A U.S. delegation on Monday held talks in Benghazi, Libya, with retired General Khalifa Haftar and House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh, to support elections that resolve the country's political crisis.
The U.S. delegation was led by Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, and included U.S. Special Envoy to Libya Richard Norland and Chargé d'Affaires of Washington's Embassy to Libya Leslie Ordman.
The meeting stressed the need to create all conditions on the ground for the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections.
Earlier on Monday, the Libyan House of Representatives announced the nomination of six members representing it in the joint committee with the High Council of State tasked with preparing electoral laws, while the State Council did not announce the selection of its representatives to the committee.
The formation of the committee was stipulated by the 13th amendment to the Constitutional Declaration, which was approved by the House of Representatives and ratified by the Council of State on February 7.
On February 27, UN envoy to Libya Abdallah Batili announced a new initiative to hold elections in 2023 that includes the establishment of a high-level steering committee and the adoption of a legal framework and a binding timetable for holding them.
The elections aim to resolve a power struggle between a government appointed by the House of Representatives in early 2022 headed by Fathi Bashagha, and the internationally recognized Government of National Unity headed by Abdelhamid Dabaiba, who refuses to hand over except to a government that comes through a new elected parliament.