Libya: Top official urges UN special envoy to prompt election talks

An influential Libyan official said that the United Nations' special envoy should meet with the joint electoral committee made up of rival Libyan factions, to start constitutional arrangements for elections.

Aguila Saleh, the influential speaker of Libya's east-based parliament, was speaking to reporters in Cairo after meeting Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Saleh said the joint committee could send their recommendations to the High National Election Commission, which would then be responsible for holding elections.

Earlier this month, Abdoulaye Bathily, the new UN special envoy for Libya warned that the first anniversary of Libya's postponed elections is quickly approaching and that further delaying a vote could lead the troubled north African nation to even greater instability, putting it "at risk of partition."

"The Libyan executive body's term is over," said Saleh, calling for a peaceful transfer of power and a return to previous electoral procedures.