TRIPOLI, Oct 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday warned against the east-based rebel army’s attempts to divide the country’s national oil company.
“The UNSMIL is alarmed by indications that parallel, unrecognized authorities in Libya are threatening the operation and management of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and its subsidiary Brega,” the UNSMIL said in a statement.
Continued efforts to “divide the NOC’s functions threaten the country’s oil revenue and consequently the interests of all Libyans” and “could constitute violations of UN Security Council Resolutions and could place responsible individuals under sanctions,” said the statement.
The UNSMIL said that it would report suspected violations to the UN Panel of Experts, the UN Sanctions Committee and the UN Security Council, stressing that Libya’s oil and natural resources “belong to the Libyan people and should not, under any circumstances, be weaponized.”
Libya has been mired in a military strife between the UN-backed government and the east-based army. The UNSMIL only recognizes the NOC of the UN-backed government based in Tripoli.
