UN Envoy to Libya Says Time Running Out, ISIS Expanding

The U.N. envoy to Libya is urging its parliament to endorse a unity government that can help combat a mushrooming Islamic State affiliate, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi and plunged the country into chaos.

U.N. envoy for Libya Martin Kobler (L) and Fayez Serraj, Libyan designated-prime minister and head of the presidential council, in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 17, 2016. Kobler is urging the Libyan parliament to endorse a unity government in order to bring the country together and combat an increasingly powerful Islamic State affiliate. AP Photo/Maggie Michael

CAIRO—The U.N. envoy to Libya is urging its parliament to endorse a unity government that can help combat a mushrooming Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi and plunged the country into chaos.

“Every day lost in political dialogue is a day of gain of Daesh,” Martin Kobler said in the interview, referring to the extremist group by its Arabic acronym. “There is chaos. There is anarchy in which Daesh expands.”

Every day lost in political dialogue is a day of gain of Daesh. There is chaos. There is anarchy in which Daesh expands.

— Martin Kobler, U.N. envoy to Libya