By Walid Abdullah
TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – The prime minister of Libya’s unity government, Fayez al-Sarraj, said Monday the 2015 UN-backed deal for political settlement “remains in place “, dismissing statements by East Libya-based military commander Khalifa Haftar about the expiry of the agreement.
Haftar, whose forces control parts of Libya, said Sunday that the 2015 agreement that gave rise to Libya’s UN-backed unity government was over.
In a statement on Monday, al-Sarraj said: “Those who set obstacles will not be able to prevent the National Accord government from doing its duties. ”
He reiterated the commitment of Libya’s Presidential Council to hold elections in 2018.
“We will not allow any vacuum that will be filled with chaos and violations, ” he said.
Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising led to the ouster and death of longtime President Muammar Gaddafi.
In the six years since, the country's stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government — one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli — and a plethora of heavily-armed militia groups.
