Head of Libya's Tripoli government offers to stand down

The head of Libya's internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, has announced his intention to step down by the end of October.

He made the announcement in a televised address, saying he wants to hand authority to a new executive authority to be chosen in planned talks between Libyan factions in Geneva next month.

Mr al-Serraj has come under pressure from factions within the Tripoli government and from recent protests against worsening living conditions and government corruption.

He was appointed as prime minister and chairman of Libya’s presidential council under a UN-brokered agreement signed in the Moroccan town of Skhirat in December 2015.

That agreement came off the back of a war in Tripoli between its powerful armed groups and other rivals in western Libya.

Meanwhile the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has said that Turkey and Russia have discussed their joint aim for a ceasefire in Libya.

Turkey and Russia back rival sides in the conflict.