Libyan Dialogue in Bouznika Agrees on Appointments to ‘Sovereign Positions’

Members of the Libyan dialogue seen in Bouznika on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Members of the Libyan dialogue seen in Bouznika on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Libyan Dialogue in Bouznika Agrees on Appointments to ‘Sovereign Positions’

Members of the Libyan dialogue seen in Bouznika on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Members of the Libyan dialogue seen in Bouznika on Saturday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Gatherers at the Libyan dialogue held in Morocco agreed on the formation and members of a small working group that would be tasked with taking practical steps over the appointments to sovereign positions.

The positions were explained in article 15 of the political agreement struck at Skhirat, Morocco in 2015.

The sovereign positions tackled by the 13+13 committee meeting at the resort town of Bouznika on Saturday are the central bank governor and his deputy, head of the Administrative Control Authority and his undersecretary, head of the Libyan Audit Bureau and his deputy, head of the anti-corruption authority and his deputy, and head and members of the High Election Commission.

The committee is comprised of delegations from the High Council of State and Libyan parliament.

Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Saturday’s agreement calls for officials from the Tripoli region to assume positions in the High Election Commission, general prosecutor and audit bureau. Figures from the Barqa region would occupy the position of central bank governor and head of the Administrative Control Authority. Officials from the Fezzan region would be appointed to the supreme court and anti-corruption authority.

The working group will call on candidates to submit their nominations according to specific criteria. The window for nominations will open on January 26 and close on February 2.



UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
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UN Chief: Palestinians in Gaza Enduring Humanitarian Catastrophe of Epic Proportions

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, 29 July 2025. (EPA)

A trickle of aid into the Gaza Strip must become an ocean, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

“Food, water, medicine and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction,” he said, describing an alert by a global hunger monitor on Tuesday as confirming “what we have feared: Gaza is on the brink of famine.”

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” he said in a statement.

A worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza and immediate action is needed to end fighting and allow unimpeded aid access, a global hunger monitor warned on Tuesday, saying failure to act now would result in widespread death.

Its alert coincided with a statement from Gaza health authorities saying Israel's military campaign had now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the manmade starvation crisis could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let far more food deliveries in.

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said.

It added that it would quickly carry out the formal analysis that could allow it to classify Gaza as "in famine".