[JURIST] Warring parties in Libya [JURIST news archive] have signed a preliminary UN-sponsored agreement [text] on Saturday, agreeing to form a unity government and cease fighting. However, one of the main parties, based in Tripoli, refused to sign the deal. Under the Libyan Political Agreement, signed in Skhirat, Morocco, the country will get a one-year government of national accord with one prime minister and two deputies. The government would also include a house of representatives. The parties have not agreed on more specific details. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] voiced encouragement after the agreement was signed, stating [statement] that he is looking forward to the “speedy conclusion of the full agreement and its implementation.” His spokesperson also noted:

The act is a clear demonstration of political will and courage and brings the country one step closer to resolving the current institutional and security crisis… The Secretary-General calls on all Libyans to move the political transition process forward, in a spirit of unity, through the formation of a Government of National Accord.

The Libyan conflict [JURIST backgrounder] has seen the country besieged by violence and destruction. Earlier this week the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino León, condemned [UN news report] the escalating hostilities in the country’s eastern city of Benghazi and the heavy toll being felt by the area’s civilians. Mr. León, who also heads the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), deplored the repeated shelling of residential areas in the city while reiterating his belief that “there can be no military solution to the conflict.” In May the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) urged [JURIST report] the UN Security Council to take action to strengthen the deteriorating security situation in Libya. In April UNSMIL strongly condemned [JURIST report] the continuous airstrikes on the town of Zintan, noting a high danger to civilians. In March UNSMIL had warned the Security Council that the situation in Libya was deteriorating [JURIST report] and the country would likely become unstable without international intervention.