Libya's Haftar vows to halt fighting for 25 June vote

Renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar has vowed to not launch any attacks on 25 June to allow the country to vote in national polls, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

According to reports in Sky News Arabia, Haftar, who has launched a string of offensives in and around Libya’s second city Benghazi, will not try to impede the elections.

Haftar had earlier said that a vote must take place only after his offensive against “terrorist” targets had concluded. 

"We support elections but the timing needs to be right. The time is not appropriate while we fight terrorism," he had said in a statement on 26 May.

Haftar launched his offensive a week earlier saying his “Operation Dignity” aimed to free the country of radical militias that have grown stronger since the overthrow of former strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

His reported decision to enact a one-day truce comes a day after a powerful eastern tribe asked him to leave its territories and said that it did not want its lands to be used to launch any more offensives.

It also comes as Algeria slammed earlier unconfirmed reports that it was considering a military intervention in its troubled eastern neighbour.

Algeria's Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal on Tuesday said: “I wholly rule out the possibility of the Algerian army engaging in any intervention in our neighbouring countries."

"We are bound to the constitutional doctrine that forbids us from interfering in our neighbours’ affairs," he added.

Libya has also been embroiled in a deep political crisis which has seen two rival prime ministers vie for power.

On Monday, now former prime minister Ahmed Miitig agreed to step aside following a Supreme Court decision that his election earlier this year was unconstitutional, easing concerns that he might challenge the court’s authority.

Miitig was elected during a disputed session of the General National Congress back in early May. However, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani, who had resigned back in April, refused to acknowledge Miitig’s election, prompting widespread confusion.

Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the UN head of mission in Libya, Tarek Mitri, welcomed the ruling as "important" and said Mitri’s acceptance was "a sign of hope".

However, he was also quick to stress that Libya remained in crisis and that the UN was deeply concerned about the security situation.

“One thing we can all see is that there are arms and ammunitions in huge quantities all over Libya. And not just arms in the hands of the army and police but in the hands of everybody including criminals," Mitri said.

“The crisis which has dominated the political scene for the past few months poses a threat to the country’s political transition.”

The UN has now “redoubled its efforts” to encourage dialogue between warring factions in Libya to relieve the “prospect of a protracted conflict”.

He added that the UN will host a meeting with all representatives with the aim of forging an agreement on Libya’s national priorities.

According to Mitri, the UN Security Council will provide technical support to the country’s election commission, which is preparing for the election of the 200-member Council of Representatives that will succeed the General National Congress of Libya. Some 1.5 million voters are eligible to vote in the polls later this month.

"It is essential that we do our best to change the dynamics in Libya... We want to create all the conditions for the success of these elections," Mitri said.