EU to send assessment team for Libya polls

The European Union Friday, deployed an election assessment team to Libya ahead of constituent assembly polls scheduled to take place this month, a statement said. The 21-member team "will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the upcoming electoral process, a process full of challenges after so many decades of authoritarian regime," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's office said in a statement. "The forthcoming elections represent a crucial step in the ongoing transition," following the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year-old regime last year, the statement said. The election was set for June 19, but no formal date has yet been announced. The 200 elected members of the constituent assembly will appoint a committee of 60 experts to draft a new constitution, which will then be put to a referendum.