Panafrican News Agency

UN SG adviser calls for rapid resumption of civilian flights between Tripoli and Benghazi in eastern Libya

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, has urged the relevant authorities in Libya to quickly resume civilian flights within the country, particularly air links between Tripoli and Benghazi in the east of the country, after a two-week interruption.

"Civilian flights between Tripoli and Benghazi have been suspended for over 2 weeks," Williams lamented in a tweet, reiterating that "freedom of movement in the country is a basic human right that must be respected.

She added: "I join Libyans in calling on the relevant state authorities to resume civilian flights without further delay. Air travel to the interior of the country has been suspended for more than two weeks in the wake of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of the prime minister-designate in Tobruk in the east.

Libya is in the grip of rising tension after the formation of a new government by Prime Minister Fathi Bachagha, appointed by parliament in a process that was rejected by the incumbent prime minister of the national unity government, Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba.

This situation has created a deadlock in the political process, aggravating the crisis in the country and pushing it to the brink of a new armed conflict with the growing risk of direct clashes between the two camps with support from armed groups in the western region of the country.

Efforts are being made to contain and ease tensions and to bring the protagonists of the crisis to preserve calm to avoid any violence that could set the country ablaze.

It is within this framework that the United States has deployed contacts via the special envoy and US ambassador, Richard Norland, who met separately on Thursday with the two prime ministers to examine with them the means of lowering the tension and especially to work to complete this final phase of the transition to move towards elections as soon as possible.

The US diplomat, who is highly invested in the search for a solution and good offices deployed for de-escalation and finding a way out of the crisis in this North African country, also met with the president of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, to explore ways to promote a peaceful political solution that preserves Libya's unity and sovereignty and leads to free, transparent and fair elections.

Norland announced on Sunday an urgent meeting between the two prime ministers under the aegis of the United Nations to defuse the crisis and reach a consensus based on the continuation of the electoral process with legislative and presidential polls as soon as possible.

On Thursday during his visit to Tripoli, Norland preached calm and worked to promote the organization of general election in Libya, urging the Libyan incumbent Prime Minister Abdelhamid Al-Dbaida to dialogue with the parliamentary prime minister-designate Fathi Bachagha to find a solution.

In addition, Williams called for early negotiations between the parliament and the High State Council as part of her mediation initiative through the proposal to form a joint committee between the two institutions composed of 12 equal members to develop a constitutional basis for holding elections as soon as possible.

The UN official is still awaiting the response of the Parliament to appoint its representatives to the joint committee after having received a favourable response from the High State Council, which appointed 12 members to the committee.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/RA 18March2022