Libyan leader on election challenges and COVID

The head of Libya's Presidential Council said on Thursday his country faces serious challenges ahead of national elections in December. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mohammad Younes Menfi said the international community must shoulder its responsibility in supporting the effort to remove foreign mercenaries and forces out of Libya. Menfi also told delegates it remains a real challenge. Libya has recently witnessed positive developments following a breakthrough in which rival parties agreed on a unified new executive authority to govern in the run-up to the December 24 national elections.

Libyans hope elections will end years of civil war that has engulfed the country since the ouster and killing of former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.