Libyan Civil War
On 25 February 2011, Shalgham denounced the Libyan regime in a speech before the United Nations Security Council. Most of the UN's Libyan delegation had abandoned the regime of Muammar Gaddafi four days earlier. Shalgham, who had been friends with Gaddafi for years, initially "could not believe" Gaddafi was firing on his own people, but could no longer support his government after Gaddafi publicly called for the protests to be put down by force, Though he had confirmed that there were no bombings. Partly due to his lobbying, the Security Council passed Resolution 1970, which imposed harsh sanctions against Libya and referred the situation to the International Criminal Court. Shalgham applauded the resolution, saying it would "help put an end to this fascist regime, which is still in existence in Tripoli."
On 5 March 2011, Shalgam was appointed emissary to the UN by the National Transitional Council. Earlier that day, the Libyan government had notified the UN of its desire to replace Shalgam as the Libyan representative, appointing Ali Treki as its new envoy in his place.
Read more about this topic: Abdel Rahman Shalgham
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