Libya News and Interests

Eastern Libyan force says it intercepted Turkish ship
Mon, December 7, 2020, 4:29 PM EST
https://www.yahoo.com/news/eastern-libyan-force-says-intercepted-212928212.html
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Eastern-based Libyan forces have intercepted a Turkish ship under a Jamaican flag heading to the port of Misrata in western Libya, their spokesman said on Monday, a possible new flashpoint in the conflict after weeks of truce.

Turkey is the main foreign backer of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), in the west, which has for years been fighting the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).

LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari added that the commercial cargo ship, Mabrouka, had 17 crew, including nine Turkish nationals, and containers that had not yet been inspected. LNA naval forces stopped it near the eastern port of Derna, he said.

A spokesperson for Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not immediately available to comment.

The GNA and LNA signed a ceasefire deal in October and the United Nations has been pushing a political dialogue aimed at elections next year as a solution to Libya's long-running conflict.

But both sides have stopped short of withdrawing forces from the front line, as demanded by the truce, while an incident in southern Libya on Sunday, when LNA forces seized a military camp, has further tested the agreement.

Earlier on Monday, Mismari accused Turkey of continuing to supply arms and fighters to the GNA. The LNA is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

A panel of U.N. experts has cited the foreign supporters of both sides as breaching an arms embargo on Libya.
 
Libyans trickle home
https://www.yahoo.com/news/years-collective-punishment-libyans-trickle-020517167.html

2dbdd84136627e31945b05f6a39cf966

Moamer Kadhafi was toppled, people took revenge on those they saw as his supporters -- including the entire town of Tawergha, whose 40,000 residents were forced to flee.

Now, almost a decade after militia forces rampaged through the town, torching homes, destroying buildings and leaving farms in ruins, the people of Tawergha are coming home.

Around a third of the original population of the town have returned -- among them is Abdelghani Omar, who has opened a barber shop.

"At first it was tough," Omar said. "My relatives convinced me to get into hairdressing."

People are trickling back to Tawergha after years living in makeshift tent camps, to try to turn the page on a brutal chapter of their lives.

Omar's family persuaded him he was doing the right thing and providing a "useful" service for the battered community.

Tawergha, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, is close to the port city of Misrata.

At the end of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed Kadhafi, Tawergha endured brutal reprisal attacks by fighters from Misrata.

Militias from Misrata were key in defeating Kadhafi, and seeing Tawergha as the enemy, they laid siege to the town, pounding it with artillery.

Most of the town's population was violently displaced, according to Human Rights Watch, which denounced what it called "collective punishment" and a "possible crime against humanity".

For several years, militias blocked people from returning.

The people were banished, living in grim destitution in basic shelters on a windswept desert plain.

But after a reconciliation deal -- backed by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) -- was signed between the former bitter enemies in 2018, people slowly began to go back to the town.

Their return has not been easy.

"Many would like to return, but they hesitate," said Omar, 35, as he cut the hair of a customer in the desolate town's only barber shop.

Tawergha's infrastructure was devastated, buildings are gutted and the streets full of potholes.

The scars of war are everywhere.

But after the reconciliation deal and promises by the Tripoli-based GNA that they would receive compensation, some decided it was time to go back.

Mahmud Abu al-Habel, a grey-haired grandfather in a bright red felt hat, was among the first.

The 70-year-old painstakingly rebuilt his house and helped nurture back to health hundreds of date-bearing palm and olive trees on his farm that had been torched during the attacks.

Abu al-Habel, accused of being a staunch supporter of Kadhafi, was forced to flee Tawergha, along with 26 members of his family.

But today, people should not hesitate to return home, he said.

"We should be here," insisted Abu al-Habel.

But political tensions between the rival administrations that emerged in the chaos after Kadhafi's death are delaying the disbursement of compensation to residents to rebuild their lives.

The "absence of a (central) government" is responsible for this, said Tawergha's mayor Abdelrahman Shakshak.

Jobs must be created and homes rebuilt, but the government is busy with "conflicts and divisions", he added.

Shakshak said that requests for the construction of 1,500 houses in neighbourhoods destroyed in the fighting "have fallen on deaf ears".

Tired of waiting, some residents like Tahani Khairi have found new lives elsewhere in Libya.

"It'll take 10 years at least for the town to get back to its former self," said Khairi, a widow and mother of four, who now lives in Tripoli.

"Tawergha is a mirror image of Libya's chaos," she added.

"Stability will not return unless there is a strong and united state."
 
Libya’s Oil Output Drops as Pipelines Creak From War and Neglect
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...drops-as-pipelines-creak-from-war-era-neglect
1000x-1.jpg

The oil terminal of Marsa al-Hariga, Libya.
~
-1x-1.png


While Libya has Africa’s largest crude reserves, the NOC is struggling to fix oil fields, storage tanks, pumping stations, pipelines and ports. Some have been damaged, while others are corroding because of neglect. The NOC said it lacks the money to carry out the repairs.
 
