The UN’s special envoy for Libya Jan Kubis has resigned from his position just weeks before the country holds critical national elections, a UN spokesperson said yesterday, according to AFP. The spokesperson did not give a reason for his departure, but sources told the newswire that he wasn’t keen to move from Geneva to Libya, which looked increasingly likely following a tussle over the future of the UN’s Libya mission at the Security Council.

Nominations to run in next month’s presidential election are now closed: Current prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the son of Libya’s former ruler Seif Al Islam Gaddafi, and eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar are all bidding to become the country’s next president in an election process that has been beset with factional disputes about the rules of the vote. A total of 98 candidates have applied to have their names on the ballot, which is expected to take place on 24 December.

Libay’s acting president discusses elections with El Sisi: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed the importance of going ahead with the upcoming elections in a meeting with interim Libyan president Mohamed Al Menfi during the Comesa summit yesterday, Ittihadiya said in a statement.