Islam Times - US Blocks Ex-Palestinian PM Path to UN Mission in Lybia

Islam Times - The US administration has blocked the nomination of former Palestinian authority as a UN representative.

Through a formal statement, US administration objected to choosing former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as the new UN representative to Libya.

The statement handed in by US ambassador Nikki Haley on Friday to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who had made the choice.

The United States wields significant influence as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"The United States was disappointed to see a letter indicating the intention to appoint the former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister to lead the UN Mission in Libya,” Haley said in her statement.

The US statement clearly mentions Israeli regime's interests as the basis for its objection. Haley accuses UN of favoring Palestinian Authority against the interests of US "allies in Israel".

Haley added that the United States "does not currently recognize a Palestinian state or support the signal this appointment would send within the United Nation.”

Fayyad, a Texas-educated former International Monetary Fund official, was prime minister of the Palestinian Authority from 2007 to 2013. He had earned praise in the international community for his efforts to crack down on corruption and to build effective Palestinian public institutions.

Guterres selected Fayyad to take over as Libya envoy from Martin Kobler, a German diplomat who has served as the UN representative since November 2015.