Leon will not leave office before reaching agreement in Libya

UN chief's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Bernardino Leon on Friday said he would not leave office before reaching a final agreement to put an end to the political and security conflict in the country.

In statements, Leon said he refused to extend his mission, which ended in early September, because he was sure that the Libyans had already reached an agreement, but things, he said, then changed.

Leon expressed hope to finalize an agreement and sign it before letting someone else take the office.

He predicted that the Libyan parties will endorse his proposal that aims at forming a national unity government in the country.

Leon said that Tobruk Parliament will hold a meeting Monday and may announce its agreement on the proposal, and if this happens, especially in light of a "positive atmosphere in Tripoli," the signing of the agreement may be within a few weeks to form a government working from Tripoli.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to appoint German diplomat Martin Kobler, who led the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to head a struggling peace effort in Libya.

Ban on Wednesday informed the Security Council of his decision in a letter.

Kobler will succeed Leon as special envoy for Libya just as efforts to end years of turmoil in the north African country have run into hurdles over the formation of a unity government.

Source: MENA