Geneva, 12 August 2015 - The latest round of the Libyan Political Dialogue concluded two days of talks at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The talks were presided over by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Bernardino Leon.

The talks were held in a positive atmosphere, with the different parties emphasising the need to set aside partisan agendas and uphold Libya’s higher national interests. The parties reiterated their conviction that there can be no alternative to peace in Libya outside this dialogue process, which sets the framework for a comprehensive political settlement that is achieved through consensus.

SRSG Leon explained to the parties how discussions would proceed on the annexes to the Libyan Political Agreement, as well as on formation of the Government of National Accord.

The parties expressed optimism that the dialogue process was approaching its final stages. In this regard, the parties noted that the participation of a number of political party leaders in part of the two-day consultations heralded a positive step towards the convergence of the various dialogue tracks, particularly those of the political parties and political activists, as well as municipalities. They described this as key to enabling representatives from all swathes of the Libyan population to work jointly together in order to expedite a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Libya, as well as ensuring wider buy-in from the Libyan population.

The parties underscored their determination to conclude the dialogue process as soon as possible, with a target date within the coming three weeks. Finalisation of the dialogue process would pave the way towards final adoption by the parties of the Libyan Political Agreement, to be followed by its formal endorsement at the beginning of September.

The parties noted the need for urgent progress on the security track of the dialogue process, in parallel to the progress being made on the political front. In this regard, the different political leaderships present at the talks signalled that they would move to encourage relevant security actors to commence consultations with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and provide their inputs on ways of operationalizing the security arrangements outlined in the Libyan Political Agreement.

The parties concluded the talks with a reaffirmation of their collective commitment and determination to bring about a swift and peaceful end to the political crisis and military conflict in Libya that would spare the Libyan people further suffering and bloodshed, as well as safeguard Libya’s national unity.

The parties expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the Swiss Government for its continued support to the Libyan political dialogue process.