Libya

The UN chief urged the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya by Saturday as called for in the October 23 ceasefire agreement signed by the warring sides after years of fighting split the oil-rich North African nation in two.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ján Kubiš of Slovakia as his Special Envoy on Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

The UN Secretary-General has praised the breakthrough made by a key committee of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum at the weekend, over an interim political leadership deal, ahead of nationwide elections at the end of the year.

[…] Natalina Cea was appointed Head of Mission of the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya. She will take up her duties on 1 February 2021 succeeding Vincenzo Tagliaferri, who has been Head of Mission since 1 September 2016.

Officials from Libya’s rival governments met for talks aimed at unifying the national budget, another step forward in efforts to end the years-long conflict in the oil-rich North African nation.

[…] The call came in a letter he addressed to the Member States of the Security Council in which he called for the formation of a monitoring committee comprising civilians and retired military personnel from international bodies such as the African Union, the European Union and the Arab League.

The 20,000 foreign fighters now in Libya represent “a serious crisis” and “a shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty”, UN Acting Special Representative Stephanie Williams said on Wednesday, during the latest meeting under the country’s political dialogue forum. Seventy-five people from across the social and political spectrum of Libyan society are taking part in the forum, aimed at establishing a transitional body that will govern the country in the lead-up to elections next year.  

Libya’s rivals have begun a second round of talks on a mechanism to choose a transitional government that would lead the conflict-stricken country to elections in December next year, according to the United Nations.

Turkey protested to Germany and the EU on Monday after German forces belonging to an EU military mission boarded and tried to search a Turkish cargo ship that they suspected of taking weapons to Libya illegally.