By Saber Ayyub.
Tripoli, 22 November 2015:
New UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler, after meeting leaders in Tripoli has repeated the message he gave . . .[restrict]yesterday to the parliament in Tobruk, that the current Political Accord is not negotiable. He also repeated the statement made in Tobruk that he and UNSMIL were impartial.
“We may need a quick round of consultations” he said, “but not to change the draft”. He would not reopen the draft. He also underlined the need for speed. “I will push for quick decisions but not for hasty decisions”.
Kobler was speaking at a joint press conference with the first deputy president of the General National Congress (GNC) Awad Abdul Saddeq, who said that the GNC had given UNSMIL its comments on the Accord.
Saddeq used the briefing to urge the UNSMIL chief to push for an end to airstrikes in Benghazi against the “revolutionaries” there. In a statement that surprised many, he declared that Tripoli was safe and that the only crimes being committed were those of Khalifa Hafter against Benghazi and Derna; he made no mention of the Islamic State.
Saddeq also said that the GNC had contacted the UN Security Council directly demanding clarification of the relationship between Kobler’s predecessor Bernardino Leon and the United Arab Emirates.
Kobler also met separately with the president of the GNC, Nuri Abu Sahmain, declaring afterwards that he was “very encouraged” by his discussions with him. [/restrict]
