A senior Chinese diplomat on Tuesday called for the need to refrain from putting external pressure on the Libyan issue, urging the international community to adhere to the principle of a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process, instead of blindly imposing solutions. 

The Libyan issue is the result of politics, history and ethnicity, Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council at the briefing on the Libyan issue, while pointing to external interference and pressure as important sources of instability. 

China welcomed the work of the Libyan Joint Committee 6+6 in reaching the draft electoral law, and its approval by Libya's House of Representatives, Dai said.

Citing the recent clashes in Tripoli, Dai called on all parties to avoid escalation and maintain the ceasefire – while the withdrawal of external armed forces and mercenaries is important to the security of Libya and the region.  

Noting the gradual recovery of oil production and the reunification of Libya's Central Bank, Dai said that the frozen assets of Libya's Government should be used for national reconstruction and development.

Before Dai's speech, Abdoulaye Bathily, a special representative of the secretary-general in Libya said that the fragile stability in Libya that had prevailed in Tripoli since August 2022 was shattered by fierce armed clashes on August 14 and 15 between the Deterrence Apparatus for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism and the 444 Brigade, with 55 killed. 

In the ensuing debate, Council members underscored that presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya are the only way to restore the legitimacy of the country's institutions.  

(Cover photo: Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, United States. /CFP)