On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba received the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Libya, Mohammed Ali Al Shamsi.
Al Shamsi conveyed the greetings of the President of the UAE to Dbaiba, stressing Abu Dhabi’s desire to develop economic and trade relations.
The Ambassador also affirmed his support for the latest UN initiative presented by the UN Envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily to hold elections as soon as possible.
According to a statement, Al Shamsi confirmed that “all procedures related to the issuance of travel visas for Libyan citizens, and the opening of airspace between Libya and the UAE are completed.” He added that the Emirati Embassy is “set to resume its work from Tripoli and facilitate the granting of travel visas to Libyans directly.”
Notably, Al Shamsi also met with Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush, the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Mnifi, and Bathily over the last two days to discuss the latest political developments in the country.
In February, the UAE Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council, Mohamed Abushahab said that he supports Bathily’s proposal to establish a High-level steering panel for Libya.
During his speech at the Security Council’s Libya session, he said: “We hope that this proposal will achieve the goals and consensus sought by the Libyans.
For these steps to succeed and translate into action on the ground, the international community must show collective support, free from geopolitical tension. It also requires full cooperation from the Libyan people.”
Abushahab stressed the need to consult and coordinate with the Libyans on Bathily’s proposal.
The UAE diplomat noted that Libya was only a few steps away from holding elections. “For reasons known to all, the date of the elections was postponed. Since then, the concerned parties have fallen into successive and endless rounds of consultations to reach an agreement on a constitutional basis.This has not only prolonged the process and made it repetitive, but it has also taken a turn that does not serve the national interest of the Libyan people. Therefore, we do not see a way out of this political impasse other than coming together and supporting Mr. Bathily’s efforts towards enabling Libyans to reach a Libyan-owned political settlement – one that is acceptable to the parties, leads to holding simultaneous Parliamentary and Presidential elections this year, and results in the establishment of a unified government.”
The UAE representative applauded the “important role played by neighbouring countries in bringing diverging views closer together, particularly the efforts of Egypt with the support of the UN Mission.”
Abushahab stressed the need to promote the “full, equal, and meaningful participation of Libyan women in all aspects of the political process, such as those related to the elections and next steps in this regard.”
