UN envoy to Libya hints at end of tenure

Martin Kobler has signalled that he will soon be nearing the end of his tenure as UN Special Envoy to Libya whilst describing his visit to the Libyan capital yesterday as “one of my last Tripoli visits” during talks with Presidency Council (PC) deputy Ahmed Maetig. During his visit, Kobler spoke of how the international community would continue its support for Libya to move forward.

A statement from the PC said that the Maetig meeting covered the role of the UN in the future and the means to put the Libyan Political Agreement into practice. Maetig confirmed the news about Kobler’s end of tenure by writing on his social page that the UN special envoy was approaching “the end of his mission.”

Kobler later met with the PC’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala, who said it was “always rewarding” to get the UN official’s “wise advice on the political process and the role of UNSMIL and the wider UN in support of Libya.”

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Details of who Kobler’s replacement will be have not yet been confirmed by the UN. In February, it was leaked that former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad would become the envoy for the then newly elected UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. However, the United States objected to this on the basis that Fayyad is a Palestinian. Rumours now circulating suggest that Ismail Ahmed from Mauritania, the current UN Special Envoy to Yemen, will replace Kobler when he steps down.