashagha as his replacement

Though the UN had initially supported the Government of National Unity (GNU) led by interim prime minister Abdul Hamied Dbeibah, the special advisor on Libya to the UN secretary general, Stephanie Williams, has now refused to take sides and has called for talks

The current interim government led by prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has refused to step down and has vowed to fulfill its mandate of conducting elections and only concede power to an “elected authority”