Militants, suicide bomber target Libyan electoral commission offices

A group of militants including a suicide bomber targeted the offices of the Libyan electoral commission in Tripoli on Wednesday, a spokesman said.

The assailants entered the offices and set them on fire, said spokesman Khaled Amar, who fled the building with other staff when it was attacked.

Libya is to organise elections by the end of the year, encouraged by the rate at which Libyans
have been registering to vote.

The UN said it hoped elections can help stabilize Libya, which was thrown into turmoil after long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

Holding elections is a major challenge in a country still split among military and political factions, and where rival governments have claimed authority since the result of a 2014 vote was disputed.

Security in many parts of Libya is poor.

A new electoral law would likely have to be agreed and a referendum on a constitution held before national polls.

A UN effort launched in September aims to amend a December 2015 peace plan for Libya and pave the way for a vote, but has so far produced no deal on how to move toward one.

Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said the UN saw elections as a route to a “peaceful and inclusive end to the transition phase”.

Libya’s election commission says a total of 1,965,450 people are now registered to vote, out of a population of more than six million.

Turnout in the 2014 election was just 630,000.

The polls led to a battle for control of Tripoli, and to rival governments being set up in the capital and in eastern Libya.

The government in the east is aligned with powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar, a likely contender in any presidential poll.