UN Stresses Bathily’s Efforts to Hold Elections in Libya

Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah makes a speech
Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah makes a speech
TT

UN Stresses Bathily’s Efforts to Hold Elections in Libya

Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah makes a speech
Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah makes a speech

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya has said that head of the mission Abdoulaye Bathily has told the Security Council in a recent briefing that he was seeking to involve all parties in his latest initiative aimed at holding the presidential and parliamentary elections this year.

“As part of his comprehensive approach to elections in Libya, Bathily is engaging political party leaders, traditional leaders and notables, and women and youth group leaders from all regions of Libya in addition to the country’s top political and military leaders,” said the mission in a tweet on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, head of Libya's provisional Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah reiterated that the solution to the country’s crisis comes through elections and the approval of a new constitution.

He urged all sides to defend Libya’s unity and rejected plans to divide it.



Sweden Will No Longer Fund UNRWA Aid Agency

FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
TT

Sweden Will No Longer Fund UNRWA Aid Agency

FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers take position as they enter the UNRWA headquarter where the military discovered tunnels underneath of the UN agency that the military says Hamas militants used to attack its forces during a ground operation in Gaza, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country's aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.
Israel, which will ban UNRWA's operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Sweden's decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.
Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.
"There are several other organisations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them," the minister said, naming the UN World Food Program as one potential recipient.
The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction".