UN appoints Bernardino León as envoy to Libya

Bernardino León rejects the label of ” failed state ” to Libya and denied that the country is at risk of becoming a Somalia overlooking the Mediterranean. ” The Somaliasation of  Libya is far away,” he says.

This Spanish diplomat who was Secretary General of the Prime Minister Zapatero and the EU special envoy to the Arab Spring over the past three years, has just been appointed representative of the UN Secretary General for Libya. After ruling out other candidates, Ban Ki -moon has chosen for a position with the endorsement of the Security Council, carries with it the headquarters of the UN mission to Libya (UNSMIL).

Although not released office until early September, Leon is already hooked to the phone making arrangements with the leaders of the Libyan factions and trying to weave a ceasefire that, in his opinion, could be reached in the coming days in Tripoli and will be harder Benghazi. A majority of them know personally, since in recent months has also served as advisor Catherine Ashton for this country in chaos since the NATO intervention in 2011 precipitated the fall of the Gaddafi regime.

While fighting for control of Tripoli airport have forced the evacuation of most embassies and foreign colonies (including Spanish) and the Parliament elected in the elections of June 25 had to meet in Tobruk, 1,200 kilometers of the capital, near the Egyptian border, Leon believes that eventually reached an agreement, and that ” none of the actors have enough to override all other hard and face a common enemy, Al Qaeda, which benefits from current chaos. ” Yes, warns that the Libyan government, whose legitimacy recognized by the international community, must do an inclusive policy and expand its social base if you want to stabilize the country.

There is another difference, in your opinion, can be optimistic about the future and that ” the UN will not abandon the Libyan your luck.” Contrary to what happened in Syria, where Russia has veto handcuffed to the UN, ” there is a consensus among members of the Security Council on the need to intervene, if necessary.” It is expected that in October, in New York presented a menu of options to reinforce and strengthen the UN mission. ” And is not ruled out any possibility,” he warns, including changing the nature of the current civil mission another police or military.

Currently, once calm is restored in Tripoli, will have to regroup UNSMIL 200 members, now displaced to Tunisia and Southern Italy. Before the end of August, Lion will travel to New York and immediately before or after going to Libya, even with the hat still EU.

The charge, which replaced the Lebanese Tarek Mitri, has the rank of deputy secretary-general (the highest achieved by a Spanish diplomat from the days when Francesc Vendrell was special envoy for Afghanistan) and a duration of one year renewable. During this time, he will live halfway between Tripoli and New York. The period is too short to put up a state that has never existed, but Leon is convinced that the benefits will be long before the Arab Spring now parched. “Libyans do not want war,” he says, “and that pushes for a national agreement.” The model is not Syria or Egypt, let alone Somalia, but Tunisia. But oil and many more interests on the board.

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Posted by Nadeem Bajwa on Aug 11 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.