New UN envoy to Libya vows to pursue 'peace and stability'

The new United Nations envoy to Libya pledged on Thursday to "spare no effort in achieving peace and stability" in the divided country, said the U.N. Support Mission in Libya.

Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, a Hungary-born Ghanaian former parliamentarian and minister, said as she took up the role in Tripoli that her task "will not be easy" and called for "working together", UNSMIL said in a statement.

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

It remains split between a U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Tetteh was appointed last month by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as his Special Representative and head of UNSMIL, succeeding the Senegalese Abdoulaye Bathily, who stepped down in April last year.

She was previously appointed the UN Special Representative for the Horn of Africa in 2022 and is the 10th official to hold the Libya role since 2011.

Tetteh pledged to "forge a path towards a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned solution."

She said her mission would also "work with regional and international actors... to preserve national unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty."

Presidential and parliamentary elections in the oil-rich North African country had been scheduled for December 2021 but were indefinitely postponed due to disputes between rival factions.

"UNSMIL will continue to work tirelessly to support and enable Libyan institutions to hold inclusive national elections and forge a collective national vision to address Libya's long-standing challenges," said the statement.