By Libya Herald reporter.
Benghazi, 26 November 2015:
Following talks yesterday in Qatar, UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler was in Abu Dhabi today . . .[restrict]to discuss the Libya crisis with the UAE government.
In a low-key meeting, he discussed the latest Libya developments and the state of the UN-brokered Libya Dialogue negotiations with the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash.
He did not meet with UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan despite the latter’s presence in Abu Dhabi.
Both Qatar and the UAE officially support the UN efforts and the planned Government of National Accord. Both are also significant players in the crisis, seen as using it as a proxy for their own rivalries, with Qatar supporting and exercising influence with the powers in Tripoli and the Muslim Brotherhood, and the UAE with the House of Representatives and the Thinni government which it appointed.
The appointment of former UN Libya envoy Bernardino Leon as the head of the UAE’s new diplomatic academy following several months of discussions about the job has also played into the hands of those in Libya who claim that the international community has been using the country for its interests. In Libya, the appointment is also seen as having damaged the UN’s credibility as an impartial broker in the crisis. [/restrict]