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Rabat – The Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salame, announced his resignation on Monday, March 2, in a post on Twitter.
Salame cited stress as the reason for his resignation, saying that the pressure of the position was affecting his health.
“For two years and a half, I sought to reunite the Libyans, curb the foreign interference, and preserve the unity of the country. Today … I acknowledge that my health no longer allows this rate of stress. So, I asked the Secretary-General to relieve me from my mission, hoping for peace and stability for Libya,” reads the tweet.
The UN appointed Salame as envoy to Libya in June 2017. In August of the same year, the Lebanese diplomat made his first official visit to the North African country.
Since his appointment, Salame has tried to mediate between the warring parties: the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and the rebel Libyan National Army (LNA) based in Benghazi.
Despite his efforts to de-escalate tensions in the country, Salame did not succeed in achieving tangible results or organizing free elections.
On January 24, the diplomat thanked Morocco for its ongoing support for the UN’s work in Libya and for the joint efforts towards achieving security and peace.
Salame shared the UN’s gratitude in a telephone conversation with Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. The diplomat also briefed the minister on recent developments in Libya.
The telephone call came after Morocco’s exclusion from the Berlin Conference on Libya, on January 19. The exclusion of Morocco came as a shock to Moroccan diplomacy, since the Kingdom had a significant role in the international community’s efforts to solve the Libyan crisis through the Skhirat agreement.
The Skhirat agreement, signed in Morocco in December 2015, remains, until today, the most concrete peacekeeping effort.
The agreement puts in place an interim Libyan government and a ceasefire between the conflict parties.
