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BENGHAZI, Libya – The spokesman for Libya’s internationally-recognized parliament has rebuffed pressure by the West and United Nations on lawmakers to accept a peace deal that stipulates power-sharing with rival Islamists.
Faraj Abu-Hashim, spokesman for the parliament based in Libya’s eastern city of Tobruk, told reporters on Thursday that lawmakers will not accept “pressures” and attempts to “legitimize militias” — a reference to the militia-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli.
Since last year, Libya has been split between an elected parliament, which was forced to convene in the country’s far east, and Islamist-led government backed by militias that seized Tripoli last August.
The elected parliament has suspended its participation in U.N.-brokered negotiations. However, there are internal divisions and Tobruk negotiators have backed the deal, saying it has “many positive elements.”