On Saturday, the Tunisian President, Kais Saied, decided to appoint an ambassador in Tripoli for the first time since 2014.
While Libya has an embassy in Tunis and Tunisia maintains a Consulate in Tripoli, the Tunisian Embassy had been closed for six years due to security concerns.
In a statement, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said that President Saied decided to appoint Al-Asaad Ajili as Tunisia’s ambassador to Tripoli, “within the framework of the annual reshuffle of heads of diplomatic, permanent and consular missions.”
The decision also included the appointment of a number of ambassadors to different countries, including Muhammad bin Yusuf as ambassador to Cairo, Nabil Ammar as ambassador to Brussels, Reza Zqidan as ambassador to Baghdad, and Hashemi Ajili as ambassador to Kuwait.
Earlier this month, Kais Saied and Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Libya, Stephanie Williams, discussed the UN’s efforts to achieve a political settlement in Libya, according to a statement released by the Tunisian presidency.
The UN official praised Tunisia’s important role in achieving durable stability in the region while Saied stressed that the solution to the Libyan crisis should be based on the agreement of all its factions away from any foreign interference.
The president reiterated Tunisia’s commitment not to interfere in Libya’s internal affairs and to find peaceful solutions to end the bloodshed in the neighbouring war-torn country, under the aegis of the UN.
He underlined the importance of the role of neighbouring countries to find a peaceful solution to this crisis, “referring to the important coordination and consultation between Tunisia and Algeria to achieve stability in Libya.”
Saied also proposed to host in Tunisia a national dialogue which brings together various components of the Libyan people, “especially since our country is the most affected by the situation in Libya.”