The head of Libya’s internationally recognized government resigned, just hours after the United Nations opened peace talks meant to end the civil war in the holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves.
Abdullah al-Thinni, who heads the government in eastern Libya, said on a television program Tuesday that he will quit all his official posts. An official resignation will be submitted to parliament on Sunday.
“If I’m the obstacle to this nation, then my resignation will be submitted” to parliament, he said.
Libya has been split between two governments and their militia allies since last year. Al-Thinni’s administration and smaller groups agreed last month on an initial plan to end the fighting and form a unity government. The government’s main rival, the Islamist-dominated administration in Tripoli, didn’t accept the plan.
Al-Thinni has quit before, after an attack targeted his family in April 2014, but he ended up staying on.
The latest round of talks that started Tuesday in Geneva aims to reach an agreement on major points of contention by the end of August, the UN’s special envoy to Libya, Bernardino León, said.