Libya’s outgoing UN ambassador attacks international community

Libya’s outgoing UN ambassador has launched a scathing attack on the international community for its interference in his country’s internal affairs.

Ibrahim Dabbashi protested to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon how Libya was under a UN trusteeship led by a “Troika” made up of the United Nations Security Mission in Libya chief Martin Kobler.

He also blasted officials for making decisions on behalf of the Libyan people and for assisting a dialogue committee dominated by foreigners of Libyan descent and “radical Islamists” who have only lost elections and “people’s sympathy in Libya”.

In his farewell letter, Dabbashi stated that his ousting was “illegal” because Fayez Sarraj’s Presidency Council (PC) did not have the power to dismiss him from his post until the Government of National Accord had been accepted and was deemed legitimate by the Libyan parliament.

The long-serving UN envoy also protested Ban’s support of his dismissal by Sarraj which legitimised any appointments made by Ban’s designated successor, Antonio Guterres, who does not take up his post until the start of the New Year.

In the statement, Dabbashi stated how most Libyans were “astonished at the careless behaviour of UNSMIL in violating the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement”, and maintained that UNSMIL had encouraged those violations by delaying “the implementation of security measures and recognising non-consensual and unlawful decisions of the PC”.

Dabbashi further condemned the UN for dealing with the High State Council and for encouraging the PC to rely on militias for its security.