Intel: UN engages with Libya’s electric company amid blackouts, popular unrest
The United States pledged support for Libya's electric company amid continued blackouts in Libya, which are fueling popular unrest.
As part of the Economic Working Group for Libya, representatives of some 10 countries, the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League and the UN sat down with leadership of Libya’s main electricity company amid widespread protests in the war-torn country over power blackouts and decreased quality of life.
Stephanie Williams, the special representative for the UN’s mission in Libya, and the head of the Economic Working Group for Libya, EU Ambassador Jose Sabadell, spoke Monday with the deputy head of the General Electricity Company of Libya, Abdul Salem al-Ansari, about proposals to reduce the blackouts, some of which last longer than 16 hours per day in some areas, the UN said in a statement.
Al-Ansari said that tax revenues were not being channeled to the electricity company and that it would not be able to provide adequate power without them. The UN called the power outages “unacceptable.”
Representatives from several countries, including Egypt, Italy, France, Turkey and the UAE, attended the meeting. US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland took part and pledged US support for the electricity company’s "efforts to end the electricity crisis,” according to the State Department.