Libyans sell catalytic converters to make money in hard times
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...tic-converters-hunger-money-war-b1766420.html

2020-12-01T143242Z_1219453593_RC2EEK9W69YM_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-LIBYA.JPG

Misrata market

Speaking to Independent Arabia, he said: “The price isn’t gauged by weight, rather by quality, which can be ascertained by the digital code or key inscribed on the converter which shows its value according to the prices listed in a special catalogue. The price is then estimated according to the current value of the dollar.”

Mr Al-Ojaili, who has been working in this field since 2005, highlighted that there are a large number of foreign traders who exploit people’s ignorance and their desperation for cash, by buying catalytic converters from them at extremely low prices. As for the palladium inside in the converters, its price is linked to several factors including the scarcity of this metal and limited global supply.

Hussain Al-Mahdi, who works in one of the workshops dealing with carbon, said: “The process of buying converters containing palladium, rhodium, and platinum involves Libyan as well as foreign representatives of American, British and German companies.” Mr Al-Mahdi denied reports that the metal is taken to southern Libya and used to purify gold.
Despite the controversy surrounding the sale of catalytic converters, car traders in Libya set the price for these boxes according to the value of their contents and the going price of the car, and advertisements for workshops dealing with carbon are publicised. Opinion remains divided between those who reject the idea totally on the grounds of protecting the environment and those for whom providing food and shelter to their families is a more pressing concern than the environment.
 
the bizarre, three-year litany of dreaming off impeachment, the emoluments clause, the Logan Act,
the 25th Amendment, the Mueller special-counsel investigation, Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti,
Trump’s tax returns, White Supremacy!, Recession! Russian oligarchs! Whistle Blower! Impeachment & Aquittal!
— and Lord knows what next — wait. Wu-Flu. Trump lied / people died.
 
Libya’s powerful interior minister survived an assassination attempt after his motorcade came under fire outside the capital, sources close to him have told Al Jazeera.

Fathi Bashagha had finished a meeting on Sunday with the chairman of the national oil corporation and was returning to Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), when his convoy came under attack by unidentified gunmen.

The 58-year-old escaped unharmed, a source said. One of the assailants was killed in the attack while two others were arrested.

Bashagha has in recent months drawn the ire of several armed groups in Tripoli after announcing plans to demobilise militias and reintegrate them into the formal security apparatus.

Libya has been mired in conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The North African country, a significant oil producer, has been divided between the GNA and a rival administration in the east, both of whom are supported by an array of local and international actors.

Bashagha, who has served as the interior minister of the UN-recognised GNA since October 2018, was seen as a favourite to succeed the last head, Fayez al-Sarraj.

That position finally went to Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a 61-year-old businessman from Misrata who was elected as prime minister by Libyan delegates from both sides at the UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva last month.

The new interim government is tasked with leading the country through elections, scheduled for December.

In the years that followed Gaddafi’s overthrow, the North African country has descended into devastating chaos and has become a haven for armed groups that survive on looting and human trafficking.

The oil-rich country has for years been split between rival administrations: a UN-recognised government in Tripoli to the west and an eastern-based government backed by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar, head of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA). Each is backed by foreign governments.

Over the past years, the country has seen devastating bouts of violence. The latest began in April 2019, when Hafter, who is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, launched an offensive seeking to capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support for the Tripoli administration with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/17/libyans-mark-2011-uprising-with-eyes-on-interim-government
 
This interim govt is only supposed to last till December when (yet ANOTHER) vote for a national government
is supposed to happen
But the Bengazi faction led by General Hiftar still has Libyan National Army (LNA) under his control
even after Erdogan's Syrian mercenaries stopped his advance on Tripoli 2 years ago.

Bottom line -what is the chance of new Tripoli government being recognized by Bengazi? none
But there is no other course of action unless Tripoli and Bengazi negotiate face to face.
Neither side wants that yet. ^ my comment
 
dukkha said:
This interim govt is only supposed to last till December when (yet ANOTHER) vote for a national government
is supposed to happen
But the Bengazi faction led by General Hiftar still has Libyan National Army (LNA) under his control
even after Erdogan's Syrian mercenaries stopped his advance on Tripoli 2 years ago.

Bottom line -what is the chance of new Tripoli government being recognized by Bengazi? none
But there is no other course of action unless Tripoli and Bengazi negotiate face to face.
Neither side wants that yet. ^ my comment
Click to expand...

Thanks Ever So Much Clinton Corp!
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Thanks Ever So Much Clinton Corp!
Click to expand...
"we came we saw he died" (Hillary)
But Susan Rice led the propaganda of Qadaffi troops using "Viagra rape" as a pretext to pressure
the U.N. imposed 'no fly' into total air war against Qadaffi forces..may they both rot for it
 
dukkha said:
"we came we saw he died" (Hillary)
But Susan Rice led the propaganda of Qadaffi troops using "Viagra rape" as a pretext to pressure
the U.N. imposed 'no fly' into total air war against Qadaffi forces..may they both rot for it
Click to expand...

Americans almost universally fail to understand other cultures of the world, which has a lot to do with why we keep failing.

Here is the really interesting thing though....Our Failed Intelligentia never apologizes for all of its mistakes.
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/mar/19/libya-no-fly-zone-live-updates#block-50
Overnight there has been heavy gunfire in Tripoli with reports of military facilities and fuel storage tanks hit.

