UNITED NATIONS, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - After the UN pulled its international staff out of Libya, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning “the recent violence in Libya, including the fighting around Tripoli International Airport.”
The UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri described “military operations between forces under the command of retired Army General Khalifa Haftar and those groups he has labeled as terrorists.”
The Security Council members in their statement read out by the Council's president for July, Rwandan Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana after Mitri's briefing “stressed that violence and the threat of violence is unacceptable and should not be used to pursue political goals. They reiterated the need for all sides to engage in political dialogue and refrain from violence and actions that challenge the stability of the state.”
Putting their hopes on elections results which are to be issued in two days, the members of the Security Council “welcomed Libya’s successful parliamentary elections on 25 June, despite ongoing security challenges. They called on the democratically elected parliament to meet quickly, agree upon a government and urgently seek to progress Libya's democratic transition.”
But Mitri said the fighting has “cast a shadow over the election on 25 June of the 200 member Council of Representatives.” Even after the announcement of preliminary results on July 6, Mitri said 41 candidates were disqualified under the post-Gaddafi Law on Political and Administrative Isolation.
The elections results are scheduled to be announced on July 20.
