January 28, 2021 at 8:00 am
Slovakia s former Foreign Minister Jan Kubis was approved as the United Nations new Libya envoy almost one year after the last envoy, Ghassan Salame, resigned. He is number seven in almost ten years and will also head the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). In a statement announcing the appointment, UN Chief António Guterres conveyed a rather long and carefully written CV of his new envoy, not forgetting that the experienced diplomat speaks five languages, excluding Arabic.
As is usually the case, Kubis s resumé does not mention any of his failures while working for the UN in countries like Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, among others. To see how successful the UN has been in conflict resolution, just look at Afghanistan or Iraq today.
Date Time
National elections as path to a stable Libya
UK underscores “there is no place for foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya”, and calls for urgent adherence to ceasefire
UK affirms support for the Libyan decision to hold elections later this year and welcomes progress made in political talks
Mr President, let me start by yet again thanking acting SRSG Stephanie Williams for her leadership of UNSMIL. Stephanie, I want to thank you for your dedication to the Libyan people and to achieving peace. And I want to, through you, thank all of those working in UNSMIL.
And let me also take this opportunity to welcome the appointment of Ján Kubiš as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Libya and Ray Zenenga as UNSMIL Coordinator. We are delighted that they will be bringing their formidable experience and expertise to bear at this critical time for Libya, building on Stephanie’s excellent work.
National elections as the path to a stable Libya English
From:
28 January 2021 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
UK underscores “there is no place for foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya”, and calls for urgent adherence to ceasefire
UK affirms support for the Libyan decision to hold elections later this year and welcomes progress made in political talks
Mr President, let me start by yet again thanking acting SRSG Stephanie Williams for her leadership of UNSMIL. Stephanie, I want to thank you for your dedication to the Libyan people and to achieving peace. And I want to, through you, thank all of those working in UNSMIL.
The Islamic State in Mozambique
Editor’s Note:
The Islamic State has suffered significant losses in recent years, but Mozambique far from the heartland of its former self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria is a rare bright spot for the group. Tore Hamming, of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College, details the group
’s successes in Mozambique and the problems the government there has had fighting the group.
Daniel Byman
Although the militant Islamist insurgency in Mozambique has been brewing since late 2017, it was only when Islamic State-affiliated militants captured the northeastern port city of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province in mid-August 2020 that it gained the world’s attention. After the group’s successive losses in the Levant, it came as a shock to analysts and policymakers that the Islamic State was once again capable of controlling territory jeopardizing the outlook for stability in Mozambique.
Turkey’s three areas of foreign policy uncertainty
Yasar Yakis
January 03, 2021 18:00
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets members of his AK Party during a meeting in Ankara. (File/AFP)
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Turkey has begun 2021 with a busy agenda in terms of foreign affairs. Its major foreign policy issues can be divided into three chapters.
One chapter is its relations with the US. The files in this chapter include Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-manufactured S-400 air defense system, its exclusion from the co-production of the F-35 super-fighters, and sanctions to be imposed on Turkey. There are also two further issues: Turkey’s demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who it believes to be the mastermind behind the July 2016 attempted military coup, and a US judiciary procedure against Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank for its role in circumventing American sanctions on Iran. It is unclear whether President-elect Joe Biden will use these