Tunisia Names Ambassador to Libya, First in 6 Years

Tunisian President, Kais Saied, decided on Saturday to appoint a new ambassador in Tripoli for the first time since 2014.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the Tunisian President decided to appoint Al-Asaad Ajili as Tunisia's ambassador to Tripoli, within the framework of the annual reshuffle of heads of diplomatic, permanent and consular missions."

The decision also included the appointment of a number of ambassadors to Arab and international countries; including Muhammad bin Yusuf as Tunisia's ambassador to Cairo, Nabil Ammar as ambassador to Brussels, Reza Zqidan as ambassador to Baghdad, and Hashemi Ajili as ambassador to Kuwait.

Earlier this month, Kais Saied and Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Libya Stephanie Williams discussed UN's efforts to achieve a political settlement in Libya, according to a statement released by the Tunisian presidency.

Saied stressed that the solution to the Libyan crisis should be based on the agreement of all its factions away from any foreign interference.

The president reiterated Tunisia's commitment not to interfering in Libya's internal affairs and to finding peaceful solutions to end the bloodshed in the neighboring war-torn country under the aegis of the UN.

He underlined the importance of the role of neighboring countries to find a peaceful solution to this crisis, "referring to the important coordination and consultation between Tunisia and Algeria to achieve stability in Libya," according to the statement.

Saied proposed to host in Tunisia a national dialogue which brings together various components of the Libyan people, "especially since our country is the most affected by the situation in Libya."

The UN official praised Tunisia's important role in achieving durable stability there.

Notably, the Libyan–Tunisian relations are longstanding between the two neighboring North African states.