TRIPOLI —
The
UN on Tuesday voiced “deep concern” over growing tensions between rival
Libyan forces, calling for “immediate” moves to calm the situation.
اضافة اعلان
The UN’s mission
UNSMIL said it was “following with deep concern the ongoing mobilization of
forces and threats to resort to force” by groups vying for control of the North
African country.
Libya has been
ravaged by repeated conflicts since the 2011 revolt that overthrew dictator
Muammar Gaddafi.
A long-running
political crisis deepened in February when an eastern-based parliament picked
former interior minister Fathi Bashagha to replace the government of
Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
But Dbeibah, the
interim premier appointed last year as part of a UN-backed peace process to end
more than a decade of violence in the North African country, has refused to
hand over power before elections.
In its statement on
Tuesday, UNSMIL warned that “the current political stalemate ... cannot be
resolved through armed confrontation.”
It called for an
“immediate de-escalation” said that “the use of force by any party is not
acceptable” and would not lead to international recognition.
Bashagha told AFP
last month that Dbeibah’s government is “illegitimate”, arguing that “its
mandate is over and it failed to make elections happen”.
On Tuesday,
Bashagha’s office issued a statement urging “Libyan men of honor” to drop their
support for Dbeibah’s “obsolete and illegitimate” administration.
That sparked fears
of renewed conflict in the capital Tripoli between backers of the two sides.
Bashagha, despite
his appointment by the parliament elected in 2014, has been unable to impose
his authority in Tripoli, initially ruling out the use of force.
More recently he
has hinted that he could resort to force.
Last month, the
most deadly clashes between rival groups in Tripoli since 2020 left 16 people
dead including a child.
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