Follow up Letter from Dr. Aref Ali Nayed, Chairman of Ihya Libya (Reviving Libya) to H.E. Antonio Gueterres, UN Secretary-General
August 31, 2020
H.E. Mr. António Guterres
Secretary General
United Nations
Your Excellency, greetings, and respects.
Further to our letters of June 29, and August 24, and in light of the rapidly escalating events in Libya, especially in Tripoli, we would like to add the following recommendations to those contained in our two previous letters:
1. The United Nations must stand, firmly and vocally, with the Libyan people and with their rights and freedoms, and with their anguished call for an end to corruption throughout Libya.
2. The violent suppression of peaceful civilian demonstrations must be rejected and condemned in the strongest possible terms.
3. All Libyan civilians must be protected in all Libyan territory, as per UN SC 1970 and 1973, and the United Nations Charter.
4. No Ministers or any other political actors should be allowed to use the legitimate popular outcry for delivery of basic services to affect any destabilizing coups or to ignite further civil strife anywhere in Libya.
5. Entering the capital Tripoli with over 400 tactical vehicles, thousands of militiamen, and then residing amongst thousands of Turkish/Syrian mercenaries is not an act of respect for the ‘Rule-of-Law’, and must be firmly condemned and rejected.
6. Countries using a Minister as proxy against its own Prime Minister must be rebuked.
7. The two existing de-facto Governments of Libya must be held responsible and accountable internationally. They must urgently reform and restructure in order to create corruption-free ‘care-taker’ service-delivering executives throughout Libya.
8. The role of both Governments (in Tripoli and Benghazi) should be exclusively focused on only two deliverables: Basic services (including health services against COVID-19), and Presidential Elections by March 2021 (based on February Committee Outputs, and HoR Decree Number 5 (2014), under UN monitoring and implementation guarantees, in order to re-start Libyan popular legitimacy, as was agreed at the Paris Conference of 2018.
9. Instead of highly abstract and divisive discussions, a genuine and practical technocratic dialogue between the two existing (but reformed and restructured) Governments must be urgently initiated, and hosted at a neutral location.
10. A parallel practical and technocratic dialogue between the militaries of the two sides can also be held between the two Chiefs of Staff from both sides, along with their assistants, in a more operational version of the 5+5 military discussions stipulated in Berlin.
11. All mercenaries and foreign troops must urgently depart Libya. All militias must be dismantled throughout Libya.
12. A parallel economic and financial dialogue between the two Central Bank Governors, and the two Heads of the NOC, from both sides, can also give rise to a joint Oil-Export-Board, a joint Escrow Account, and a joint Payment Mechanism—all with a simple multi-signature requirement (internationally-monitored).
Finally, Your Excellency, we urge you, once again, to name your next Envoy to Libya. Time is of the essence.
Thank you very much, Your Excellency for your kind consideration. Again, I would be very pleased to discuss all this further, with you or your esteemed Envoy, at your convenience.
With best regards,
Aref Ali Nayed,
Chairman, Ihya Libya (Reviving Libya)
