https://arab.news/2vsuu
- Mohamed Al-Menfi urges world to view country as ‘a story of resilience and will’
- Libya must no longer be treated as ‘a battleground for settling scores or exporting crises’
LONDON: The chairman of Libya’s Presidential Council on Thursday urged the international community to support a Libyan-led political process that restores the country’s full sovereignty, ends foreign interference, and paves the way for free and transparent elections.
Addressing the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Mohamed Al-Menfi said his country must no longer be treated as a “battleground for settling scores or exporting crises,” but as a nation with the resources, youth and history to build a modern and democratic state.
He outlined a four-point plan for moving beyond years of conflict: restoring national sovereignty free from external interference; achieving broad-based consensus through inclusive dialogue inside Libya; unifying sovereign institutions such as security, defense and financial bodies; and ending the transitional phase with elections based on a clear constitutional framework.
“Any solution that doesn’t return ownership of the political process to the Libyan people, and doesn’t emanate from their free will, is doomed to repeat failure,” he said.
Al-Menfi highlighted efforts to preserve stability and avoid renewed violence, pointing to the October 2020 ceasefire agreement and security arrangements in Tripoli as evidence of progress.
He said “Libyan blood is a red line,” and the country’s sovereignty, unity and social fabric are non-negotiable.
Speaking about the Libyan economy, he highlighted the challenges posed by institutional division and the absence of a unified budget, but said the country still has the capacity to play a pivotal role in its own recovery.
He called for greater global support for economic development, including through the High Financial Committee and UN cooperation, to unify public spending and ensure fair wealth distribution.
Turning to the issue of migration, he urged the international community to move away from narrow security responses and adopt a detailed developmental approach in partnership with the African Union.
“Irregular migration isn’t merely a security issue, but a humanitarian challenge rooted in deep economic causes,” he said.
On Palestine, Al-Menfi condemned the “unethical neutrality” by some UN member states regarding Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as “crimes of genocide and blatant violations of international law” against the Palestinian people.
He called for urgent international action to end the Israeli occupation and secure Palestinian rights.
Concluding his address, Al-Menfi urged the world to view Libya as “a story of resilience and will” rather than as a complicated political problem to avoid.
“Libya’s future is that of a sovereign, stable state, united in its institutions, strong through its people, reconciled with itself, open to the world, and an active partner regionally and internationally,” he said.