UN renews authorizations to inspect vessels suspected of violating Libya arms embargo

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations Security Council decided on Thursday to extend for another year a series of authorizations for member states to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya suspected of arms embargo violation.

Unanimously adopting Resolution 2578 (2021) under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the 15-member organ decided to extend the authorizations laid out in Resolution 2526 (2020) for a further 12 months.

Those measures - first agreed in Resolution 2292 (2016) - allow states, acting nationally or through regional organizations, to inspect vessels on the high seas bound to or from Libya, given reasonable grounds to believe that they are in violation of the Council's arms embargo.

By other terms of the text, members requested the secretary-general to report on the implementation of Thursday's resolution within 11 months.

The Security Council imposed sanctions, including an arms embargo, on Libya in 2011 after the political turmoil that led to the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In June 2016, the Council adopted a resolution to authorize vessel inspections on the high seas to implement the arms embargo. The authorizations have been extended several times.