Libya's Tobruk-based parliament 'agrees' to join unity government

Libya's Tobruk-based parliament - House of Representatives (HoR) - is ready to join a government of national unity with a view to ending the country's political crisis, a representative of the assembly at UN-backed peace talks in Morocco said on Thursday.

"We held a consultative meeting earlier in the day on some points on the talks' agenda and we agreed to support a proposal for the formation of a national unity government as a way out of the crisis," the representative, requesting anonymity, told the Anadolu Agency. 

Vying for legislative authority are the HoR and a rival parliament based in Tripoli, the General National Assembly (GNC). The two assemblies support two rival governments.

Representatives of Libya's two rival parliaments on Thursday held UN-brokered talks in the Moroccan town of Skhirat, aimed at reaching an agreement on a national unity government and finding someone to head it, officials said.

The meeting was part of an attempt to "find an agreement between the different parties on a national personality to lead a national unity government," one participant told AFP.

The next step was to name "ministers who will represent the different parties," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Thursday's talks were chaired by UN special envoy Bernardino Leon.

In a briefing ahead of the meeting, he told UN chief Ban Ki-moon the aim was to form a unity government and "address security arrangements to pave the way for a comprehensive ceasefire" as well as complete the constitution-drafting process.

In addition to Thursday's meeting, the United Nations has invited representatives of Libyan political leaders and activists to more talks in Algeria next week.

Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the decades-long rule of autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.