The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) sent a Wednesday briefing to the Security Council Committee on Libya on the work of the committee in Libya, which mainly focuses on preventing the transfer of arms.
The briefing, sent by Stephanie T. Williams, deputy special representative of the Secretary-General for Political Affairs in Libya, UNSMIL, included the recent developments in the ongoing conflict in Libya, the implementation of the arms embargo, issues related to the prevention of illicit exports of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Libya, and the implementation of assets freeze and the travel bans.
“The Committee comprises all 15 members of the Security Council and makes its decision by consensus. The current Chair of the Committee, for the period ending 31 December 2019, is His Excellency Mr. Jürgen Schulz (Germany). The Vice-Chair for 2019 is Belgium,” according to Security Council’s statement.
As part of its efforts to prevent the transfer of arms to armed groups in Libya and put an end to the escalation of the war, the U.N. Security Council voted on Monday to extend the arms embargo in Libya for another year as illegal weapons transfers fuel the tension in the country.
Extending the arms embargo comes despite being violated almost regularly. Eventually, a war erupted between the Government of National Accord (GNA), which uses militias and armed groups in the war, and the Libyan National Army (LNA) on April 4.
On May 18, a shipment of 40 Turkish armored vehicles and other arms reached Tripoli Port, coming from Samsun Port in Turkey. It was not the first time a Turkish arms shipment has been seized at Libyan ports.
It is widely claimed that the weapons are sent to the GNA-allied armed groups.
