Libya’s Serraj oversees new Misrata-Tawergha agreement

Lebanon’s former Minister of Culture Ghassan Salama decided to accept to accept to head the United Nations mission to Libya to succeed Martin Kobler. UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on the choice of Salama. In case of his appointment, Salama would be the second Arab diplomat to take the position.

UNSMIL’s a new chief has been confirmed.  Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has  announced the appointment of Lebanon’s Ghassan Salamé to succeed Martin Kobler who has  been in the job since November 2015.

As reported in the Libya Herald four days ago Salamé was seen as the front runner of four candidates.  A former Lebanese culture minister, he will be the second Lebanese to take on the role. His fellow countryman Tarek Mitri was the second UNSMIL head who held the job for less than two years, leaving in August 2014.

Salamé is understood to be the 29th person to be offered the UNSMIL leadership. The ever-ebullient and smiling Kobler began strongly, seeing through the completion of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA). But he then ran into the brick wall of the House of Representatives (HoR) which under the LPA had the job of agreeing changes to the  Constitutional Declaration to allow the LPA  to go ahead.

Without the parliament’s imprimatur, the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the State Council had no legal standing. Kobler has spent the 18 months since the apparent triumph of the December 2015 Skirhat deal almost constantly on the move between Libyan political players. He has been looking in vain for amendments to the LPA that would be acceptable to all parties. This task now falls to Salamé who is expected to take up his role at the end of the month.

On the other hand, A new Presidency Council-approved agreement on the right of Tawerghans to return to their deserted hometown has been signed by Misratan and Tawerghan civic leaders, including  Misrata-Tawergha Reconciliation Committee chairman Yousef Zarzah, Tawergha local council leader Abdulrahman Shakshak, and Misrata mayor Mohamed. The agreement was signed in Tripoli at the Prime Ministry office in the presence of Presidency Council (PC) head Faiez Serraj and his deputy Ahmed Maetig, himself from Misrata, and the minister for displaced persons, Yousef Jalalah.

In a brief speech, Serraj has promised to provide all required infrastructure services to Tawergha. From his side, Maetig said that PC would supervise the return of residents so that they were safe and secure. “The agreement has bough to an end long sessions of talks which been taken a great deal of time. Now we are looking ahead for better future,” he said.

However, the reconciliation agreement, while speaking of the Tawerghans returning as well as of compensation for both communities for damages suffered, makes no mention of a date when they can go home.

It follows a statement last week by Tawerghan civil society activists that they intend to return to the town this Thursday and from there issue a call to the rest of the more than 40,000 Tawerghans living in camps across Libya to come back to their hometown. There are suggestions that, far from making that happen, today’s signing in the presence of Serraj is an attempt to again delay such a return. There is still, in Misrata, a minority opposed to it ever happening.

For his part, though, State Council president Abdulrahman Sewehli, also from Misrata, has given his full backing to the Tawerghans’ right to return, saying that it was high time they did so, and yesterday announced on his Twitter feed that “key steps” to bring it about were “coming soon” – a clear reference to today’s agreement.

“Kudos to Libyan patriots who genuinely care about reconciliation through healing the nation’s wounds”, he tweeted. While commending today’s agreement, Human Rights Watch has called for it  to be implements quickly.