UN Mission Welcomes Libya’s ‘Morocco Agreement’, Dbeibah Rejects it

Libyans shop at a market in Tripoli on October 5, 2022. (AFP)
Libyans shop at a market in Tripoli on October 5, 2022. (AFP)
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UN Mission Welcomes Libya’s ‘Morocco Agreement’, Dbeibah Rejects it

Libyans shop at a market in Tripoli on October 5, 2022. (AFP)
Libyans shop at a market in Tripoli on October 5, 2022. (AFP)

The declaration of an agreement in Morocco between head of Libya’s High Council of State Khaled al-Mishri and east-based parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh over the sovereign posts and the formation of a unified government sparked a heated dispute between head of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah and Mishri.

Mishri and Saleh agreed on the implementation of the article on sovereign posts, addressed in the Bouznika agreement, before the end of the year. They also agreed to the resumption of dialogue with the aim of holding presidential and parliamentary elections with the agreement of the parliament and High Council of State.

In a Twitter post on Friday, Dbeibah rejected “talk about parallel paths, such as the division of sovereign posts.”

He added that the Libyans “are demanding that all parties respect their commitments towards the elections.”

He reiterated his call on Mishri and Saleh to adopt a “fair constitutional base” that resolves the legal disputes that are impeding the elections.

For his part, Mishri demanded that Dbeibah cease “selling delusions to the people.”

In a tweet, he called on Dbeibah to “carry out his job and cease meddling in affairs that are beyond his specialization and jurisdiction.”

Head of the stability government Fathi Bashagha has yet to comment on the Morocco agreement.

Head of the Presidential Council Mohammed al-Menfi meanwhile, urged Mishri and Saleh to “immediately complete the constitutional base to hold the elections before the end of the year,” local media reported.

He also called on them to commit fully to the roadmap that would ensure the implementation of the political agreement and independence of the judiciary.

Meanwhile, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya Abdoulaye Bathily said he noted the outcome of the meeting between Mishri and Saleh.

In a tweet, he said he “welcomes the resumption of dialogue between the two leaders and expresses his readiness to discuss the details, modalities and timelines of implementation of their commitments.”

He urged “all Libyans leaders to engage in an inclusive dialogue as the only way to overcome the current deadlock and meet the aspirations of the Libyan people.”



Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon’s Jumblatt Visits Syria, Hoping for a Post-Assad Reset in Troubled Relations

Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Walid Jumblatt (C), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), and his son and current party head Taymur Jumblatt (C-L) meet with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir (L) during a visit to Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Former head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks on Sunday with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group led the overthrow of Syria's President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Jumblatt was a longtime critic of Syria's involvement in Lebanon and blamed Assad's father, former President Hafez Assad, for the assassination of his own father decades ago. He is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the Assad family's 54-year rule came to an end.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny that lasted over 50 years,” said Jumblatt.

He expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

Jumblatt's father, Kamal, was killed in 1977 in an ambush near a Syrian roadblock during Syria's military intervention in Lebanon's civil war. The younger Jumblatt was a critic of the Assads, though he briefly allied with them at one point to gain influence in Lebanon's ever-shifting political alignments.

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he said, pledging that it would respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Al-Sharaa also repeated longstanding allegations that Assad's government was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was followed by other killings of prominent Lebanese critics of Assad.

Last year, the United Nations closed an international tribunal investigating the assassination after it convicted three members of Lebanon's Hezbollah — an ally of Assad — in absentia. Hezbollah denied involvement in the massive Feb. 14, 2005 bombing, which killed Hariri and 21 others.

“We hope that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable, and that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said.