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UN chief appoints senior official as head of UN Mission in Libya

Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced the appointment of Martin Kobler from Germany as his special representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Kobler will succeed Bernardino León of Spain, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at a daily news briefing here.

"The leadership transition will take place in the coming days," said Dujarric.

Prior to this appointment, Kobler served as the special representative of the UN secretary-general and head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya, Ali Al-Za'tari, condemned the continued abduction of two Libyan humanitarian workers affiliated with aid agencies in southern Libya despite repeated calls for their immediate and unconditional release, the spokesman said.

"The ability to deliver crucial aid to the needy in the South is being affected by threats to aid workers," said Dujarric, quoting Al-Za'tari as saying.

The two men -- Mohamed al-Monsef Ali al-Sha'lali and Walid Ramadan Salhub -- who work for the Shaik Tahir Azzawy Charity Organization, a partner for a number of international humanitarian agencies, were abducted on June 5 in al-Shwayrif in southern Libya while on their way to deliver humanitarian assistance to areas in southwestern Libya.

The situation in the North African country continued to deteriorate in recent months amid significant political fragmentation and violence.

UNSMIL has sponsored several rounds of political dialogues between the country's political rivals for months in a bid to end the chaos.

In early October, the United Nations proposed a national unity government to end conflict in Libya, a major oil producer in North Africa, which has been witnessing a frayed political process after former leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled during the 2011 political turmoil.

According to UNSMIL, the two main parties in the political dialogue, the General National Congress (GNC) and the internationally recognized House of Representatives (HoR), are expected to agree on five names for the Council by the end of this week.

The UN-brokered Libyan political agreement was initiated in July by the Tobruk-based HoR, alongside representatives of political parties, municipalities and civil society groups, but the GNC did not join the accord. Endit