On Wednesday, the Africa Intelligence website revealed that the United States and Britain are competing to secure their diplomats for the position of Deputy Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). This is to replace Rezidon Zeninga, who will leave this month.
Washington is backing Kenneth Gluck for the number two job in UNSMIL. In turn, London wants the position to go to its diplomat, Joanne Adamson, who is currently serving with MINUSMA in Mali.
According to the website, Adamson held the position of UK Ambassador to Bamako from 2014-2016. She was also named as the Deputy Head of the EU Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Meanwhile, Gluck held the second position in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central Africa Republic, from 2017-2019.
He also worked in the UN mission in Yemen, and worked with Doctors Without Borders in Somalia and Sudan, according to Africa Intelligence.
The position of Deputy Head of UNSMIL has become, in recent years, a strategic position for Washington, to monitor the Libyan file, the website pointed out.
This was previously held by US diplomat, Stephanie Williams. After which she became acting head of mission, and then the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General in Libya.
Last week, UNSMIL denied that Bathily plans to announce a new roadmap, including a new government, formed by the Libyan Presidential Council and approved by the Parliament.
It stressed that any roadmap should be designed through inclusive dialogue among Libyan stakeholders, acting in full respect of the rights, interests, and aspirations of all Libyan people to be governed by legitimate leadership and institutions.
Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi 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 Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba, who is leading the transitional government, to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.