By Emmanuel Nduka
The UN Special Envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis of Slovakia, has quit his job less than a year after taking on the role, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, no official reason was given for the resignation which comes one month before key presidential elections are to be held in Libya.
The UN Security Council recently split over whether to reconfigure the leadership of the global body’s political mission in Libya, with several members calling for the envoy’s post to be transferred from Geneva to Tripoli.
Mr Kubis, a former UN Envoy to Lebanon, took up the Libya envoy post in January.
His sudden exit comes a day after the close of presidential nominations for Libya’s closely-watched elections slated for December 24.
98 candidates including two women have submitted applications to be on the presidential ballot, according to Libya’s electoral commission.
They include Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, the son of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, and Khalifa Haftar, leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army in control of the country’s east and parts of the south.
Also in the running are former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah of the interim, UN-brokered Government of National Unity.
