The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Libya, Stephanie Williams, is set to remain in office for at least one more month in office, Italian news agency Nova has learned.
According to unnamed Libyan sources, the US diplomat will continue in the position due to the vacancy for the U.N. Mission chief in Libya.
Her mandate was due to expire June 30, but the UN failed to appoint a successor. UN Chief Antonio Guterres suggested Sabri Boukadoum, an exiled top diplomat from Algeria, but the UAE as well as several other Arab nations opposed this choice.
“There is a regional concern about Boukadoum’s appointment, especially since Algeria has a common border with Libya,” a diplomatic source that asked not to be named told AFP.
Russia and Egypt have been pressing for the appointment an African diplomat to lead the UN mission to the crisis-stricken North African country.
Libya has fallen into chaos since Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination in a NATO-led revolution of 2011.
Two governments currently exist in Libya that are backed by foreign countries who are vying to be influential.
Source: north africa post