Libya

Guterres strongly encourages world powers and countries that have interests in Libya to meet again in Berlin.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of  Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal as his Special Representative for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). 

Libya is trapped in a degenerative cycle of war. Yet Europeans could use the current stalemate in the country to restart an electoral process that would end the cycle.

[…] The 15-member UN Security Council needs to agree by consensus to the appointment of Abdoulaye Bathily as the UN special envoy for Libya. … Bathily would replace Jan Kubis, who stepped down in December. Guterres had informally proposed two other people to fill the role, but the Security Council could not agree.

Leaders in Libya must take immediate steps to resolve their political impasse, which is spilling over into increasing violence, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Libya's capital was quiet early Sunday, a day after the worst fighting there for two years killed 32 people and injured 159 as forces aligned with a parliament-backed administration failed to dislodge the Tripoli-based government.

[… ] Concerns about the deteriorating living conditions of Libyans in all parts of the country, exacerbated by the oil production shutdowns, are linked to the lack of access to basic services that are fundamental human rights..

The spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said in a press conference on Monday that the UN hoped that it would find a candidate to be named as new envoy to Libya that is acceptable to all Libyan parties, adding that there hadn't been any announcement of a specific envoy yet.

The overall situation in Libya remains “highly volatile”, Martha Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs and peace operations, told the Security Council on Monday. Despite some progress, a constitutional and political stalemate continues, prolonging tensions and fuelling insecurity, while clashes in and around Tripoli surge, she added.

Renewed clashes in the center of the Libyan capital have killed several civilians, including a child. The violence comes amid tense political rivalries in the divided country.