UAE vetoes new UN envoy to Libya
The ruling regime in the UAE continues to interfere in Libya, and the most recent chapter has hindered the appointment of a UN peace envoy in the country.
Identical reports revealed that the UAE, along with its ally, Egypt, rejected the candidacy of veteran Algerian diplomat Ramtan Lamamra for the position and wanted to appoint a loyal figure to it.
The position of the UN envoy has remained in place since the resignation of the Lebanese diplomat, Ghassan Salameh, from the post of head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, where he started his duties, from June 2017 to March 2020, due to health problems.
After Salama’s resignation, Lamamra’s name emerged by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was formally proposed. It is the only official name that is officially circulated in the corridors of the United Nations.
On the other hand, Abu Dhabi is seeking to push a personality that is consistent with its political orientation, based on the approach of Ghassan Salameh, who informed sources say that Abu Dhabi was supporting him alongside Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where Salama was known for his lenient stances with Major General Khalifa Haftar at the expense of the National Accord government in Tripoli.
Abu Dhabi and Cairo refuse to appoint Lamamra as an Algerian, in light of a cold war between Egypt and Algeria over the Libyan file, as Algeria refuses to enter Haftar to Tripoli categorically, because it considers the entry of Haftar to Tripoli means an increase in Egyptian-Emirati expansion and influence in Libya.
Although Abu Dhabi opposes political Islam projects after the Arab Spring, and Algeria takes the same direction, it differs in its accounts from the UAE. The retired Libyan general’s team, Khalifa Haftar, also opposed the appointment of Lamamra.
The official spokesman for the forces of Haftar Ahmad Al-Mismari, who held a press conference in Cairo recently, considered that the proposal to appoint Lamamra is illogical and said, “we do not accept him as a mediator for the dialogue, and he demanded that the UN delegate be an African person, or not from Libya’s neighbors.”
Official Libyan sources said that Lamamra will face difficulties in the matter of his appointment to the new position, because his name is only a proposal by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Those sources indicate that the indications are that the Russians and Americans will not have a problem with Lamamra, but that the Russian position can change with Egyptian-Emirati incitement.
Other high-ranking Libyan security sources indicated that Raman Lamamara will receive political support from France, given that French influence in North Africa, led by Algeria and Morocco, is very strong, in addition to that Lamamara has a personal identity in the corridors of the United Nations and the Secretary-General, in addition to Lamamara is one of the most powerful men of the Bouteflika era in Algeria, and he held several positions in this era.
