Libyan Gov’t Sets Off on Ambitious Path

The long-fractured Libyan parliament on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for a new interim government, headed by recently elected Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, in its first full session in nearly seven years. The transitional cabinet will be tasked with reuniting the war-torn country and overseeing democratic elections by year’s end, part of a United Nations-backed resolution that has been months in the making. Still, accusations of corruption and shady dealings by Dbeibeh threaten to unravel the entire scheme, as tensions between rival factions fighting over control of Libya have hardly subsided. Officially, the two opposing governments – the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) – expressed support for the new unified body, and pledged to maintain the six-month cease-fire. Yet the foreign mercenaries and military advisers who have swarmed Libya during its decadelong civil war remain entrenched there. Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have backed General Khalifa Haftar’s LNA, while Turkey, along with the UN, supported the internationally recognized GNA.