New UN special envoy to Libya faces considerable task

Former Senegalese minister and UN diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily was appointed on Friday as the new UN special envoy for Libya after the Security Council gave its approval.

The last U.N. special representative, Jan Kubis, resigned last November after 10 months on the job.

The new special envoy faces a daunting task at a moment of increased tensions between rival factions in Libya vying for power.

U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned last week that failure to resolve Libya’s political crisis and hold delayed elections poses a growing threat in the country, pointing to recent violent clashes that killed at least 42 people and injured 159 others, according to Libyan authorities.

The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold elections in December and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who led the transitional government, to step down.

In response, the country’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.