UN calls on Security Council to support future national unity government in Libya 

Acting UN Special Envoy for Libya Sephanie Williams has urged the Security Council to express support for a new unified government in Libya, in a video conference with the Council in which she assured that dialogues in the country, facilitated by the UN Support Mission in Libya, have produced "tangible results".  

Williams said that the support must be "sustained" in order to "open a new path towards democracy". 

Among the results to which the UN special envoy referred are the ceasefire agreement decreed in October, a roadmap to establish an interim executive authority ahead of elections on 24 December and a package of economic reforms, such as the unification of the Libyan dinar at the end of last year and the establishment of a new exchange rate against the US dollar.  

"Libyans want to turn the page, reclaim sovereignty and ownership of their destiny as a people after many years of relentless armed conflict, fragmentation and institutional division," Williams said during his speech, in which he said there were "hopeful signs" that the conflict a decade later "could be coming to an end". 

Williams also called for a renewal of Libyan patriotism with the aim of moving towards democracy and "respect for human rights, accountability and justice". 

The UN special envoy's call for support for a new interim government of national unity is to be expressed through a Security Council resolution, which would also call for the dissolution of "all existing parallel executive entities" around the country. 

Dialogue continues in the Swiss city of Geneva between the warring parties in the framework of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, and is expected to conclude in the creation of the new government, before Williams ends his interim mandate and hands over the baton of the Mission to Jan Kubis.  

Since Gaddafi was overthrown, several foreign powers have supported one side or the other depending on their interests in the Maghreb country. On the one hand, the Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli and supported by powers such as Turkey, and on the other hand, Marshal Haftar's Libyan National Army, supported by Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.  

For this reason, the US representative to the UN, Richard Mills, has called for the "immediate withdrawal" from Libya of all "external actors" involved in the conflict, in reference to the military and mercenaries sent by various countries, such as those mentioned above. This point is included in the October ceasefire agreement.  

"We call on all external parties, including Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, to respect Libyan sovereignty and immediately cease their military intervention in Libya," he said. 

Mills took the opportunity to congratulate the Libyan Political Dialogue Photo on the agreements for the choice of the next body to organise the elections. He also called on the parties to "work in good faith" to elect a "unified government whose mandate will extend until the 24 December elections". 

"It is essential that the Libyan people and the international community take all necessary steps to prevent spoilers from standing in the way of this political transition," he said, while calling for an end to "the culture of impunity that has prolonged the conflict".  

Finally, Mills stressed that "an inclusive, negotiated political solution is the only way to end the conflict" and added that "the UN-mediated political process is the only viable platform for peace and national reconciliation in Libya".