The boycott by the General National Congress of the initialling ceremony of the draft political dialogue agreement was not surprising. In a letter addressed by the Nouri Bousahmin, Speaker of the GNC, to the UNSMIL chief Bernardino Leon, the GNC explained the reasons why it considered the draft unsatisfactory and needing further rounds of talks. The GNC considered that the issues questioned (mandate of the House of Representatives, status of the council of State, and role of Hafter) are major ones and not merely a matter of technical reserves that could be discussed in subsequent meetings after the initialling of the draft agreement. In the letter, Bousahmin criticised Leon’s manner of facilitation, accusing him in barely disguised language that he had deviated from the terms of reference of UNSMIL’s mandate. In reference to Leon’s claim that the draft agreement secured consensus since it was signed by mayors from Misrata and Tripoli, Bousahmin exclaimed “how is the participation of 4 or 5 or 6 mayors out of 102” representative. The GNC reiterated that it remain open to resume the political dialogue to tackle the pending issues of disagreement.
On the ground, ISIS in Derna has admitted in a video online that it was chased out of Derna, but threatened that its fighters would recapture the town and kill the Shura Revolutionary Council militants.
Links for more information:
http://unsmil.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3543
http://en.gnc.gov.ly/news_det_page.aspx?news_id=19923
http://www.alwasat.ly/ar/news/libya/82151/
