US backs plans for high-risk presidential election in Libya

Leaders support elections at Paris summit, but rights group warns conditions for fair vote are sorely lacking'

Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, has thrown her support behind a plan to stage risky and unprecedented parliamentary and presidential elections in Libya next month, even though human rights groups have warned the conditions for fair elections may not exist.

Harris attended a conference in Paris on the future of Libya attended by more than 30 countries and hosted by the French president, Emmanuel Macron; the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; and the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi.