UN-backed Libyan Unity Government threatens rival leaders with terror charges

Libya's UN-brokered unity government threatened on Thursday to send the names of 17 of the country's rival politicians, militia leaders and religious figures to the international police organisation Interpol and the UN Security Council for "supporting terrorism" if they continue to "impede democratic transition". The prime minister-designate of the UN-backed government, Fayez Serraj- who landed by sea in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday- is slowly taking steps to consolidate his grip on power in a country already split between two rival governments, two parliaments, and militias in eastern and western Libya. One of Libya's rival governments is based in Tripoli. It is led by Khalifa Ghweil and its source of power is a loose set of Islamist-led militias. The second camp is based in the east, made up of Libya's last elected House of Representatives and it is supported by army units led by strongman Khalifa Hifter, and eastern militias and tribes. The two rival camps have created a power struggle and a security vacuum, enabling the extremist Islamic State group to find a foothold in Libya. The group has taken over the central city of Sirte and carried deadly attacks across...

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