Libya camps agree to open candidacy process

Representatives from rival Libyan camps said a candidacy process would open on Tuesday for key institutional appointments, after a new round of talks in Morocco on ending nearly a decade of conflict. The process, set to run until February 2, aims to quickly fill several strategic posts in order to facilitate collaboration with an interim executive body set to be elected next week in Geneva, a joint statement said on Saturday. Oil-rich Libya has been riven by civil war since a Nato-backed uprising that ousted long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. The UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) is based in the capital, while a House of Representatives, which does not recognise the Tripoli administration, is based in the east. A fragile ceasefire between the two sides, agreed in Geneva last October, has largely held, despite threats by eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar to resume fighting. The talks that opened Friday in Bouznika, south of the Moroccan capital Rabat, bring together representatives from the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based High Council of State, which advises the GNA. — AFP