Tripoli, January 26 (RHC)-- Libya’s internationally-recognized parliament has rejected a political agreement and a deal on establishing a unity government in an apparent blow to efforts by the United Nations to settle the conflict in the country.

The media office of the legislature, which is based in far-eastern Libya, said on Monday that 90 out of 140 members of the House of Representatives rejected the proposal of a Unity Cabinet by the UN.

Essa al-Areibi, a member of the legislature, said that 84 also rejected an accompanying political agreement with rival authorities based in the capital, Tripoli. Both agreements came last week after months of negotiations between the rival establishments. Some members in both camps had supported the deals and the UN had urged the internationally-recognized parliament to endorse the achievement.

Sources said the UN-sponsored political deal was rejected in the parliament due to a controversial article which stipulates that military chief General Khalifa Hiftar be dismissed from his post. Once an army commander under Gaddafi, Hiftar defected to the opposition and then declared a coup against the Tripoli government in 2014. He was also in charge of the “Operation Dignity,” a campaign against militants in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east.