Libyan unity government announces move to Tripoli

Libya's UN-backed unity government on Monday announced that it has started moving to the capital Tripoli to assume it responsibilities.

In a statement, the presidential council headed by premier-designate Fayez al-Sarraj: "the security preparations for the unity government to take office in Tripoli have been completed, and the presidential council has started moving to the capital to carry out its duties."

The Islamist-backed government in the capital, Tripoli, had last week declared a state of emergency after reports that four members of the rival unity government had arrived to the city.

The Tripoli government - one of Libya's three governments and which is backed by militias - has warned before of the United Nations' attempts to install a government in the capital.

The west has pinned its hopes for resolving Libya's chaos and blocking the Islamic State group's growth on the unity government, which is brokered by the United Nations.

Under the agreement, Libya's rival administrations - one supported by the internationally recognised parliament in the east and the other backed by an Islamist-backed militia in Tripoli - are supposed to cede power to a new Government of National Accord (GNA) under prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.

But so far the only thing the two sides seem able to agree on is their mutual disdain for the new authority.

The presidential council in its Monday statement called on Libyans and the international community to denounce the behaviour of the Tripoli government that "is impeding the work of the unity government" and "putting the security of the capital at risk".