UN refuses to lift arms embargo on Libya

The United Nations has refused a request submitted yesterday by Libya’s UN Ambassador Ibrahim Omar Dabbashi to lift an embargo on arms imports imposed on the country.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Bernardino Léon said in a statement that “such a request should come from a national unity government which represents all the Libyan parties.”

“I believe the effort should be directed at forming a national unity government, representative of all Libyan parties,” he added.

Earlier yesterday, Dabbashi accused the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee of hampering the country’s efforts to counter terrorism.

“The committee has indirectly contributed to continuing instability, as well as entrenching terrorism in Libya,” he told the council, adding that “there is premeditated hampering of the efforts of the Libyan government to strengthen its capacity to combat terrorism and to extend its authority to all Libyan territory.”