UN envoy:"Extraordinary" challenges ahead for Libya after liberation

Ian Martin, special representative of the UN secretary-general in Libya said here on Wednesday that Libya's recent declaration of liberation is a significant step, but that Libya's people and fledgling government still have challenges to overcome. "With liberation now completed, the challenges facing the Libyan people and the new incoming government will nonetheless be extraordinary," Martin told a Security Council briefing on Libya. "It will be critical therefore for the international community to remain focused and measured in our engagement with the Libya authorities during this transition time, following closely their sense of immediate priorities and not attempting to impose over- ambitious expectations or longer-term programs," Martin said. The North African nation issued a declaration of liberation from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi on Oct. 23 just days after the longtime Libyan leader was killed in his hometown of Sirte. The conflict that has been raging in Libya since Feb. between the Gaddafi regime and Libyan rebels under the National Transitional Government (NTC) assisted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is now at an end and Libya faces the task of rebuilding. Martin said that one major challenge posed by the Libyan transition is to hold the first elections in the country in recent history. "Here the task is not solely or even primarily technical, despite the challenge of mounting Libya's first election for over 45 years," he explained. "First and foremost, it is the need to engage in a broad consultation, including with civil society which will build consensus regarding the electoral system for this first election and on other key issues to be determined in electoral legislation, and to establish an electoral management body whose independence and integrity cannot be disputed from any quarter," he said. The NTC still faces the task of forming an interim government as well. Martin said that this temporary ruling body should be " inclusive" and have the ability to "lead and deliver on key sectors." The recently created UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), headed by Martin, has been assisting the NTC by providing expertise to aid aspects of the transition including the electoral process, he said. "Our engagement will intensify as the NTC clarifies the designation of responsibilities for electoral matters," he said. " We are encountering high expectations of the United Nations, which is overwhelmingly seen as the key guarantor of the integrity of the electoral process although it is the Libyans who must reach agreement with respect to the electoral system and other essential elements of electoral legislation." Martin also mentioned reports that war crimes were committed by both sides of the conflict during fighting in Sirte. He said that the UN would have preferred Gaddafi and others be brought to trial for their crimes. "However, Muammar and Mofassim Gaddafi were mistreated and killed in circumstances which require investigation and there are other disturbing reports that killings amounting to war crimes were committed on both sides in the final battle for Sirte," Martin noted. "Such killings were contrary to the orders of the National Transitional Council, and we welcome their announcement of an investigation. They are also within the scope of the International Commission of Inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council," he added.