Chairperson of the African union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has welcomed progress made by Libya's political stakeholders calling it a "historic step ... for a new unified Libya."

U.N. sponsored talks produced a new interim government for Libya on Friday aimed at resolving a decade of chaos, division and violence by holding national elections later this year.

Mohammed al-Menfi, a former diplomat from Benghazi, will head a three-man presidency council, while Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, from the western city of Misrata, will head the government as prime minister.

Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed intervention ended Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in 2011 and has been split since 2014 between warring administrations backed by foreign powers in the west and east.

Statement by H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, on Libya

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomes the results of the vote by Libyan delegates of the United Nations-facilitated Libyan Political Dialogue (LPDF) that elected a transitional government authority to prepare and oversee national elections scheduled for 24 December 2021 in Libya.

The Chairperson wished to warmly congratulate the members of the new interim authority and encourages all stakeholders to support this historic step in the future for a new unified Libya.

The Chairperson reiterates the continued commitment of the African Union to support and accompany the brotherly people of Libya in their quest towards peace, reconciliation and reconstruction.