Situation in Libya deeply troubling, UN warns
A United Nations (UN) official has warned that the situation in Libya is “deeply troubling,” a fragile ceasefire in the crisis-hit country has seen dozens of violations, and a UN arms embargo imposed on the country has become a “joke.”
UN Deputy Special Representative to Libya Stephanie Williams made the comments at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on the sidelines of the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Sunday and after a meeting of foreign ministers to follow up on a Berlin summit on Libya last month.
“The situation on the ground remains deeply troubling. The truce is holding only by a thread. It is the Libyan people that continue to suffer the most. The economic situation continues to deteriorate, exacerbated by the oil blockade,” the UN official said, referring to the blockade of oil facilities by rebel forces in Libya.
She said more than 150 violations had been reported since the ceasefire was agreed last month.
Elsewhere in her remarks on Sunday, Williams condemned the ongoing breaches of the UN weapons embargo on Libya, saying it “has become a joke, we all really need to step up here.” She added that the embargo had been violated “by land, sea, and air, but it needs to be monitored and there needs to be accountability,” warning that the North African country was now awash with illegally-imported advanced weapons.
Maas said he had asked European Union (EU) foreign ministers to make a decision on Monday on their role in monitoring the UN embargo.
“Everyone needs to know that, if they violate the embargo in future, then they violate a UN resolution and that this can’t remain without consequences,” he said, without giving further details.
The top German diplomat also said that the next so-called 5+5 meeting on Libya would take place in Geneva on Tuesday.
The situation in Libya was been compounded as a result of a move by Turkey, a Libyan government ally, to transfer allied militants from Syria to the North African country.
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