15 – 21 April: Algerian Lamamra withdraws

Apr 22, 2020 | International actors

After his appointment was blocked by the US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in early April, Ramtane Lamamra, the former head of the African Union’s Commission for Peace and Security and former Algerian Finance Minister, withdrew on 16 April from the race to become the UN Special Envoy to Libya.

On 14 April, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, claimed that the UN Security Council P5 (US, Russia, UK, France, and China) have agreed to hold a summit. Lavrov noted that the date of the meeting and the agenda is yet to be finalised, but the meeting is likely to cover Libya.

On 15 April, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sabri Boukadoum, had a phone call with the eastern-based parallel Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Hadi al-Hweij, on the Libyan crisis and the spread of coronavirus in the country.  This comes after Boukadoum visited eastern Libya in early February and met with Hweih and the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khalifa Haftar.

On 14 April, the head of the Tubruq-based House of Representatives (HoR), Aqeela Saleh had a phone call with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov. They reportedly discussed the status of the current conflict and political situation in Libya. During the course of the week, Saleh also penned a letter to the UN Security Council and its Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, concerning Turkey’s involvement and interference in Libya.