UN Special Representative Salame Says He Plans To Reopen Two Offices In Libya

Special Representative of the General-Secretary (SRSG) Ghassan Salame told the UN Security Council on Friday that he plans to reopen two offices in Libya

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Special Representative of the General-Secretary (SRSG) Ghassan Salame told the UN Security Council on Friday that he plans to reopen two offices in Libya.

"Further to strengthen all fronts of United Nations support efforts, we have returned the mission in full force to Libya," Salami said. "I expect to finally reopen our office in Benghazi at the end of this month... If security permits, I aim to reopen our office in the south this year. It is vital that we are here in Libya."

Salame, who heads the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), explained that the mission has relocated most of its staff back to the country.

The envoy said UNSIMIL dedicates tremendous efforts to preventing conflict in Libya, which he described as a country so finely splintered that each day brings "new divides that must be closed and fresh potential violence to stop.

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Salame likened the role of the Special Representative in Libya to that of firefighter.

"The fires are many that need to be extinguished. Clearly this cannot be done from abroad - we must be here," Salame said.

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since the Western-orchestrated and supported overthrow and murder of the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Libya is divided between two governments, with the eastern part controlled by the Libyan National Army, and the western part governed by the UN-backed Government of National Accord.