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French FM holds talks with new UN Envoy for Libya

PARIS, Nov 26 (KUNA) -- French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has held talks here with the new UN Special Representative for Libya, Martin Kobler, to discuss ways to push forward a peaceful solution to the conflict in the North African country, an official statement said Thursday.
Efforts to get a political settlement between the warring factions and the two separate governments in Libya, one in Tripoli and one in Tobruk, keep stalling, creating a power vacuum that terrorist groups like ISIL are seeking to exploit.
French President Francois Hollande and Italian Premier Mateo Renzi discussed Libya on Thursday morning as part of an overview of the terrorist threat to Europe.
They agreed that the Libyan context needed attention and should not be overlooked because of the focus on Syria and Iraq.
Fabius, in his meeting with Kobler, "assured him of the support of France in the mediation efforts to arrive quickly at a political agreement and the formation of a government of national unity" in Libya.
Kobler's predecessor, Bernadino Leon, worked hard at getting such an accord and was on the brink of success before the process stalled again.
"France welcomes the statement published yesterday by a large majority of the members of the house of representatives in Tobruk in favour of the accord, despite the obstruction of a minority who are acting against the political process and the greater good of the country," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Paris called on all those in favour of an agreement to unite together as quickly as possible and put in place a national unity government that can work to return stability and prosperity to Libya.
"The international community is ready to support the Libyan people and its future national unity government," the French statement said. (end) jk.nfm