Libyen

At least 69 municipal councils out of 120 in Libya may not hold elections in March due to a lack of funding by the UN-backed government according to the head of the elections committee. … UNSMIL along with the United Nations Development Programme has been offering technical and logistical support to the elections committee since March 2018.

The forces controlling eastern Libya regard UN envoy Ghassan Salame as an enemy contributing to the North African nation’s violent crisis, a spokesman said. The strong criticism followed the UN Libya mission’s expression of “deep concern” about a deployment of troops from the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, to southern Libya.

Germany is suspending participation in Operation Sophia, the EU naval mission targeting human trafficking in the Mediterranean. The decision reportedly relates to Italy's reluctance to allow rescued people to disembark.

Despite years of promises to address the “vulnerable heart” of Libya – the country’s south – conditions around its water and oil resource wealth have continued to deteriorate at “an alarming rate”, the United Nations envoy for the country told the Security Council. … While UNSMIL has built a taskforce to tackle the situation, and agencies are helping, “it is the Libyan authorities who must shoulder the burden” he stated.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has today strongly condemned the recent military mobilisation of militias in southern Tripoli. It said it is monitoring the situation closely. It warned parties against any breach of the Zawia ceasefire agreement concluded on 4 and 9 September 2018.

Wednesday's fighting in Tripoli violated a UN-brokered ceasefire signed four months ago. … The internationally recognised government in Tripoli, backed by the United Nations, has been working on a new security plan since the ceasefire deal but achieved little as Libya, long a major oil producer, lacks a national police force or army.

Libya risks losing its last chance to find a peaceful solution to four years of deadlock because political parties backed by the west are plotting to hijack crucial talks, a former Libyan diplomat has told the UN. The warning from the country’s former ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, comes in an open letter to Ghassan Salame, the UN special envoy for Libya.