United Nations unwavering in its support to UNSMIL

(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)

The United Nations released a statement on Thursday re-emphasizing its support for the UN’s special envoy to Libya as well as its support for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Martin Kobler, the UN’s special envoy to Libya, has worked on “facilitating implementation of the (Libyan) political agreement signed about a year ago,” said the statement.

The UN also expressed its grave concerns regarding the unstable and polarized political situation in the North African nation and called on Kobler and UNSMIL “to intensify their efforts” to towards the “implementation of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA)”.  

On Tuesday, Kobler released a statement saying that the progress of the implementation of the LPA has been “stalled”.

The UN stated that the purpose of the LPA is to establish key principles: first, to ensure that Libya established a working democracy that upholds “the democratic rights of the Libyan people”. Second, to establish a separation of political powers that all key political players agree to with “oversight and balance between them, in addition to strengthening “state institutions like the Government of National Accord (GNA). Finally, to establish a sense of “respect for the Libyan judiciary and its independence.”

The statement was released a day after a Libyan oil facility was attacked causing political tension to get out of control. A general from Khalifa Haftar’s army, based in eastern Libya, is blaming the Libyan Minister of Defense Al-Mahdi Al-Barghathi for the attack claiming that Al-Barghathi worked with Al-Qaeda to plan for the attack.

The GNA has denounced any claim that it had anything to do with the attack on the oil facility.