UN negotiators resumed talks yesterday with delegates from Libya’s warring factions, holding separate meetings with rival parties in the latest attempt to end the Opec oil producer’s political crisis and broker a ceasefire.

Libya is caught up in a struggle between an internationally recognised government and a rival administration set up in Tripoli after an armed faction seized the capital last summer.

Both are backed by brigades of fighters who helped oust veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but have since turned against one another in a complex conflict involving tribes, former Gaddafi troops, Islamist militants and federalist forces.

Separate meetings being held among participants in Ghadames, near Algerian border

UN special envoy Bernardino Leon met representatives of the rival governments in the southern town of Ghadames near the Algerian border. Both governments operate their own parliaments and armed forces in a conflict Western powers fear will slide into broader civil war.

“Separate meetings are being held among the participants of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Ghadames,” said Abdulmenam al-Jarrai, a spokesman for the delegation from the House of Representatives, the internationally recognised parliament.

The Twitter account of the UN mission in Libya posted pictures of Leon with the delegations and confirmed the separate rounds of talks.

The United Nations is first seeking a deal on a unified government, a ceasefire and getting armed groups out of Libya’s main cities and key installations. But UN officials acknowledge these aims fall well short of ending the crisis.

Libya’s two largest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, with a combined capacity of around 600,000 barrels per day, have been shut by fighting since December, cutting off vital oil revenues and denting the economy.

Keeping any ceasefire or securing a lasting political agreement is complicated by Libya’s fragmented politics. The rival factions are essentially loose confederations of different armed groups and political leaders whose loyalties are not always aligned.

Analysts also question whether the delegates attending the UN-backed talks will be able to bring on board hardliners among the armed groups on the ground who still believe they can gain more from fighting.

Meanwhile Libya’s electricity grid is struggling to keep going as a shortage of power and gas for generation and its break up under two governments hit supply.

Residents in the two main cities Tripoli and Benghazi say they have been coping for days with outages lasting 10 hours or longer. Mobile phone coverage in parts of eastern Libya broke down this week due to a lack of electricity.

“The network has been broken up in separate regions which has a negative impact, is leading to instability and cases of total blackouts,” Libya’s state electricity firm said on its website.

It gave no details but officials have complained that power plants have been hit or become inaccessible due to nearby clashes.

Some plants such the one in Hun in central Libya have stopped working due to insecurity, the firm said.

Libya had tried overhauling the grid but a departure of foreign partners for security reasons made the completion of projects impossible, the company said, without giving details.

Oil production has fallen to around 350,000 barrels a day, a fifth of levels seen in 2013 as major export ports stopped working in the past few months due to nearby fighting.

Gas output has also fallen sharply since the Es Sider port, Libya’s biggest, and its connected fields shut down in December when a force allied to the Tripoli government tried to seize the terminal.

Foreign firms have become reluctant to deal with Libya. Last week, gunmen stormed the al-Mabrouk oilfield, kidnapping three Filipinos and killing around 10 people, officials have said.