Candidates wishing to run for election to the 60-member body tasked with drafting Libya's new constitution have been invited to register their interest.

Nuri Alabbar, the head of the High National Election Commission (HNEC), said that the registration would take place from 6-22 October, and urged candidates to meet all the required conditions and paperwork.

Alabbar said that the elections to the new body would be based on 17 constituencies nationwide. No date has set been set for the vote.

Writing a new constitution is seen as a vital milestone along Libya's post-revolutionary transition. It should theoretically pave the way for a new round of legislative elections and the formation of a more permanent government.

A number of key economic policy decisions are likely to be delayed until a new government is in place, while the constitution also needs to address sensitive issues such as the decentralisation of decision-making. 

The lifespan of the current General National Congress (GNC) is unclear: it was originally meant to have supervised the writing of a new constitution by February 2014, but a spokesman recently raised the possibility of it being extended some way beyond that date. 

Some groups within the national assembly have opposed any extension to the GNC's term.