Former UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame sees ‘promising spirit’ in the mediation process

There is a renewed “promising spirit” in the mediation process in Libya, former UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame has said.

Mr Salame, who stepped down from the role in March due to ill health, said there has never been a more promising time for progress to be made in Libya.

Mr Salame told France 24 he will continue to complain about foreign interference in Libya and praised his colleagues in the country for the work they are doing.

“I believe the situation today has never been as propitious for a solution of the Libyan crisis," he said.

"I’m very proud of what my colleagues in Libya are doing, despite Covid, in pushing forward military talks, pushing forward economic [issues], being able to have the oil flowing again - it is now at 350,000 barrels a day after seven months of stoppage - having the audit of the central bank implemented and having the military commission built in Berlin.

“Meeting again with a completely new promising spirit last week, and having, I hope, the political talks starting as early as the first week of November, if Covid allows.”

Mr Salame, who had served as UN envoy since June 2017, said he had an accident in March which saw him hospitalised and following his discharge he was forced to isolate due to the pandemic.

His resignation came at a critical juncture in Libya’s bitter civil war, throwing peace talks in the North African country into further uncertainty.

Since the beginning of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s offensive on Tripoli in April 2019, the battle between eastern and western factions has become more intractable.

International powers are now more involved in the conflict that at any time since the 2011 NATO intervention and the 2011 protests that toppled the 40-year rule of Muammar Al Qaddafi.

A replacement for Mr Salame has not yet been appointed, but last month the UN Security Council agreed to a US request to split the role into two, with one person running the UN mission and another special envoy focusing on mediation.

Mr Salame, a former minister of culture in Lebanon, has voiced his concerns over the US election next month.

"The challenges we are facing today are multilateralist in their nature. Covid is not stopping at borders, climate change is a global challenge and trade is a big issue," he told France 24.

“So to have a president who leaves the World Health Organisation in the middle of the Covid crisis, who doesn’t care about the United Nations system, who doesn’t care about NATO or the EU is something that worries me.

“I would like a more multilateral approach from the largest nation on earth.”

Touching on the Lebanon explosion in August, he revealed his apartment in Beirut was destroyed in the blast which devastated the city.

He said he was “proud” of  students who are protesting in Lebanon and criticised the delay in replacing the political leadership at such a pivotal time.