UN envoy for Libya resigns as truce appears to crumble

The U.N. envoy for Libya announced his resignation on March 2, as a fragile cease-fire in the North African country continued to crumble.
Ghassan Salame tweeted he was stepping down as special representative for Libya because of his health.

Salame was appointed in July 2017, and had recently been mediating three-tiered talks between Libya's warring sides on economic, political and military tracks.

His goal had been to end the violence and troubles that have wracked oil-rich Libya since 2011, when an international military coalition helped rebels overthrow longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi.

In his tweet, Salame, 69, said he had tried to "unify the Libyans, curb foreign interference and protect the country's integrity."

"My health no longer allows this rate of stress," he said, adding that he had asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to relieve him of his post.

Salame's resignation came as a surprise to many U.N. Security Council members who was expected to brief members next week.

"It's a pity," said Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky. "He's a well-placed person with great experiences but we need to learn the details."

China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, the current Security Council president, said: "We do appreciate the efforts he has made in promoting a peace process, a political process, and in bringing an end to the conflict there. But we also know there are many difficulties."

Last month, the council endorsed a 55-point road map to end the war in Libya that 12 key leaders agreed to at a conference in Berlin on Jan. 19 and Zhang said the U.N. should remain committed to supporting a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned peace process "and trying to stop outside interference."

Guterres...