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1 1 (March 10, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecph0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C o n re sio n a R e e a c S evi c e Updated March 10, 2021 Libya and U.S. Policy Libyans Reach Truce, Look to Elections Ten years after a 2011 uprising toppled longtime authoritarian leader Muammar al Qadhafi, Libya has yet to make a transition to stable governing arrangements. Militias, local leaders, and coalitions of national figures backed by competing foreign patrons have remained the most powerful arbiters of public affairs. Conflict re-erupted in Libya in April 2019, when a coalition of armed groups led by Qadhafi-era military defector Khalifa Haftar known as the Libyan National Army movement (LNA, in Arabic: Libyan Arab Armed Forces, LAAF) leveraged support from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt to attempt to seize the capital, Tripoli, from the interim Government of National Accord (GNA) and local militias. With Turkish military support, the GNA and western Libyan militias forced the LNA to withdraw. Libya has remained divided since, with opposing forces separated by a line of control west of Sirte (Figure 1). From April 2019 through December 2020, fighting between LNA forces, GNA supporters, and anti-LNA militias killed more than 500 civilians and displaced more than 200,000 people according to United Nations (U.N.) estimates. U.S. and U.N. officials have condemned persistent weapons shipments to Libya as violations of the U.N. arms embargo. Since 2020, new multilateral diplomatic initiatives have sought to achieve a ceasefire among warring Libyan groups, reduce foreign interference, and relaunch political reconciliation. Meeting in Berlin in January 2020, Libyan rivals and foreign powers agreed to a 55-point agenda, including the establishment of a GNA-LNA Joint Military Commission (JMC, or 5+5 because of its ten members) to consult on requirements for a ceasefire. After U.N.-backed talks succeeded in October 2020 in establishing an interim, 90-day ceasefire, U.N. officials selected and convened a 75- member Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) to restart the country's disrupted political transition. Meeting under U.N. auspices, LPDF members agreed that Libya would hold a constitutional referendum prior to national parliamentary and executive elections on December 24, 2021 (the seventieth anniversary of Libyan independence). The LPDF also adopted rules for the selection of an interim executive authority to govern until the elections and oversee preparations. The Biden Administration supports maintaining the ceasefire and has pledged to assist in preparations for the planned elections. Interim Executive Authority Ap proved On February 5, members of the LPDF voted to select members for an interim three-person Presidential Council and interim Prime Minister. Choosing from lists that each drew members from Libya's western, eastern, and southern regions, the LPDF narrowly selected a list of less well known figures over a list that included serving officials. The LPDF chose Mohamed Menfi of the eastern city of Figure 1. Libya: Areas of Influence 2011 Uprising topples Muammar al Qadhafi. 2012 Parliamentary elections. Transitional cabinet seated. 2014 Constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections. Disputed results fuel conflict. U.S. diplomats depart. 2015 International mediation yields agreement to form Government of National Accord (GNA). 2016 Parliament withholds endorsement of GNA. Islamic State forces defeated in Sirte with U.S. military support. 2018 Libyan National Army consolidates control in east Libya. 2019 Libyan National Army launches offensive against Tripoli. 2020 U.N. supports ceasefire negotiations, selects Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) members. LPDF agrees to roadmap, plans December 2021 elections. 2021 LPDF selects Interim Executive Authority members. HOR approves Government of National Unity cabinet. Source: Prepared by CRS using media and social media reporting. Tobruk to serve as chairman of the Presidential Council, with southerner Musa Al Koni and westerner Abdullah Al Lafi as his deputies. Misratan engineer and former Qadhafi- era official Abdul Hamid Dabaiba was chosen as Prime Minister-designate. On March 10, the House of Representatives (HOR, Libya's interim parliament, last elected in 2014) approved Dabaiba's proposed cabinet. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland extended his congratulations on the formation of an interim unity government to set the stage for elections in December. Though many key actors have released statements welcoming the LPDF and HOR decisions, Libyan factions and their foreign supporters appear to retain deep https://crsreports.congress.gov

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