UNSC approves new Libya mediator

The United Nations Security Council approved on Friday the appointment of veteran diplomat Jan Kubis (pictured) as the UN Libya envoy, diplomats said, nearly a year after the last mediator stepped down.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had proposed that Kubis succeed Ghassan Salame, who quit the role in March last year due to stress.Salame’s deputy Stephanie Williams has been acting Libya envoy. Kubis, a former Slovakian foreign minister, is currently the UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon. He has also served as the UN special envoy in Afghanistan and Iraq.The appointment of Kubis comes after the Security Council approved in December a plan by Guterres’ to name Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov to the Libya role.But a week later Mladenov said he could not take up the position due to “personal and family reasons.”Libya descended into chaos after the Nato-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. In October, the two major sides in the country’s war – the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) – agreed a ceasefire.