Libya's UN-backed unity government announces formation

Libya's UN-brokered national unity government announced its formation on Tuesday under a disputed deal aimed at ending years of bloodshed.

The Tunis-based Unity Presidential Council has reportedly agreed on a 32-member cabinet with members drawn from various parts of the country, according to a council statement quoted by the Associated Press news agency. 

The government is headed by businessman Fayez al-Sarraj, who was named prime minister-designate under the UN-sponsored accord, the administration announced on its Facebook page.

"I congratulate Libyan people & Presidency Council on formation of Govt. of National Accord," UN envoy Martin Kolber wrote on Twitter.

Kobler, a veteran German diplomat, became UN special envoy for Libya in November, taking on his predecessor Bernardino Leon's task of brokering a unity government.

Kolber called on Libya's rival parliaments to endorse the unity government, although less than half of the country's parliamentarians have signed up to the deal. 

It was not immediately clear where the new government will be based.

On 17 December, under UN guidance, around 80 of 188 lawmakers from Libya's Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and 50 of 136 members of the Tripoli-based General National Congress signed the unity government deal.

On Sunday, Kobler held private talks with the speaker of the HoR, Aguila Saleh, to discuss the latest developments, the national news agency LANA reported.

The power-sharing deal has been given added urgency by fears that the Islamic State group, under pressure in Syria and Iraq, is building a new stronghold on Europe's doorstep.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the agreement on the members of the unity government was an "essential step" in implementing the UN-brokered deal.

"It is now for the House of Representatives and its Presidency to show the same spirit of compromise and sense of leadership, and promptly convene to endorse the proposed cabinet," she said in a statement.

Peter Millet, the British ambassador to the North African country, also urged the House of Representatives to support the new leadership.

"Action against Daesh a priority," he said on Twitter, using an Arabic acronym for IS.