Libyan presidential council announces new lineup of unity government

RABAT, Morocco - The Libyan Presidential Council has proposed a new cabinet lineup for a unity government in a move to end the chaos that has afflicted the country in the past few years.

The council said late Sunday in the Moroccan city of Skhirat that it has agreed on an 18-member cabinet that includes three female members.

According to a UN-brokered deal signed in December by representatives of various parties taking part in the intra-Libyan dialogue, a new government should be based in Tripoli, and should win the approval of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives, Libya's internationally recognized parliament.

Sunday's proposal is the second of its kind by the council since Libya's rival parties agreed to form a unity government.

The House of Representatives on Jan 25 rejected the council's first proposal over its size -- 32 ministers and four deputy prime ministers.

The North African country plunged into turmoil in 2011 after the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Since July 2014, the Libya crisis deepened as two rival parliaments and governments started to fight for legitimacy.