Madar (Tripoli) - The final document of the 22nd ordinary session of the Executive Council of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), which closed on the evening of Saturday, November 7, 2026 in Tripoli, provides for the appointment of an interim executive secretary for four months, who will carry out his duties from the Libyan capital during the transitional phase, the Libyan news agency LANA reported.
According to the agency, the arrangement will remain in place until the organisation's next summit, due in N'Djamena, Chad, in 2027, which is expected to choose the executive secretary and deputy executive secretary. Libya will host the following summit in 2028.
The final document was signed by Chad's foreign minister Ahmad Kogri, as chair of the Executive Council, and by Taher Al-Baour, who is in charge of running Libya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at the end of a session attended by foreign ministers and heads of delegation of member states.
The Chadian news site Tchadinfos, citing LANA, reported that Al-Baour said discussions among member states had produced a consensus on returning the executive secretariat to Tripoli and reviving the organisation's institutions. According to the site, the decision still has to be approved by heads of state at the next summit, and no date was announced for the actual transfer.
The document stressed, according to LANA, the importance of stronger coordination and cooperation among member states and of stepping up joint efforts to address security challenges, chief among them terrorism, organised crime and irregular migration, while supporting development and economic integration.
It also addressed ways to improve how the organisation works, activate its institutions and programmes, and strengthen political consultation and the coordination of positions on regional and continental issues.
CEN-SAD was founded in Tripoli in 1998, and its executive secretariat was moved to N'Djamena amid the instability that followed 2011 in Libya, according to Tchadinfos.
Mauritania was represented at the meeting by the secretary general of its foreign ministry, who called in Tripoli for reviving the organisation's role.
