In an article published by the Middle East Eye, Libyan politician and member of the UN-backed Libyan political dialogue process Guma El-Gamaty discusses the history and impact of UN Special Envoys to Libya since 2011 as the search for a successor to Martin Kobler remains elusive following the US veto of Salam al-Fayyad. He discusses the roles played by different envoys, and highlights the benefits of having an Arabic speaker in this position. He concludes that:
In any case, appointing a new special envoy to Libya, Arab or not, is unlikely to make much difference. UN special envoys are not usually in control of the factors that are essential for success - namely, the inteference of other countries in Libya - and the financial and logistical resources at their disposal are mostly limited.The challenge of achieving peace and stability in Libya is hampered mainly by the Libyan parties locked in conflict and unwilling to compromise and engage in genuine reconciliation and consensus. It is also hampered by detrimental outside interference and contradictory regional and international strategies and goals.
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