Salame: Truce between two sides of Libya conflict not implemented

Ghassan Salame, the special representative of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), expressed his regret on 12 January that the announced truce between the two sides of the conflict is not being implemented on the ground, and is now only “a dead letter”.

This came during the briefing of the UN representative to the Security Council session on Libya, during which he discussed the violations taking place in Libya, despite the pledges made at the Berlin Conference.

Salame conveyed his concerns over the military reinforcements received by the two sides of the Libyan conflict, stating that this heralds a broader conflict threatening the region, and constitutes a flagrant violation of the armament ban.

The UN representative pointed out that the conflict has destabilised the Libyan economy, amid the weak institutions and infrastructure. He explained that the suspension of oil exports from the ports in eastern Libya will lead to losses in national revenues, estimated at around $55 million per day. He also noted that the accumulations of the lost revenues, as a result of the blockade, have reached more than $622 million to date.

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According to Salame, approximately 149,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in the Tripoli vicinity, since the eruption of the conflict last April. Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNHCR, has suspended its activities at the assembly and departure facility that it established, because safety is not guaranteed owing to training activities being carried out near the centre, in addition to its receipt of reliable reports of serious human rights violations in Sirte.

On 19 January, the German capital of Berlin hosted a conference on the Libyan crisis, with the participation of representatives from the United States, Russia, France, the UK, China, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Algeria and other countries in the region. Participants stressed at the closing ceremony of the conference on the necessity of moving the political solution forward to resolve the crisis in the country, insisting on the armament ban and the prevention of foreign intervention.

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