The turmoil in Libya has not only slowed the pace of key aspects of the democratic transition but threatens to push the country back into armed conflict and instability, the U.N. envoy to the North African country told the Security Council on Monday. "There is a continuing sense of concern among the Libyan people regarding the prospect of a protracted conflict," Tarek Mitri, the head of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) told the 15-country council. "The crisis which has dominated the political scene for the past few months poses a threat to their country's political transition." "Following consultations with all concerned parties, I will be convening soon a meeting that brings representatives of the major actors, with the aim of forging an agreement on principles of political interaction, national priorities during the remainder of the transition, and on ways of addressing immediate security, and otherwise divisive, issues," Mitri said of the political initiative he announced last week.
