UNITED NATIONS 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has nominated Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathiliy as his personal envoy to Libya, a position which has been vacant since December 2021.

''I would like to inform you of my intention to appoint Mr. Abdoulaye Bathiliy as my Special Representative for Libya and Head of UNSMIL,'' he said in a letter to the UN Security Council seen by Anadolu Agency, referring to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.

The 15-member Security Council needs to approve the appointment of Bathiliy.

Nicolas de Rivière, the UN envoy of France, which assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council as of Sept. 1, told reporters in New York that the proposal will be accepted.

Bathily, a politician and diplomat, will replace Slovak diplomat Jan Kubis, who quit the role in December to lead peace efforts in Libya, if there are no objections by the Security Council.

Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, one of the two figures claiming power and authority in Libya, opposes the UN proposal to appoint Bathiliy as the special envoy.

Oil-rich Libya has remained in turmoil since 2011, when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted after four decades in power.