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             Report: UN Envoy's New Job Overshadows Libya Agreement

   by Margaret Besheer

   The outgoing U.N. envoy for Libya urged that country's rival
   leaderships Thursday to stop blocking the democratic process and vote
   on a political agreement that lays out the composition of a future
   unity government.

   Bernardino Leon told the U.N. Security Council in his final briefing
   that in recent weeks there has been progress toward resolving
   outstanding issues - such as representation of the parties in the new
   government - but that there has been no formal acceptance of the
   agreement.

   "The U.N. Support Mission in Libya [has] continued to impress upon both
   the Libyan House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based General
   National Congress (GNC) the need to urgently convene sessions that
   would allow for a democratic vote on the political agreement and
   proposals for the presidency council," he said.

   The GNC and its allied militias took control of the capital, Tripoli,
   last year, sending the internationally-recognized House of
   Representatives to the eastern city of Tobruk. The two rivals have been
   stuck in a spiral of violence that has contributed to the refugee
   crisis in Europe and led to the rise of Islamist extremist groups in
   Libya, including the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

   "Libya's leaders have a unique opportunity to reach a political
   settlement that spares their country and people further bloodshed and
   destruction," Leon told the Council. He said the political agreement he
   has worked out during the course of a year offers a "viable middle
   ground" on which all Libyans can meet.

   But Leon's efforts were overshadowed this week by a report in the
   British newspaper The Guardian, exposing private emails in which the
   former Spanish foreign minister was revealed to have been negotiating
   for a lucrative job training diplomats for the United Arab Emirates
   government while simultaneously conducting negotiations on behalf of
   the United Nations.

   The oil-rich Gulf state has been supporting the Libyan National Army,
   which fights on the side of the Tobruk-based government.

   Leon defended himself to a barrage of media questions about the seeming
   conflict of interest in his negotiating for a job with a party that had
   a stake in his mediation, saying his new job is "mainly academic work"
   and he does not see a conflict of interest.

   He said the political agreement is the product of a year's work and
   includes the efforts of hundreds of Libyans. "Is it fair to say now
   that the result of this work is biased? I don't think so," Leon added.

   "You may say the optics is not nice," he went on, "and I can agree with
   this. If it is a matter of saying I could have done things in a
   different way, maybe this is the right answer."

   "Mr. Leon's tireless and unending work to try to reach an accord on a
   government of national accord in Libya, I think speaks for itself,"
   U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

   Members of the GNC did not appear to agree, reportedly sending a letter
   to the United Nations protesting Leon's actions.

   The U.N. Security Council continues to urge the parties to sign and
   implement the agreement.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-envoy-new-job-overshadows-libya-agreement/3039990.html