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Libya peace efforts thrown further into chaos as UN envoy quits
Source: The Guardian
Libya peace efforts thrown further into chaos as UN envoy quits
Move follows Ghassan Salamé’s failure to get nations to use their leverage to end civil war
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 2 Mar 2020 18.17 GMT
Last modified on Mon 2 Mar 2020 18.24 GMT
International efforts to broker a Libyan ceasefire have been plunged further into chaos by the unexpected resignation of Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy to the country.
Salamé’s move, amid UN-led talks in Geneva, is an admission that he has been unable to persuade major powers to use their leverage to end the civil war between Khalifa Haftar, the leader of so-called Libyan National Army forces in the country’s east, and the UN-recognised government of Fayez al-Sarraj, based in the capital, Tripoli.
Last week Salamé said powerful nations had not stuck to commitments made at a peace conference in Berlin in January, to use their influence to end interventions by external powers. His decision to quit is likely to by followed by a further rise in political violence, and the continuation of an oil depot blockade that has led Libya’s oil production to grind to a halt.
A United Nations arms embargo, recently endorsed again by the UN security council, has been flagrantly violated, with no attempt to hold the major culprits, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, in any way accountable.
UN reports repeatedly identified the sources of breaches of the arms embargo but then held back from naming the relevant country.
-snip-
Move follows Ghassan Salamé’s failure to get nations to use their leverage to end civil war
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 2 Mar 2020 18.17 GMT
Last modified on Mon 2 Mar 2020 18.24 GMT
International efforts to broker a Libyan ceasefire have been plunged further into chaos by the unexpected resignation of Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy to the country.
Salamé’s move, amid UN-led talks in Geneva, is an admission that he has been unable to persuade major powers to use their leverage to end the civil war between Khalifa Haftar, the leader of so-called Libyan National Army forces in the country’s east, and the UN-recognised government of Fayez al-Sarraj, based in the capital, Tripoli.
Last week Salamé said powerful nations had not stuck to commitments made at a peace conference in Berlin in January, to use their influence to end interventions by external powers. His decision to quit is likely to by followed by a further rise in political violence, and the continuation of an oil depot blockade that has led Libya’s oil production to grind to a halt.
A United Nations arms embargo, recently endorsed again by the UN security council, has been flagrantly violated, with no attempt to hold the major culprits, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, in any way accountable.
UN reports repeatedly identified the sources of breaches of the arms embargo but then held back from naming the relevant country.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/libya-peace-efforts-chaos-un-envoy-ghassan-salam-quits