Libyan Political Dialogue Ends, No Deal Reached over Unified Gov't

On Monday, the UN-brokered political dialogue between the Libyan rivals ended without reaching an agreement on the mechanisms for choosing a new government.

In a statement, the UN Acting envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, announced that political consultations between the Libyan parties would be resumed after a week. The meeting will be held via video conference.

Williams added that the parties agreed to continue the political dialogue because it is "the only solution to the Libyan crisis."

"We will continue to work on this [mechanism for selection of new executive positions], we are going to discuss this in a meeting coming up next week, I expect that a decision will be made very shortly to select the selection members,"

Williams indicated that the next meeting aims to reach consensus on the mechanisms for selecting the new members of the Presidency Council and a Government of National Unity, and an agreement on the names of the personalities who will assume senior positions.

Last week, the Libyan political dialogue, which was described as a "historic opportunity for peace in Libya", was launched. The dialogue aims to reach a comprehensive political agreement to end the crisis.

However, major differences over positions threaten to undermine all these efforts led by the United Nations.