Williams Urges Libyans Not to Allow Anyone to Jeopardize Opportunity to Restore Peace

UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
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Williams Urges Libyans Not to Allow Anyone to Jeopardize Opportunity to Restore Peace

UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.

United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams called on Libyans to prevent obstructionists from jeopardizing the current "rare opportunity" to restore peace.

In an interview with the UN News, Williams outlined the recent developments, including the nationwide ceasefire agreed on last month.

“After many years of oppression, division, chaos, misery, and conflict, Libyans are coming together for the sake of Libya, for the sake of their children and grandchildren, to chart a Libyan vision for the way forward that has the opportunity to preserve the country’s unity and reassert its sovereignty,” she said.

Williams also said that Libya is now back to producing oil, stressing the impact of this development on the country’s economy. She also highlighted the “foreign intervention” in the country, and the importance of adhering to the arms’ embargo.

Meanwhile, Minister of Defense of the Government of National Accord (GNA) Salah El-Din Al-Namroush said cooperation with Turkey helps thwart any attempt to undermine the country’s sovereignty, security, and safety.

This came Saturday during a ceremony for Libyan soldiers who completed an eight-week training by the Turkish Armed Forces.

Also, Minister of the Interior of GNA Fathi Bashagha discussed with Minister of French Armed Forces Florence Parly methods to increase security cooperation and joint action.

Bashagha said the capabilities of the Ministry will be boosted after signing a partnership with France's Airbus Helicopters, adding that the Ministry would soon receive ten state-of-the-art helicopters.

The helicopters would be used in combating organized crime, terrorism, and in search and rescue operations, as well as in monitoring the coast and borders and human trafficking routes, he added.



Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.