4.58am: Sky News editor Tim Marshall has been discussing how the Mediterranean is filling up with ships, warplanes and other "military assets" ranged against the Gaddafi regime. He suggested that the overnight campaign of strikes has been mostly about taking down anti-aircraft capability so that the no-fly zone can be enforced and air strikes undertaken with less risk to the allies' aircraft.

He also says the coming day might see the allies pause in their assault and offer Gaddafi the chance to put in place a genuine ceasefire.

5.07am: Spotted this short video dug up by al-Jazeera of a cruise missile being launched from the USS Burke as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn.

Predictably enough, Russia has followed China in coming out to condemn the attacks on Libya - consistent with their general attitude towards any foreign intervention in another country. The African Union has also gone on record to call for an immediate halt to the attacks, according to a CNN report.

5.26am: Have been looking around for details of what bombs have been dropped where, and found this tweet from CBS.
Three U.S. B-2 stealth bombers dropped 40 bombs on a major Libyan airfieldless than a minute ago via TweetDeck
Click to expand...

-> (my comment) get it? <- read the fun coverage of a blog still up with hotlinks back then
https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/mar/19/libya-no-fly-zone-live-updates#block-50
 
I would like to point out to the very dim who do not already know this that the foreign policy brain trust completely failed with Libya.

You fucks do all understand this right?
 
Authorities in western Libya released 120 fighters from a rival eastern force on Wednesday, the latest move towards reconciliation in a UN-backed peace process aimed at ending years of violence.

The men were fighting for the 107th Brigade under the command of eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who in April 2019 launched an offensive to seize Tripoli from a unity government.

The fighters had been captured near the western city of Zawiya that same month.

On Wednesday, dressed in loose white outfits and matching skullcaps, they were released following a ceremony in Zawiya, 45 kilometres (30 miles) east of Tripoli.

The ceremony took place at a sports ground in Zawiya under heavy security.

In a speech, Abdallah al-Lafi, vice-president of the country's new presidential council, welcomed the move and called for further reconciliation and rebuilding.

"We must not pass on hatred and bitterness to our children," he said.

After a recitation from the Koran and the singing of the national anthem, the prisoners were released and reunited with their families amid loud ululations.

Libya has been ravaged by bloodshed since the fall and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed 2011 revolt.

An array of armed groups arose to fill the vacuum, and many coalesced around the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) or around Haftar, who backed an eastern administration.

The two camps, each supported by foreign powers, fought for more than a year before Haftar was forced to retreat.

In October they signed a truce, setting in motion a UN-led process that saw a new transitional government installed in February.

The deal had also led to the release of several dozen prisoners by January.

The new executive is charged with organising national elections set for December 2021.

- Foreign forces -

But while the advances in the peace process have been widely praised, the transitional administration faces a complex task -- not least due to the presence of foreign forces who backed the rival camps and have remained on Libyan soil.

Haftar received military support from the UAE and the shadowy Wagner Group, close to the Kremlin, while his rivals were backed by Turkey, whose drones were seen as critical in repelling Haftar's forces last year.

According to the UN, some 20,000 mercenaries and foreign fighters were still in Libya in early December. A January 23 deadline for their withdrawal passed without any sign of them leaving.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Security Council on Wednesday to give the world body's UN mission UNSMIL "a clear but flexible mandate, supported by additional resources" to support its ceasefire monitors, who would work alongside Libyan observers from the rival camps.

Both Libyan camps have called for a monitoring mechanism led by Libyans themselves, and Guterres insisted in a December report that "the implementation of the ceasefire agreement must be Libyan-led and Libyan-owned".

But diplomats have voiced incredulity after the UN's Libya envoy said last week that as few as five UN officials may be deployed to monitor the truce.

With some 20,000 foreign fighters still in the country, such a mission is a "pretty big task and probably takes more than a few UN ceasefire monitors," one ambassador to the UN told AFP, asking not to be named.

There also remains the difficult question of crimes committed during the war.

Human Rights Watch has said more than 300 people had been abducted or reported missing in Tarhuna, used by Haftar's forces as a major staging point for his offensive on Tripoli.

Mass graves were later discovered in the town which was run by the local Al-Kani militia.

The rights group's Libya researcher Hanan Salah tweeted Wednesday that "No one has been held to account yet for the crimes of abduction, disappearance, torture and unlawful killing of scores of people" in Tarhuna.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/libya-authorities-release-120-captured-154746652.html
 
Gunmen storm hotel used as Presidential Council HQ
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/8/libya-gunmen-storm-hotel-used-as-presidential-council-hq
The armed men were seen late on Friday at the entrance of the Hotel Corinthia in the heart of the capital Tripoli, according to images on social media. Local press labelled them “militias”.

~~
2015
Ten killed as gunmen storm luxury hotel in Libyan capital
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...kill-guards-take-hostages-luxuy-hotel-tripoli
Authorities say five foreigners, including American, and five guards dead in attack on Corinthia hotel claimed by Tripoli branch of Islamic State

d1d3e4a13a7b7bc171fcaad6156440dc506492ed-1422348918-54c75276-620x348.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top