By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 28 October 2014:
Libya’s two opposing sides are not “using or abusing the UN”, insisted Bernardino Leon, the UN’s Special . . .[restrict]Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) in reply to a question by Libya Herald.
Leon was speaking at a press conference held in Tripoli today.
The Libya Herald pointed out, as the Leon had admitted earlier in the press conference, that despite the numerous calls for ceasefires, both the conflicting parties had failed to halt their military operations while the reconciliation dialogue was continuing and questioned if the two parties were abusing the UN to consolidate their military positions on the ground.
The UN representative is the mediator of the peace and reconciliation dialogue between the Libyan opposing parties of, on the one hand, the Libya Dawn coalition and, on the other, the House of Representatives and the Abdullah Al-Thinni government.
Leon had reported at the press conference that this was his fourth visit to Libya as SRSG but also that he had nothing specific to report at this time with regards to the political dialogue.
Moreover, he reported that he was not yet calling for the resumption of the next round of talks, which had been expected this week, a fortnight after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Tripoli.
Leon implicitly admitted that he has been unable to get both parties any closer to an agreement by saying “We are trying to get positions closer in order to get to the next round of talks”.
“Our message is very clear. The people we support and do not support is very clear”, he added, with regards to the UN and international community’s non-recognition of the Libya Dawn and the Omar Al-Hassi “National Salvation Government”. The only legitimate bodies, he said,. were the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Abdullah Thinni government which it appointed. [/restrict]
