ALGIERS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of Libya's neighboring countries are meeting on Monday in the Algerian capital Algiers as part of efforts aiming at helping Libyans to hold general elections set for December 24.

The meeting is being held behind closed doors for two days. The foreign ministers of Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Niger, and Chad, in addition to Congo which chairs the African Union, along with the Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the African Union Commissioner for Political, Peace and Security Affairs Bankole Adeoye, and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Libya Jan Kubis attended the conference.

In his opening remarks, Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said "the meeting comes as Libya's neighboring countries have been contributing to resolving the Libyan crisis."

He stressed the need "to continue the effort aiming at unifying the state institutions in Libya and achieving reconciliation," and continue to work "to withdraw mercenaries and foreign forces from all Libyan soil as soon as possible."

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry praised on the sidelines of the meeting the work of Libya Neighborhood Committee to "support Libya's stability and sovereignty," and to preserve the capabilities of the brotherly Libyan people to pave their way to exit from the crisis in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

He noted that the participation of all Libya's neighboring countries in the Algiers meeting "will contribute to strengthening all these goals, and ultimately bring back lasting peace in Libya."

In February, Libya's warring factions agreed to create an interim government under the auspices of the United Nations, which will rule the country until the Dec. 24 elections. Enditem

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