The UN security council has passed a resolution mandating a multinational operation to oversee a ceasefire in Libya, despite serious doubts that any of the conflict’s key players will abide by its terms.
The UK-backed resolution, calling for a ceasefire without preconditions and an immediate end to the supply of arms to both sides, was passed by 14 votes to zero, with one abstention from Russia.
It was seen as a test of the UN’s waning authority after its secretary general, António Guterres, described offensives by both sides in the war as a scandal.
A UN arms embargo is being flouted with impunity and plans for an EU naval mission to monitor illegal arms shipments has not yet been agreed.
