Libyan factions begin meeting to choose interim unity government

Stephanie Williams, acting special representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission speaks during a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia (Walid Haddad/AP)

Delegates from Libya’s opposing sides kick off a five-day meeting on Monday to choose an interim prime minister and a three-person presidency council, in a crucial bid to reunite the troubled oil-rich country before an election in December.

The Libyan political dialogue forum, including envoys from around Libya, meets under UN mediation in an undisclosed site outside Geneva in hopes of stabilising a largely lawless country since Muammar Gaddafi’s fall and killing in 2011.