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STORY: UN / LIBYA
TRT: 03:08
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
17 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Wide shot, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya Hanna Tetteh addressing Council
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanna Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“Most Libyan leaders call for an inclusive political process and note the urgent need to end unilateral actions, unify institutions, and restore stability. Some believe a new unified government is the only solution, while others argue it will prolong the nearly fifteen-year transition period.”
5. Wide shot, Tetteh addressing Council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanna Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“I have been engaged in consultations with leaders, political parties, and civil society actors on the subsequent phase of the process. I intend to maintain an inclusive stakeholder approach, ensuring that any outcome is not only Libyan-owned but also enjoys broader Libyan support. Given the increasingly frequent recurring crises, I will act with urgency while exercising caution to preserve stability.”
7. Wide shot, Tetteh addressing Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanna Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“Libya’s political crisis persists due to competition for economic resources. Fragmented institutions, unilateral actions which deepen divisions, and lack of a unified budget exacerbate the situation, causing macroeconomic instability characterized by foreign exchange deficits, inflation, and currency depreciation. In parallel to the work of the Advisory Committee, UNSMIL has been engaging economic experts to identify reforms for financial management and sustainability.”
9. Wide shot, Tetteh addressing Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanna Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“The 2020 ceasefire agreement is largely holding but the security situation remains volatile. Amid continued military build-up and hostile competition over territorial control among Western armed groups, recent armed mobilizations in and around Tripoli have renewed concerns about a potential outbreak of violence in the capital. In the southern region, the ongoing restructuring and consolidation of control of the Libyan National Army forces continues to fuel tensions with local stakeholders and resulted in heavy fighting and loss of lives in Qatroun. The situation will remain fragile until there is a political will to unify security and military forces under a shared vision.”
11. Wide shot, Libyan Ambassador Taher M. El-Sonni addressing Council
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Taher M. El-Sonni, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Libya:
“We support national processes which are geared towards achievement of consensus, and they should not be called into question. Therefore, there's a need for progress to be made through the various stages. And we need to take into account the timeline set out for the elections and the Libyan people need to elect those who represent them.”
13. Wide shot, Libyan Ambassador Taher M. El-Sonni addressing Council
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Taher M. El-Sonni, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Libya:
“We are tired of it. We are tired of these double standards and these experiments which fail and what is being imposed upon us, which result in further division and further crisis.”
15. Wide shot, end of briefing
In her first briefing to the Security Council the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya Hanna Tetteh today (17 Apr) said, “most Libyan leaders call for an inclusive political process and note the urgent need to end unilateral actions, unify institutions, and restore stability.”
Nevertheless, she added, “some believe a new unified government is the only solution, while others argue it will prolong the nearly fifteen-year transition period.”
After having held consultations with leaders, political parties, and civil society actors, Tetteh told the Council she intends “to maintain an inclusive stakeholder approach, ensuring that any outcome is not only Libyan-owned but also enjoys broader Libyan support.”
She said, “Libya’s political crisis persists due to competition for economic resources. Fragmented institutions, unilateral actions which deepen divisions, and lack of a unified budget exacerbate the situation, causing macroeconomic instability characterized by foreign exchange deficits, inflation, and currency depreciation.
Tetteh, who mis also Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said the Mission “has been engaging economic experts to identify reforms for financial management and sustainability.”
She told the Council that “the 2020 ceasefire agreement is largely holding but the security situation remains volatile,” and noted that “amid continued military build-up and hostile competition over territorial control among Western armed groups, recent armed mobilizations in and around Tripoli have renewed concerns about a potential outbreak of violence in the capital.”
In the southern region, Tetteh said, “the ongoing restructuring and consolidation of control of the Libyan National Army forces continues to fuel tensions with local stakeholders and resulted in heavy fighting and loss of lives in Qatroun.”
For his part, Libyan Ambassador Taher M. El-Sonni expressed support for “national processes which are geared towards achievement of consensus, and they should not be called into question.”
El-Sonni said, “there's a need for progress to be made through the various stages. And we need to take into account the timeline set out for the elections and the Libyan people need to elect those who represent them.”
He said, “we are tired of these double standards and these experiments which fail and what is being imposed upon us, which result in further division and further crisis.”
Secretary-General António Guterres announced Tetteh’s appointment at the end of January. She succeeds Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal, who served as Special Envoy and Head of UNSMIL until May 2024. Tetteh brings to this position decades of experience at the national, regional and international levels, including most recently as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa from 2022 until 2024 and served as Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017.
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