UN Envoy Rules out Holding Elections in Libya before Year’s End

United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame. (AFP)
United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame. (AFP)
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UN Envoy Rules out Holding Elections in Libya before Year’s End

United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame. (AFP)
United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame. (AFP)

United Nations special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame ruled out on Saturday the possibility of holding general elections in the country before the end of the year given the violence still raging their.

"There is still a lot to do. It may not be possible to respect the date of December 10," he told Agence-France Presse.

Rival Libyan leaders agreed to a Paris-brokered deal in May to hold a nationwide poll by the end of the year.

But Salame said that polls may not be organized before "three or four months".

"We can hold elections in the near future, yes. But certainly not now.”

Militia clashes in Tripoli's suburbs have left more than 100 people dead since late August.

The Paris agreement included a September 16 deadline to come up with an electoral law, forming the "constitutional base" for a vote later in the year.

But many observers have said the timetable was overly ambitious given ongoing instability and territorial disputes across the country, along with an economy that is flagging despite Libya's vast oil wealth.

The United Nations is hoping that presidential and parliamentary elections will help turn the page on years of chaos in Libya.



Jordan Foreign Minister Safadi to Visit Damascus on Monday

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attending a press conference after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attending a press conference after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
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Jordan Foreign Minister Safadi to Visit Damascus on Monday

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attending a press conference after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attending a press conference after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will visit Damascus on Monday and meet with Syria's de facto new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a post on X.
Al-Sharaa began outlining his first government after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, appointing a close ally and founding member of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, as Foreign Minister in the interim government.
He also appointed Aisha al-Dabbas, the first woman in his government, and assigned her a newly created office focused on women's affairs.
He also appointed Marhaf Abu Qasra as Minister of Defense, and Azam Gharib, as Governor of Aleppo.
Foreign governments began reaching out to the new regime in Damascus, shortly after the United States announced the cancellation of a $10 million reward for the arrest of al-Sharaa over alleged involvement in terrorism.