UN envoy urges Libyans to end internal divisions

CAIRO - 24 July 2020: Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Jan Kubis urged all Libyan leaders to intensify their efforts to continue with the path of peace through enabling the holding of national elections on 24 December 2021.

In a greeting message on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, Kubis called upon all Libyan leaders and institutions "to remember the message of peace, compassion, and reconciliation that this occasion symbolizes to put an end to the continued divisions in the country and to the hardship the Libyan people continue to endure."

"I call on all key Libyan decision-makers and institutions to safeguard what has been achieved since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in October 2020," said the senior UN official.

He also urged them to work together in a spirit of unity and patriotism, shoulder and share the responsibility to put the welfare and the interests of the Libyan people above narrow interests.

Libya lives a glimmer of hope to get out of the dark tunnel it has been going through for years, he added. 

On March 16, power was handed over from the former presidential council to the new one, and from the 2014 Government of National Accord (GNA) to the GNU, which is supposed to pave the way for holding elections on December 24.

On March 15, the GNU members and prime minister took the oath of office before the Tobruk-based House of Representatives.

The new Chair of the Presidential Council is Mohamed Menfi, and the other two members are Mossa Al-Koni, and Abdullah Al-Lafi. Dabiba-Menfi list received the necessary votes in the ballot held by the UN-fostered Libyan National Dialogue Forum on February 6.

The dismantled interim non-elected GNA used to control western Libya and was using militias and mercenaries to hold territories. Simultaneously, central and eastern Libya were under the control of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the authority of the elected House of Representatives and an interim government it had formed. 

Unlike the GNA, which was based in Tripoli in the west, the GNU is based in Sirte located in central Libya.  

In December, Libyan local media reported that Turkey had transported into Libya HAWK missile batteries and a 3D-Radar, according to Egypt's Youm7.

On July 5, several "unknown aircraft" launched nine strikes against Oqba Bin Nafea Airbase located in Al Watiyah controlled by the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Turkey. The outcome was the destruction of Hawk air defense systems, and a Koral electronic warfare system as well as the killing of a Turkish commander, and six officers as the operations room they were in was hit.

However, Commander of Mobilization at the LNA Khaled al-Mahgoub stated on July 20 that Turkey still uses Oqba bin Nafea airbase in Al Watiyah western the country to bring in military reinforcements.

An Egyptian delegation visited earlier in February the Libyan capital, Tripoli, in order to check on the headquarters of the embassy, and to reiterate three requests that are dismantling militias, eliminating foreign military presence in Libya, and deporting foreign mercenaries.