The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that the court has issued four new secret arrest warrants for crimes allegedly committed in Libya since 2011.
“I can announce today that four warrants were issued by the independent judges of the International Criminal Court,” Khan said in presenting his half-yearly report on Libya to the UN body.
At the beginning of the session, held under the Swiss presidency, the representative of the Russian Federation, Maria Zabolatskaya, expressed a reservation about the presence of the “so-called Prosecutor of the so-called Court.” Her delegation does not understand why he is invited to the Security Council, she said.
Khan’s office had issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, due to the atrocities committed against children as part of the war on Ukraine.
Despite Zabolatskaya’s objection, Khan delivered his speech.
He said his Office is coordinating with Libyan authorities and that in the coming weeks, it will be conducting a further mission to Libya to engage with national authorities, including with respect to the potential establishment of a country office in Tripoli.
The Security Council unanimously referred Libya to The Hague, Netherlands-based ICC in February 2011 to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The referral followed Moammar Gadhafi’s brutal crackdown on protesters that was then taking place. The uprising, later backed by NATO, led to Gadhafi’s capture and death in October 2011.
Meanwhile, the US is pushing Libyan parties to hold general elections before the end of this year. Washington’s efforts came in parallel with the UN attempts to complete the legal legislations necessary for holding these elections.
The UN envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, is holding talks with Libyan authorities to facilitate the adoption of the legal framework and time-bound roadmap to the elections.
Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, US Special Envoy to Libya Richard Norland intensified his meetings with the Libyan leaders to move the political track forward and to break the political stagnation.
In a phone call on Wednesday, Norland discussed with Libyan Presidential Council member, Abdullah Al-Lafi, efforts towards national reconciliation in Libya and ways to progress towards holding elections on schedule.
According to a tweet from the embassy on Thursday, “both parties agreed that efforts to promote national reconciliation in Libya are necessary to ensure long-term peace and prosperity throughout the country.”
They also discussed “the need for concerted and tangible efforts by Libyan parties to make progress towards holding elections on schedule and ensuring fair revenue distribution,” according to the tweet.
The US dynamic in Libya accompanied Bathily’s talks with head of the High Council of State (HCS), Khaled Al-Mishri, on the progress made in basic files leading to elections.
The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Presidential Council in Tripoli on Wednesday.
The media office of the Presidential Council said the two sides focused on the progress made in the basic files to conduct elections in 2023 and on ways to support the 6+6 Committee to fulfill its responsibilities as soon as possible.
Bathily held other meetings and contacts in Tripoli to discuss the Libyan file. On Wednesday, the UN envoy met with President of the Libyan Presidential Council (LPC) Mohamed al-Manfi.
He also spoke on the phone with House of Representatives Speaker Aqila Saleh and discussed the urgent need to speed up the elections.
In a separate development, Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush, reaffirmed her country’s readiness to support mediation efforts between the conflicting parties in Sudan as well as the humanitarian efforts that seek to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.
Her remarks came in a meeting in Tripoli with Libyan ambassador to Sudan, Fawzi Boumriz.
The ambassador briefed the FM on the measures taken by the Libyan embassy in Khartoum to evacuate the Libyan community residing in Sudan following the outbreak of fighting.
He also informed Al-Mangoush on the latest developments in Sudan, and the efforts that can be made to help the Sudanese people in these circumstances, in addition to the possibility of communicating with the warring parties to prevail calm.
