The Congolese Foreign Minister, Jean Claude Gakosso, who chairs the High-Level Committee on Libya, reaffirmed that efforts to organize a Libyan National Reconciliation Conference are ongoing. This affirmation comes in response to the resignation of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Abdullah Batelli, and the subsequent postponement of the conference initially scheduled for April 28.
In the first statement issued by the African Union following Batelli’s resignation last Tuesday, Minister Gakosso emphasized the critical need to strengthen the reconciliation process in Libya. He cautioned that without reconciliation, the upcoming elections could potentially lead to new sources of violence. “We understood this from the beginning and made it our primary focus,” he stated.
The African diplomat noted that “the issue of reconciliation remains on the table. We are forced to slow down our pace while waiting for the United Nations to appoint another envoy to Libya,” committing to continue the work not only to persuade Libyans but also the countries and powers that influence the Libyan scene in one way or another.
Batelli tendered his resignation to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, last Tuesday, citing disagreements among Libyan factions as a barrier to finding a political solution to the ongoing crisis in the country. He announced in his briefing before the Security Council that the Libyan National Reconciliation Conference had been indefinitely postponed.
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