The head of Libya’s internationally recognized government and a military strongman who backs a rival administration in the country’s east have agreed to hold elections, the UN said on Thursday. Unity government leader Fayez al-Sarraj met Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, where they agreed “on the need to end the transitional phase through general elections and on ways to preserve the stability of Libya,” the UN's Libya mission UNSMIL tweeted. The leaders had agreed to a Paris-brokered deal in May 2018 to hold a nationwide election by the end of the year. However, territorial disputes and divisions in the oil-rich country delayed those plans. UN envoy Ghassan Salame told the UN Security Council last month that he was planning to organize a national conference inside Libya within weeks to pave the way for elections, AFP reported.