Is failure to resolve the Libyan crisis due to incompetence of UN envoys or selfishness of Libyan leaders?
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The resignation of the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal, came as no surprise given the deepening political division in the country, according to the Libyan News Agency (LANA).
Mr Bathily's resignation is also the result of the UN Mission's inability to put an end to the entrenched positions of political leaders in Libya, who cling to their convictions, which in the past have been the cause of armed clashes and political division, the agency added.
In an article published on Wednesday, the agency recalls that nine successive UN envoys to Libya have made intense efforts to find ways and means of getting the country out of war, division, security and military anarchy and capital looting, and to restore stability to the country and put an end to foreign intervention in its affairs.
The first UN envoy was Jordanian Abdel Illah Khatib, followed by British Iyan Martin, Lebanese Tarek Mitri, Spaniard Bernardino Léon, German Martin Kobler, Slovak Jan Kubic, Lebanese Ghassan Salamé, American Stéphanie Williams and finally Senegalese Abdoulaye Bathily.
All these personalities come from different continents, are of different nationalities, have different religions and speak different languages, the agency points out. And they have done everything possible to put an end to the presence of foreign bases and forces, as well as mercenaries on Libyan soil.
But their efforts have failed because Libyan politicians have refused to accept their proposed solutions, LANA laments, wondering whether the failure is the fault of all these UN envoys or of those fighting for power, money and influence in this North African country, which has the largest oil and gas reserves on the African continent.
Mr. Bathily resigned on Tuesday after presenting a report to the UN Security Council in which he criticised what he described as the "selfishness of Libya's current leaders", calling on them to find a political agreement to save the country.
According to the agency, the crisis in Libya is not political and cannot be resolved by changing the government, as some argue, or the Constitution, as others believe, and even less by holding elections, as everyone is calling for.
But, says LANA, the crisis in Libya is fundamentally sectarian and military between protagonists motivated by money and power.
The Libyan press agency called on all the parties involved to put an end to their rivalry and give absolute priority to the interests of the Libyan people, who are exhausted by wars, bad policies and the plundering of public finances, as attested by the Court of Auditors.
The current political leaders must put aside their personal interests, forget their ethnic and regional affiliations and make concessions for the benefit of Libya and its people before it is too late, the agency pleads.
This is all the more plausible given that there are reports that Libya will soon be transformed into a land of conflict and rivalry between the United States of America and Russia.
Indeed, at a time when Washington is working to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Libya, Moscow is stepping up its efforts to reinforce its military presence in several African countries, including Libya, used by the Russians as a base for deploying its operations within the continent.
-0- PANA AD/IN/JSG/BBA/MA 18April2024
