UN Special Envoy To Libya Meets With LNA's Haftar For First Time In Benghazi - UNSMIL

UN Special Envoy to Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in the country (UNSMIL) Jan Kubis has paid his first visit to the eastern city of Benghazi since his appointment, during which he met with the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and other officials, the UNSMIL said

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2021) UN Special Envoy to Libya and head of the UN Support Mission in the country (UNSMIL) Jan Kubis has paid his first visit to the eastern city of Benghazi since his appointment, during which he met with the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and other officials, the UNSMIL said.

In mid-January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Slovakia's former foreign minister Jan Kubis as his special envoy for Libya and the UNSMIL head, with the position having been vacant for a long time. Before Kubis, the UN efforts related to the Libyan issue were carried out under the leadership of his predecessor, the outgoing Acting Special Envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams, who had been in charge since March.

"The Special Envoy held a meeting with General Khalifa Haftar in the presence of the LAAF [Libyan Arab Armed Forces] delegation to 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC). They both agreed on the importance for all parties in Libya to commit to and facilitate the holding of the national elections on 24 December 2021," the mission said in a statement.

The two senior officials held talks on ways to accelerate the full implementation of a ceasefire deal signed between the rival Libyan sides on October 23, which, among other things, involves the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country and the unification of military and security entities, the statement read.

After the overthrow and assassination of Libya's long-term leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country was split between rival political forces. The confrontation repeatedly escalated into armed violence over the recent years, which led to the deployment of foreign military.

Following UN-facilitated talks held in October in Geneva, Libya's warring parties � the Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army � signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement.

In early February, the Swiss-hosted round of intra-Libyan talks led to the election of an interim unity government that will be in charge until the national general election scheduled for December 24.