Morocco: Solution to Libyan Crisis Only Possible Through Int’l Support, Elections

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily hold a press conference in Rabat. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily hold a press conference in Rabat. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
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Morocco: Solution to Libyan Crisis Only Possible Through Int’l Support, Elections

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily hold a press conference in Rabat. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily hold a press conference in Rabat. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said Monday that resolving the Libyan crisis cannot be achieved without international support through the United Nations.

Bourita held talks in Rabat with Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily.

Following the talks, he told a press conference that holding presidential and parliamentary elections was essential to resolving the crisis in Libya, while acknowledging that obstacles are still hindering the solution.

Morocco and the UN have been in contact over the developments in Libya.

Morocco has hosted several meetings that have brought together Libyan rivals. The meetings had paved the way for reaching an agreement on the need to hold general elections.

“Morocco supports Libya's unity and sovereignty and backs a solution that guarantees them,” Bourita added

He rejected foreign meddling in Libyan affairs, stressing that there can be no military solution to the crisis.

For his part, Bathily said that Morocco has expressed the same concerns as the UN Secretary-General regarding Libya. “We must contribute to restoring security and stability in Libya,” he affirmed.

The envoy added that Libya enjoys enormous resources that allow it to prosper.

“The Libyans are working hard, at all levels, in order to reach a solution to the crisis,” he said.

Meanwhile, the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya - chaired by Mohammad Auajjar - urged the authorities to “take decisive steps to provide justice and redress to the vast number of victims suffering from longstanding violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

“The families of these victims have waited far too long for justice,” said Auajjar.

“Libyan authorities owe it to them to share information about their loved ones, to meet them and give them answers. Silence is unacceptable.”

“We, too, have asked repeatedly for answers to the status of multiple investigations concerning serious human rights violations, but to date, there has been no satisfactory response,” Auajjar added.

During the January 23-26 mission to Tripoli, the FFM’s experts met with victims and victims’ representatives, who provided testimony related to extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, human trafficking, internal displacement, the existence of mass graves and morgues containing corpses that families do not have access to.

The FFM comprises rights expert Chaloka Beyani who said that “arbitrary detention in Libya has become pervasive as a tool of political repression and control, which explains why thousands of persons are deprived of their liberty, often in poor conditions, without due process or access to justice.”

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya was established by the Human Rights Council in June 2020, to investigate alleged abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016.



Katz Warns Hezbollah Against Joining Conflict with Iran

A police officer inspects fragments of missile parts on the ground at an impact site following Iran's missile strike on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A police officer inspects fragments of missile parts on the ground at an impact site following Iran's missile strike on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Katz Warns Hezbollah Against Joining Conflict with Iran

A police officer inspects fragments of missile parts on the ground at an impact site following Iran's missile strike on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A police officer inspects fragments of missile parts on the ground at an impact site following Iran's missile strike on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon's Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel's patience with "terrorists" who threaten it had worn thin.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called "brutal Israeli-American aggression" against Iran.

In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting. But it has condemned Israel’s surprise strikes on Iran that sparked the conflict and endorsed Iran’s missile barrages over Israel.

"I suggest the Lebanese proxy be cautious and understand that Israel has lost patience with terrorists who threaten it,” Katz said in a statement on Friday, adding that "if there is terrorism -- there will be no Hezbollah."

Qassem “is not learning a lesson from his predecessors and is threatening to act against Israel in accordance with the Iranian dictator's orders,” Katz stated.

He said on Thursday that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, “cannot continue to exist.”