Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Stephanie Khoury arrives in the Libyan capital Tripoli within days, to succeed the UN envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batelli, who submitted the resignation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
Stephanie has held various positions in conflict management and peacebuilding in the Middle East for 30 years, including in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen, and most recently as Director of Political Affairs at the United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan .
Khoury is the second American to serve as deputy UN envoy to Libya, following her compatriot Stephanie Williams, who served during the term of former envoy Ghassan Salamé, before taking over the acting management of the mission.
Khoury met with Libya’s representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Taher al-Sunni, in the first official public meeting with a Libyan official.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has accepted the resignation of UN envoy to Libya Abdallah Batelli, spokesman for the secretary-general Stephane Dujarric said.
Accepting the resignation, Guterres said the United Nations would continue to support the political process implemented by Libyans.
Bathili announced his resignation, noting, in press statements at the UN headquarters, that the situation in Libya has deteriorated in recent months.
There are two main reasons for this, he said, the first is “the efforts of the Libyan parties to continue the status quo,” and the second is that “the other main problem is regional and international dynamics.”
Batelli is the ninth UN envoy to Libya, where he was appointed in September 2022 after the position was vacant for months following the sudden resignation of his predecessor, Ján Kubiš, in November 2021, and after the Security Council rejected many other names put forward by Guterres, before finally submitting his resignation.
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