According to the communique, the AU High-Level Committee on Libya requested the AU Commission to "take the necessary measures, jointly with the United Nations, with a view to organizing during the first half of July 2019, the Inclusive Libyan National Peace and Reconciliation Forum" and to "take, jointly with the United Nations and the Libyan Government, all the necessary measures for the organization of presidential and legislative elections in October 2019".
Libya has been gripped by conflict since 2011 when the country’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. The eastern part of the country is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army and located in Tobruk.
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The United Nations tried to organize the first nation-wide presidential and parliamentary elections last December, however, UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame warned the UN Security Council in early November that the deadline could not be met and suggested postponing the elections until next spring.
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The African Union is actively involved in seeking a lasting peace in Libya, including through the AU High-Level Committee on Libya, comprised of the organization's member states representing the five African sub-regions and Libya's neighboring countries.
