14 – 20 Feb: CHD hold talks with Libyan senior figures, Egypt foils “infiltration attempt” on Libyan border, and Libya suspended to vote at the UN

Feb 20, 2018 | International actors

On 12 – 14 February, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD), a Geneva-based NGO, facilitated talks between a range of different Libyan actors in Geneva. CHD did not publish a list of attendees, but those invited are reported to have included Government of National Accord (GNA) Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maitig, House of Representatives (HoR) President Agilah Saleh, Central Bank of Libya Governor Sadiq al-Kabir, and former head of the General National Congress (GNC) Nuri Abu Sahmain. The organisers of the event stressed that all participants were invited in their personal capacity as individuals, not as representatives of certain institutions. HCD held a similar event in May 2017, as well as a meeting of over 90 of Libya’s mayors in Tunisia in December 2017.

On 15 February, the Egyptian army announced it had foiled an “infiltration attempt” after reportedly destroying ten 4×4 vehicles loaded with arms and ammunition on the Libyan border. This is the latest in a series of similar claims by the Egyptian army to have destroyed convoys of vehicles carrying weapons and fighters into western Egypt.

On 13 February, it was confirmed the UN General Assembly (UNGA) had suspended Libya’s to vote at the UN for the third year in a row due to debts owed by the country. According to a letter from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Assembly president, Libya must pay at least $6,594,842 to restore its voting rights.