CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Libya's newly-elected Presidential Council led by Mohammad Younes Menfi has held its first meeting in a temporary headquarters in Tripoli, the country's capital, Libyan broadcaster 218TV reported on Thursday.
The meeting took place on Wednesday. Along with Menfi, who had been elected to chair the council as a representative of Libya's east, the session was attended by his two deputies representing the country's west and south � Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi and Mossa Al-Koni, respectively, with the latter joining in via a video link.
According to the report, the three-member council began the inaugural session by congratulating the Libyan people on the 10th anniversary of the February 17 Revolution, referring to a coup in 2011 that toppled Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The session's agenda was reportedly focused on the formation of the country's Government of National Unity, whose composition is expected to be finalized and announced by next Friday by Prime Minister-designate Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah.
The reconciled Libyan parliament is also expected to elect new leadership next week.
Since the overthrow and assassination of Gaddafi, Libya has been split between two rival governments �� the Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army. The former controlled the North African country's west while the latter, the east. This left the south a free-for-all stronghold that often host terrorist forces from abroad.
Last fall, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya brokered inclusive political consultations among Libyan political rivals, which resulted in the creation of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee � a mechanism with an equal representation of rival forces brought together to negotiate a lasting peace deal.
Earlier in February, the Swiss-hosted round of intra-Libyan talks led to the election of an interim unity government that will be in charge until a national general election on December 24.
