UNSMIL Announces Establishment of LPDF'S Advisory Committee

On Saturday, Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Williams announced the establishment of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum’s (LPDF) Advisory Committee.

Williams thanked the LPDF members for their active and constructive participation.

According to a statement, UNSMIL received a total of 28 nominations from the LPDF. It commended the enthusiasm demonstrated by the LPDF members in the nomination process.

In line with the LPDF’s core principle of inclusivity, the Mission has expanded the membership of the Advisory Committee to 18 members to ensure broad geographical and political persity as well as the participation of women, youth, and cultural components.

According to the UNSMIL statement, the Committee’s mandate will be strictly time-bound. Its main mission shall be to discuss outstanding issues related to the selection of a unified executive and to put forward concrete and practical recommendations upon which the plenary shall decide.

UNSMIL confirmed that the date of the national elections of December 24, 2021 remains a sine qua non for UNSMIL, a guiding principle, and unrenounceable goal.

Earlier Saturday, half of the members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) called on the United Nations and the Security Council to expel all foreign mercenaries and remove Turkish military bases from Libya, in addition to ending all forms of foreign interference in the country, according to Alarabiya.

In a statement, a total of 36 LPDF members, out of 74 members, stressed the need to prevent arms and mercenaries flow to the North African country, adding that this violates the political agreement and the constitutional declaration and its amendments and results in negative repercussions that drag the country into further conflicts.

They also called Libyan political elites to work together to reach consensual political solutions to preserve the unity, sovereignty, and stability of their country.

The LPDF members also call for national reconciliation committee to be formed in order to clear the air for achieving comprehensive national reconciliation, as a main basis for the new executive authority program, in accordance with the necessary measures, that ensure fair participation of all Libyan classes.

They urged the Libyan people to support the outcomes of the Libyan political dialogue, as a step for achieving constitutional legitimacy through the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections set for December 24, 2021.

The names of the signatories to the statement included: Umm Al-Ezz Al-Farsi, Ziad Saleh Daghim, Abdul Majeed Al-Maliktha, Ahmed Al-Sharkasy, Ali Kashir, Abdul-Razzaq Al-Aradi, Abu Bakr Misbah, Omar Abu Pulifa, Ramadan Al-Senussi, Muhammad Al-Lafi, Ali Abdulaziz, Abdullah Othman Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abu Ajila Al-Ghaddi, Faiq Dana, Ali Abounjim, Mansour Abbak Al-Hasadi, Badr Al-Naheeb, Al-Shaibani Abdullah Al-Shaibani, Fawzi Rajab Al-Aqab, Abu Bakr Awaidat Omar, Hassan Al-Zarqa, Musa Faraj, Abdul Jalil Al-Shawash, Moaz Al-Manfukh, Sabah Douma, Anas Idris Al-Hamri, Muhammad Al-Ajili Al-Hasnawi, Hussein Al-Ansari, Sultanate of Masoud Al-Mesmari, Boubaker Issa, Masoud Omar Al-Orfi, Muhammad Misbah Al-Barghouti, Fathi Arhuma, Muhammad Moftah Takala, Abdul Qadir Omar Hawili and Al-Qasim Muhammad Al-Nimr.

Last Wednesday, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, proposed an international committee to be formed with a view to monitoring Libya's fragile ceasefire amid hopes that foreign fighters will soon leave and the country can turn the page on a decade of war.

In a letter sent to Security Council members, the UN chief called for the formation of a monitoring group, including civilians and retired soldiers from regional groups such as the African Union, European Union, and Arab League.

"The warring sides, which reached a ceasefire on October 23 in Geneva, both want to avoid armed and uniformed foreign troops, Guterres said.

"I call on all national, regional and international stakeholders to respect the provisions of the ceasefire agreement and ensure its implementation without delay," Guterres said in the letter dated Tuesday.

"I encourage member states and regional organizations to support the operationalization of the ceasefire mechanism, including by providing inpidual monitors under the auspices of the United Nations."

He called in particular for all nations to respect the UN arms embargo on Libya, which has been flagrantly violated.

Under Guterres' proposal, which is likely to be debated in the new year, monitors would initially operate in a triangular section of Libya around Sirte.

The monitors would join Libyan forces in reporting in the area on the ceasefire, withdrawal of foreign forces, and removal of mines and other explosives.