By Libya Herald Reporters.
Tunis, 20 December 2015:
UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler today welcomed the Beida government’s foreign minister Mohamed Dairi in Tunis . . .[restrict]for the signing of an agreement to establish a Maghreb Bank.
The two men met last week when Kobler visited eastern Libya for talks with Libyan National Army commander General Khalifa Hafter in Marj. The UNSMIL chief then had discussions at Labraq Airport with prime minister Abdullah Thinni at which Dairi was present.
Dairi’s attendance at the inauguration of the regional bank, which is part of the Arab Maghreb Union, presumably came about because, until as expected next week, the UN Security Council backs the new Government of National Accord, Thinni’s administration still has international recognition.
UNSMIL have not responded to requests for details of any talks that Dairi and Kobler may have had away from the ceremony. However the encounter came as Thinni is reported to have said his government would resign if the House of Representatives told it to.
The HoR remains divided on the Political Accord and the Government of National Accord.
Among the ambiguities in the deal signed in Skirhat last Thursday was whether or not the Tobruk parliament still had to confirm the Presidential Council chosen by premier-in-waiting Faeiz Serraj. The HoR failed to vote on the Accord itself, as originally set out in earlier drafts produced by the Dialogue. That approval is now clearly seen as unnecessary.
However it is assumed that, as and when the HOR signs off on the Serraj government, it will be axiomatic that the Thinni administration will cease to exist. [/restrict]
