The UAE opposes the appointment of Sabri Boukadoum as UN envoy

The former head of Algerian diplomacy, Sabri Boukadoum, will not be the next UN envoy to Libya. On Monday, the United Arab Emirates, during a session of the UN Security Council, opposed the proposal of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and supported the vacancy of this position since last November.

Diplomatic sources quoted France Press agency (AFP), this refusal explained that there is a “regional concern” about Boukadoum’s appointment, especially since Algeria has a common border with Libya. The United Arab Emirates, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which currently represents the Arab group in the council, clarified that “the Arab countries and the Libyan parties expressed their opposition” to the appointment of the former Algerian foreign minister. As an envoy to Libya.

And AFP sources warned that if the Security Council endorsed its decision to appoint Sabri Boukadoum to the post, the Algerian diplomat would find himself facing an “impossible mission.”

The United States had previously opposed the appointment of the current Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, as the UN envoy to Libya, before handing the task over to former Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis. The latter resigned in November 2021. Then American Stephanie Williams was appointed temporarily, but she will leave her position tomorrow.

Algeria is trying to impose itself on the Libyan file, but it has failed to prove itself as a regional actor, considering that it is a non-neutral country among the parties to the Libyan crisis, which has been going on for years.