9 – 15 September: UN diplomat Nickolai Evtimov Mladenov reported as new head of UNSMIL

Sep 16, 2020 | International actors

On 14 September, it was reported that the UN Security Council (UNSC) was planning on approving former Bulgarian politician and UN diplomat Nickolai Evtimov Mladenov as the new head of UNSMIL to replace acting head Stephanie Williams, along with a new ‘Coordinator’. These positions are part of a new dual UNSMIL leadership, with Mladenov’s role focused on resolving the crisis through engagement with domestic and international actors while the Coordinator oversees the regular operations of the special mission’s 200-person staff – a structure the US has allegedly pushed for. The specific details of the new UNSMIL leadership will be detailed in the forthcoming resolution renewing the Mission’s commitment to Libya until mid-September 2021.

The same day, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced  that consultations between Turkish and Russian interagency delegations on Libya and Syria will continue at a technical level on 15-16 September 2020 in Ankara.

On 10 September, participants of a two-day consultation held in Montreux, Switzerland under the auspices of the international non-governmental organisation the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) — which has long been tasked with mediating community-to-community exchanges  — announced a supposed agreement on a roadmap for a comprehensive solution to the Libyan conflict. The agreement called for the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections within an 18-month timeframe following the articulation of a deadline, during which time there would also be reform of the PC to consist of a president and two deputies, the establishment of a representative ‘unity government’ to provide services, implement measures to protect displaced persons and illegally detained people and support the electoral process. Participants in Montreux also proposed moving certain government institutions, such as the House of Representatives, on a temporary basis to Sirte once the appropriate security and logistical measures had been implemented.

On 10 September, German and Italian warships intercepted an oil tanker on its way to Libya from the UAE suspected of carrying ‘a load of jet fuel likely to be used for military purposes.’ The ship, the Royal Diamond 7, was stopped 93 miles north of Derna. Operation IRINI issued a statement saying that the fuel on the ship was considered ‘military material’ by the United Nations, and that the ship had been diverted to an EU port for further investigation.