UAE ready to cooperate with UN, new US administration on Libya

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it is ready to work with the United States to find a peaceful solution to the war in Libya, a day after being accused by the new administration of President Joe Biden of intervening in the conflict.

“There is an urgent need for renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Libya,” Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE ambassador to the UN, said in a letter on Friday.

“The UAE stands ready to work closely with all Security Council members, including the new US administration, to achieve a peaceful settlement for the Libyan people,” she said.

Nusseibeh said the country welcomed the Security Council’s “call for all foreign forces to withdraw from Libya. Foreign intervention in the conflict must end now.”

The day before, during a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Libya, the US called on “all external parties, to include Russia, Turkey and the UAE, to respect Libyan sovereignty and immediately cease all military intervention in Libya”.

The UAE – alongside Egypt and Russia – supports Khalifa Haftar, an eastern-based renegade military commander who in April 2019 sought to seize control of the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA is backed by Turkey.

“The UAE firmly believes that diplomatic and political solutions are the sole path to end the Libyan conflict,” Nusseibeh said.

“The first priority is to preserve and reinforce the ceasefire agreement” agreed to in October, she added.

“This will enable and encourage a political process and a Libyan-led transition that fulfils the aspirations of the Libyan people for stability, peace, and prosperity,” said Nusseibeh.