World Bulletin/News Desk

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had invited Libya and its neighbors to a December 4 meeting in Khartoum to discuss recent developments in the fractious North African country.

In a statement, the ministry said that Foreign Minister Ali Karti had invited the foreign ministers of Libya's neighbors to attend the event.

It added that the foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger and Chad, as well as Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi and Arab League Special Envoy to Libya Nasser al-Qidwa, had all been invited to attend the gathering.

Karti expressed hope that the upcoming Khartoum meeting would be a step toward restoring Libya's security and stability, the statement said.

Thursday's statement came only a short time after Karti wrapped up a visit to Libya, during which he met with the foreign ministers of the country's two rival governments as part of a peace initiative backed by Libya's neighbors.

"All parties in Libya want dialogue," Karti said in Cairo, where he headed after his visit to Libya.

The prime minister of Libya's Tobruk-based government, for his part, Abdullah al-Thinni, paid a visit to Khartoum in late October.

Following a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, he said that the meeting of Libya's neighbors in Khartoum would lay the foundations for dialogue among rival Libyan factions.

He added, however, that this dialogue would make it necessary for all factions to make concessions.

Libya has been dogged by political instability since the 2011 ouster and death of long-ruling strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Ever since, rival militias have frequently locked horns, bringing violence to the country's main cities, especially Tripoli and Benghazi. The central government, meanwhile, has appeared largely absent from the scene.

The country's sharp political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each of which has its own institutions.

Two assemblies currently vie for legislative authority: a recently-elected House of Representatives based in Tobruk; and the General National Congress, which – even though its mandate ended in August – continues to convene in Tripoli.

The two parliaments support the two rival governments, which are respectively headquartered in the two cities.