UN Libya peace dialogue ends without naming government
We have agreed to reconvene in about a week in a virtual meeting (to) agree on the selection mechanism for the coming authority, says UN’S interim Libya envoy Stephanie Williams
Un-led talks aimed at appointing an executive to help lead Libya out of a decade of conflict ended without discussing names, the world body said.
“We have agreed to reconvene in about a week in a virtual meeting (to) agree on the selection mechanism for the coming authority,” the UN’S interim Libya envoy Stephanie Williams told journalists.
But she said “no names... were discussed” during the meetings in neighbouring Tunisia.
Libya has been riven by conflict since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi.
The latest phase in renewed efforts for peace in the North African country brought together 75 delegates selected by the UN to represent a broad range of constituencies.
They were charged with laying out a roadmap towards elections, setting the mandate of an interim executive and naming its members.
But observers have criticised the way the delegates were chosen and cast doubts over their clout in a country where two administrations, as well as an array of armed groups and foreign powers, are already vying for power. Libya is currently dominated by a unity government in Tripoli that emerged from previous Un-led talks in 2015, and its rival, the eastern-based House of Representatives elected the previous year and which never recognised the unity government.
Military talks led to a formal ceasefire deal in October, and recent developments on parallel economic and political tracks have raised hopes for progress.
Williams said on Sunday she was “very pleased with the outcome” of the Tunisia talks.
But observers have noted major obstacles to a lasting solution.
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, warned that foreign interests could easily derail the process.
“The UN’S biggest difficulty is that there are permanent Turkish and Russian military bases and officers on the ground,” he told AFP.
But the UN’S former envoy to Libya and the architect of the current UN process, Ghassan Salame, told AFP on Friday he had higher hopes than ever for peace, citing “an accumulation of positive factors.”
He noted that Libyans were increasingly hostile to foreign interference and the presence of mercenaries.
Salame also said Turkey and Russia could see the fruition of infrastructure contracts worth billions of dollars, signed with the Qadhafi regime, but which Libyans were still keen to honour.
Williams on Sunday vowed to push onwards with the necessary steps for naming an interim executive.
But Harchaoui noted that for such an administration to be accepted, “there need to be names for each of the main posts.”
“Until this step is fulfilled, a deal won’t lead to anything concrete,” he said.
Meanwhile, travellers began to cross between Tunisia and Libya again on Saturday after a seven-month border closure due to novel coronavirus restrictions was lifted.
The closure at the end of March had a severe impact on trade between the two countries and left Libyans and Tunisians stranded on either side of the frontier.
On the Libyan side of the border, several cars waited to cross into Tunisia while some people, wheeling luggage, walked to the other side.
Border police checked the identity of the travellers and ensured they were carrying negative tests for Covid-19, AFP correspondents said.
Many Tunisians travel to Libya for work, while Libyans go regularly to Tunisia for medical treatment.
“We will be prioritising the sick and the ones who have special cases,” Abu Rabih Malkhuf, head of security on the Libyan side of the border, told AFP.
“There is a special protocol that will be followed, and protective measures will be taken, such as wearing masks and social distancing,” he added.