Metri Aims to Help Libya in Transition Towards Democracy

Former Information Minister Tarek Metri confirmed on Friday his appointment as U.N. special envoy to Libya and head of the U.N. Support Mission there (UNSMIL), stating that his main task is to help people in the transition process towards democracy.

“My main task is to help the Libyan authorities build their state institutions and prepare for fair and successful elections,” Metri told the Saudi Okaz daily.

He pointed out that the U.N. has to listen carefully to the Libyan people and know their requirements.

Metri will succeed British Ian Martin of the United Kingdom, who will complete his assignment on October 14.

Metri has a “distinguished” academic background, a U.N. official said. He has handled several ministerial posts in Lebanon between April 2005 until June 2011, including administrative reform, environment, foreign affairs and information ministries.

He is a prominent academic figure who held the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Dialogue at Saint Joseph University in Beirut and served as a Senior Fellow at the American University of Beirut, Fares Center for Public Policy and International Affairs, and has taught at Harvard University, the Amsterdam Free University, the University of Geneva and the University of Balamand, he also

Asked about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other U.S. Nationals late on Tuesday, Metri said that the film that sparked this attack is “no doubt absurd, provocative and evil.”

However, he noted that the reaction carried out by some citizens don't serve the Libyan people.

The low-budget movie, "Innocence of Muslims" in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.

It pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of pedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."

Mystery has deepened over the film, with conflicting accounts from backers and promoters but no one owning up to having actually directed it.

U.S. media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.