UN envoy lashes out at Libya’s feuding parties, resigns

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, lashed out at the country’s feuding parties and their foreign backers at a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday and then confirmed he had submitted his resignation.

The former Senegalese minister and UN diplomat, who has held the job for 18 months, said he had done his best to get the five key political actors in Libya to resolve contested issues over electoral laws and form a unified government to lead the country to long-delayed elections.

But Bathily said his attempts “were met with stubborn resistance, unreasonable expectations and indifference to the interests of the Libyan people.” And he warned that these entrenched positions, reinforced by “a divided regional and global landscape,” may push Libya and the region to further instability and insecurity.

The UN envoy, clearly frustrated, also warned that oil-rich Libya “has become the playground for fierce rivalry among regional and international actors motivated by geopolitical, political and economic interests as well as competition extending beyond Libya and related to its neighborhood.” And he accused these actors of undermining UN efforts.

Bathily did not inform the Security Council either at the open meeting or the closed session that followed that he had submitted his resignation, council diplomats said. But afterward, in response to a question from a reporter, he said, “Yes, I did tender my resignation to the secretary-general,” he said, without giving any reasons.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted Bathily’s resignation and said he’s grateful “for his tireless efforts to restore peace and stability to Libya,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.