The interim government, in partnership with the UN, plans to set up an independent body to oversee national-level talks on a range of issues.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan announced the news at a 25 August press conference held jointly with the UN Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which is headed by Tareq Mitri.

The dialogue initiative will cover a host of sensitive issues, according to Zeidan, including the new constitution, displaced people, security and disarmament. 

It will be supervised by a commission that will be "entirely independent" from both the government and the General National Congress (GNC), Libya's 200-seat parliament, and will be made up of "Libyan personalities from civil society."

Mitri said that the UN would provide its “support, experience and technical knowledge to this initiative” and said it would "highlight the diversity of Libyan society."