UN envoy concerned Libya ceasefire may collapse

Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Jan Kubis, yesterday warned of a potential collapse of the ceasefire deal in Libya, which would lead to postponing the elections.

Speaking at the UN Security Council session on the Libyan file, Kubis said: “I am afraid that parties in Libya are not ready for holding the elections scheduled for 24 December.”

“There are parties that insist on setting preconditions for holding the elections on time, and I fear that Libya will lose the momentum it witnessed, and the ceasefire agreement will collapse if the political process remains stalled.”

The UN official called on all Libyan parties to “make all necessary efforts to hold the elections and put aside their differences to reach an agreement.”

The Libyan National Army (LNA) headed by renegade General Khalifa Haftar, he explained, “did not allow the government to extend its control on the ground”.

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Kubis also warned against “the continued presence of foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya, which threatens the ceasefire agreement.”

On 23 October 2020, the United Nations announced that the two parties to the conflict in Libya had reached a ceasefire agreement, within the framework of the discussions held by the 5+5 Joint Military Committee (JMC) in the Swiss city of Geneva. The deal stipulated the withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries from the country within three months. This has yet to be adhered to.