UN launches Libyan Political Dialogue Forum

The UN has launched the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) which came in the wake of the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement on October 23.

The forum will convene its first virtual meeting on Monday, while the direct in-person meeting of the LPDF will kick off on November 9, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) as saying in a statement on Sunday.

"The LPDF is a fully inclusive intra-Libyan political dialogue established by the Berlin Conference Outcomes, which were endorsed by Security Council resolutions 2510 (2020) and 2542 (2020)," the statement said.

The invited participants to the Forum are drawn from different constituencies, based on the principles of inclusivity, fair geographic, ethnic, political, tribal and social representation, it added.

The overall objective of the LPDF is a consensus on a unified governance framework to "restore Libya's sovereignty and the democratic legitimacy of Libyan institutions". the UNSMIL said.

The east-based army and the UN-backed government had been engaged in a deadly armed conflict for more than a year in and around Tripoli, which ended in early June with the UN-backed government announcing takeover of all western Libya after withdrawal of the east-based army.

The fighting has killed and injured hundreds of civilians and displaced more than 150,000 others..