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| - Germany hosts new peace talks in Berlin on Wednesday aimed at ending a decade of chaos in Libya. A ceasefire in October paved the way for the formation of an interim government to run the country until elections in December. Here are the key moments in the oil-rich North African nation's rocky road towards peace. Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 revolt against dictator Moamer Kadhafi, who was killed after a NATO-backed uprising. Troops loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar in 2019 take control of the country's oil fields before advancing on Tripoli, controlled by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), sparking more than a year of fighting. Haftar fails to seize the capital, despite the support of Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. The GNA is backed by Turkey. The rival parties sign a permanent ceasefire on October 23, 2020, after five days of UN-organised discussions. In early November, the rival camps begin talks on home ground for the first time to hammer out arrangements for the practical implementation of the ceasefire. Pro-Haftar forces had blocked oil production and exports since January 2020. Libya sits atop Africa's largest proven crude reserves. On October 26, Libya's National Oil Corporation announces it is lifting a block on the last paralysed oil field, declaring all installations operational. Libyan delegates meeting in Tunisia at UN-supported talks in November agree to hold national elections at the end of 2021. They meet again in Egypt on January 20 and agree to organise a referendum on the constitution before the elections. A group of about 10 UN staff arrives in Tripoli in early March to monitor the ceasefire and verify the departure of foreign troops and mercenaries, estimated at 20,000 in early December by the UN. On February 5, 75 Libyan delegates gather under UN auspices in Switzerland and designate engineer and businessman Abdulhamid Dbeibah to lead Libya as interim prime minister alongside a three-member presidential council until the December vote. Haftar pledges his troops will support the peace process. Air traffic between Benghazi in Libya's east and Misrata in the west resumes for the first time in seven years on March 9. The following day the parliament approves the unity government in a move hailed by the UN as "a landmark moment in the history of Libya". On March 15, Dbeibah is sworn in, his team replacing the two rival governments. On March 17, Kais Saied becomes the first Tunisian president in a decade to visit neighbouring Libya. A period of intense diplomacy follows over the next weeks as top politicians from countries including Italy, Greece and Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt visit and pledge cooperation. France and Malta reopen their embassies in Tripoli. Dbeibah also visits several capitals, including Abu Dhabi, Moscow, Algiers and Paris. On May 3, divisions resurface after the interim government's foreign minister urges Turkey to "cooperate" over the withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries from the country. Dozens of armed men respond days later by storming a hotel used as a headquarters by the presidential council. Senior US State Department official Joey Hood visits Tripoli on May 18 and urges the withdrawal of all foreign forces. Three days later, UN envoy for Libya Jan Kubis tells the Security Council that progress on issues such as the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries has "stalled". On June 3, flights resume between Tripoli and the eastern city of Tobruk after a break of several years. On June 20, the government reopens the coastal highway linking the country's east and west, closed for two years due to fighting. acm/jmy/fg/hkb/lg
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