Libya: UN Envoy explores with Haftar roadmap to resolve political stalemate

UN envoy Hanna Serwaa Tetteh met Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi on Sunday, September 7, to deliberate on a roadmap aimed at ending Libya’s protracted political crisis.

Their talks focused on a UN proposal, presented to the Security Council last month, which calls for the establishment of a unified interim Government to oversee presidential and parliamentary elections. Both sides also discussed ways to maintain stability in Tripoli and prevent further escalation following recent clashes between rival factions.

The UN has been pressing Libya’s competing administrations to reach consensus and move towards elections. The country remains divided between Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli, which controls the west, and a parallel administration led by Osama Hammad in Benghazi, backed by the House of Representatives. With tensions in the capital simmering, the UN mission and Libya’s Presidency Council, chaired by Mohamed al-Menfi, continue efforts to steer the political track towards reconciliation and eventual polls.