Libyan rival leaders agree on ceasefire following Macron-hosted talks

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Libya's two main rival leaders have agreed to a ceasefire and to hold elections in 2018, after they attended a meeting outside Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. The resolution was welcomed by the United Nations.

Macron said Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, the military commander based in the eastern part of the country, had shown "historic courage" in talks.

"Today Prime Minister Sarraj and General Haftar can become the symbols of national unity and the commitment to reconciliation and peace," the French president said after hosting the meeting.

Libya has plunged into chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 with dozens of armed factions filling the power vacuum.

Haftar has refused to recognize the authority of Sarraj's Government of National Authority (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli.

In Tuesday's talks, the two leaders accepted that only a political solution can end the crisis, starting with a ceasefire.

In a 10-point statement released after the meeting, the two leaders said: "We commit to a ceasefire and to refrain from any use of armed force for any purpose that does not strictly constitute counter-terrorism."

The statement also says that the two sides are committed to "building the rule of law," and integrating fighters into "lawful military forces."

The meeting went further than talks previously held in Abu Dhabi in May, which ended with both sides refusing to back any commitment.

(Source: AFP)