UN envoy: Delaying elections could risk partition of Libya

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The new U.N. special envoy for Libya is warning that further delaying elections could lead the troubled north African nation to even greater instability and put it “at risk of partition.” Abdoulaye Bathily told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that an October 2020 cease-fire continues to hold despite escalating rhetoric and a buildup of forces by rival governments in the country’s east and west.  Bathily urged council members to encourage Libyan leaders to work toward the holding of elections as soon as possible. Bathily also urged them “to send an unequivocal message to obstructionists that their actions will not remain without consequences.”