Delegates from Libya's rival factions sign UN peace deal

Hopes agreement will bring stability and help to fight growing Islamic State presence

General Khalifa Haftar commander of the armed forces loyal of the internationallyrecognized Libyan government, shakes hands with UN envoy Martin Kobler, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. Photograph: Libyan Armed Forces/AFP
General Khalifa Haftar commander of the armed forces loyal of the internationallyrecognized Libyan government, shakes hands with UN envoy Martin Kobler, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. Photograph: Libyan Armed Forces/AFP

Delegates from Libya’s warring factions signed a UN-brokered agreement to form a national government on Thursday. Western powers hope the deal will bring stability and help fight a growing Islamic State presence.

Four years after Muammar Gadafy's fall, Libya is deeply fractured with two rival governments, a self-declared one in Tripoli and an internationally recognized one in the east , each backed by coalitions of former rebels and militias.

But the UN deal faces resistance. The heads of both rival parliaments and factions within both camps have rejected the agreement, illustrating the risks to establishing a new government on the ground in the North African state.

Reuters