A source from the Joint Military Committee (5 + 5) reported to Al-Jazeera that the committee agreed to begin clearing mines in Libya in preparation for opening the coastal road, while retired Libyan Major General Khalifa Haftar welcomed the formation of the new executive authority in the country, headed by the new Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba.

The source added that clearing mines will start from the city of Sirte in the direction of the rest of the cities, and confirmed that the committee has completed discussions on mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire provisions, the most important of which is the opening of the coastal road between the east and west of the country, and the final exit of mercenaries and foreign forces.

For his part, Haftar welcomed - in a statement - the formation of the new executive authority in Libya, and expressed his hope that it would be able to implement the required measures, up to the date of organizing legislative elections on December 24th.

Haftar described the members of the executive authority who were selected by the Libyan Political Forum as "national figures."

Haftar's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Mismari, also congratulated the Libyan people on the results of the Forum for Political Dialogue and the selection of a new executive authority formed by a presidential council and the head of a national unity government.

Preparing for elections

Al-Mismari expressed, in a brief speech, from the eastern city of Benghazi, the hope that the executive authority would work diligently to provide services and prepare Libya to hold elections at the end of this year.

Participants in UN-sponsored talks in Switzerland on Friday voted to choose a new presidential council and prime minister to oversee a period leading up to parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for December.

Candidates who lost the vote - among them Agila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk parliament in eastern Libya, Fathi Bashagha, Minister of the Interior of the Government of National Accord, and Defense Minister Salah al-Namrouche - issued statements of support for the new government.

Under the rules agreed upon by the participants in the Libyan talks, who were chosen by the United Nations to represent the country's competing political currents, the new prime minister, Abdelhamid Dabaiba, will have 3 weeks to form a new government and present it to parliament.

International welcome

The United States and the European Union welcomed the agreement, and a joint US-European statement called on all Libyan authorities and actors to ensure a smooth and constructive handover of power to the new executive authority.

The statement also stressed that the new interim government, which will be proposed by the Prime Minister-designate, must be comprehensive and allow representation for all Libyans.

The statement called on the delegates of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum to preserve their positions to ensure that the new executive authority prepares for the elections scheduled to take place next December.

The United States and the European Union affirmed their readiness to hold accountable anyone who threatens stability or undermines the political process in Libya.