WASHINGTON — The US State Department on Thursday stressed the urgent need for Libyan leaders to come up with creative compromises on an electoral framework.

"Our goal when it comes to Libya is a sovereign, stable, unified, and secure Libya, with no foreign interference, and a democratically elected government that supports development, and that is capable of combating terrorism within its borders," State Dept. Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

"And so, that's why we've increased our diplomatic focus on supporting that progress in Libya, including through the work of our special envoy, Richard Norland," he explained.

Price was commenting on the decision of the Libyan parliament Thursday to postpone the legislative elections for one month beyond Dec. 24, stating, "Now, we know that elections — free and fair elections are a core part of that. There is an urgent need for Libyan leaders to come up with creative compromises on an electoral framework."

"As we underscored in Berlin in the conference that (German) Foreign Minister (Heiko) Maas convened in June and the UN Security Council session on Libya the following month in July, the international community expects national elections to take place in the roadmap adopted by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum," the spokesperson noted.

"And we welcomed that in UN Security Council Resolution 2570 in April. So, the conduct of free and fair elections — holding a free and fair elections is extraordinarily important to us.

"It is something that we will continue to work with our partners in the international community to continue to support as we work to help the Libyan people achieve their broader aspirations," he added. — KUNA