Libyan parties encouraged to act on UN-backed peace plan
| Publisher | UN News Service |
| Publication Date | 22 September 2015 |
| Cite as | UN News Service, Libyan parties encouraged to act on UN-backed peace plan, 22 September 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5603a3b140c.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
22 September 2015 - The United Nations envoy for Libya has announced the finalization of a proposed peace plan to end the political crisis in the North African nation, adding that it is now up to the parties to act on the text.
"We have now a text that is the final text," the Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, Bernardino León, said last night at a press conference in Skhirat, Morocco, where the UN-facilitated political dialogue has been taking place.
"Our part of the process is now finished. Now it is up to the parties, up to the participants in the dialogue, to react to this text," he added.
Mr. León said that while some parties may not like elements of the proposed agreement, they should "put the interest of their country above any other consideration."
"They have to be positive," he stated. "They have to see what this process is going to bring to the country and not be concerned of what they would have liked to see in the text or to see as [the] outcome of this process… This is not the question today. The question today is to get Libya back on track to build peace, development, prosperity in the country."
Touching on the security situation in Benghazi, Mr. León said: "We call on all the Libyans to be responsible and to refrain from any action that could hinder and complicate even more the possibilities of success in this process."
The envoy hoped that all the parties to the peace agreement will be ready to discuss the names of the new unity government immediately after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday, adding that if all went to plan, the closing session of the dialogue could take place in New York during the week of the UN General Assembly.
The participants, he noted, expressed the wish to sign the final peace agreement in Libya in the coming weeks, hopefully before the UN deadline of 20 October.
Mr. León added the proposed plan meant good news for Libya and the international community. "Today there is a clear possibility for the chaos to finish, with a clear definition of who is the government," he said, "with the unity that will allow them to return to what Libya always was, a rich country, a healthy country."
