The newly appointed UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily will arrive on Friday, and hold meetings with the country’s rival parties, sources told Abaad News.
The sources added that Bathily will hold talks in Benghazi, with the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. He will also meet Parliament Speaker, Ageela Saleh and Prime Minister-designate, Fathi Bashagha.
The sources noted that Bathily will hold talks with the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba and the Presidential Council in Tripoli.
The UN Envoy is set to conduct meetings with the High Council of State (HCS) and a number of political parties and NGO’s.
In September, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, announced the appointment of former Senegalese Minister and UN diplomat, Abdoulaye Bathily, as the new UN Envoy to Libya, after the Security Council gave its approval.
Guterres said Bathily brings 40 years of experience to the job of Special Representative, and Head of UNSMIL. The decision to appoint Bathily came after a nine-month search, amid increasing chaos in the oil-rich nation.
The last UN Special Representative, Ján Kubiš resigned on 23 November 2021, after 10 months on the job. A number of candidates proposed by Guterres were rejected by Security Council members, Libya, or neighbouring countries.
In December 2021, Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat, Stephanie Williams, a former UN Deputy Special Representative in Libya, as his Special Adviser — a job that did not require Security Council approval. She left at the end of July, this year. The mission has had no leader since, as Libyans grapple with a constitutional and a political crisis.
Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadaffi in 2011. The county has for years been split between rival administrations, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December, and the refusal of Prime Minister Dbaiba, who led the transitional government, to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.