File-SRSG Ghassan Salame and PM of the Government of National Accord of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj. CAIRO – 23 May 2018: Official Libyan sources criticized the role played by SRSG and UNSMIL head Ghassan Salame through Western organizations that hold meetings in Morocco and Dakar to "polish" the political Islam in Libya in a failed attempt to re-produce the Islamists in the political scene.They added that Salame was mistaken when he compared Cairo's meetings to unite Libyan parties to the meetings of Dakar and Morocco, which have achieved very little on the ground.The Libyan sources claimed that Salame cooperates with suspicious French-backed organizations, criticizing his desire to bring Islamists back to the political scene in the coming period. This had been one of the main pillars of his 2017 Action Plan.Instead, Salame said that he was now pushing ahead for elections to be held by the end of 2018, subject to proper conditions. He said that there now exists a nationwide call for elections which was confirmed by the initial outcomes of the National Conference events. Salame called on the House of Representatives in consultation with the High State Council to deliver the necessary legislation for elections.The Libyan sources said that the country is too divided to hold elections and Salame risks partition if it goes ahead with a vote without security guarantees and a national consensus on building a state.As he mentioned in his March briefing to UNSC, Salame confirmed that he will reveal UNSMIL’s plans to deal with Libya’s militias.

Source: Egypt Today May 23, 2018 08:26 UTC