Libya awaits new head of UN mission

Mustafa Kamel

The United Nations has been trying to bring about a settlement to the Libyan crisis since it started in 2011.

In September of the same year, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2009 to form the UN Mission in Libya. It mandated the mission to help the Libyans bring security back to their country and initiate national reconciliation.

One head of mission has come after another since then. However, none of these people succeeded in fulfilling the goal of the mission, namely of ending the conflict in Libya. The North African country continues to reel under unrest, violence and destruction.

Expected envoy

Unanimity on the appointment of a United Nations envoy to Libya was not easy to reach since former envoy Ghassan Salamé submitted his resignation in March.

Nonetheless, the Security Council decided to appoint Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov as the new Libya envoy.

The appointment of a Libya envoy is an urgent matter, given deteriorating conditions in the country. Salamé left his job amid total uncertainty in Libya. This raised questions on the reasons behind his resignation.

Mladenov has a record he made after serving in different regions, especially areas where conflicts were rife. He joined the European Union institution early on in his life and then the World Bank. He worked as Europe’s envoy to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the occupied Palestinian territories. He tried to push what is called as the Middle East peace process forward. He is an opponent of Israel’s settlement building policy.