UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday adopted a
resolution calling for a "lasting ceasefire" in war-torn Libya, where
a fragile truce has been in place since January.
The text, drafted by Britain, was
approved by 14 votes out of 15, with Russia abstaining.
The resolution affirmed "the
need for a lasting ceasefire in Libya at the earliest opportunity, without
pre-conditions."
It called for continued negotiations
by the joint military commission set up in January between the two sides, with
the goal of achieving a "permanent ceasefire."
This would include a monitoring
system, a separation of forces and confidence-building measures.
Libya, Africa's most oil-rich
nation, has been mired in chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that
toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi.
Since April 2019, the UN-recognized
Government of National Accord (GNA) has fought back against an offensive by
military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Russia, Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates.
A fragile ceasefire was established
on January 12 and at an international summit in Berlin a week later, world
leaders agreed to end all foreign interference in Libya and to uphold a weapons
embargo.
Wednesday's resolution called on UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to submit proposals for monitoring the
ceasefire "as soon as possible, when a ceasefire is agreed by the Libyan
parties."
It urged regional organizations,
"notably the African Union, League of Arab States and European Union"
to collaborate in order to "support the UN" in its search for a
political solution and supervision of a ceasefire.
The resolution also expressed
"concern over the growing involvement of mercenaries in Libya."
Moscow is accused of sending
mercenaries to support Haftar, who controls much of the south and east of
Libya. Russia denies any involvement.
The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2510 with 14 votes in favor to endorse the Berlin outcome on supporting ceasefire in Libya, at UN Headquarters, New York, February 12, 2020 |
During the Council's meeting, Russia
had pushed to replace the word "mercenaries" with "foreign
terrorist fighters," but was unsuccessful.
After the vote, the deputy US
ambassador to the UN, Cherith Norman Chalet, said the Council was not
united.
"It's also very unfortunate
that foreign mercenaries, including from the Kremlin-linked Wagner group, are
making an inclusive political solution harder to achieve," she said.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily
Nebenzia, said his country abstained because of doubts in Moscow about the
possibility of enforcing the resolution when the warring parties had not yet
agreed to the terms of the ceasefire.
China's Deputy Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Wu Haitao called for unity to implement
the resolution.
Wu said China supports the continued
leading role of the United Nations in promoting the Libyan-led and Libyan-owned
political process, and calls on all parties to the Libyan conflict to achieve a
lasting ceasefire as soon as possible.
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