cancel2 2022
Canceled
Libya is nothing like Syria, a few thousand have died there compared to hundreds of thousands in Syria.
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Libya News and Interests
- Thread starter anatta
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since 2011 Libyan deaths are probably in the 60k+ range.
But the destruction is wide spread and catastrophic
Syria is different because it's sectarian violence -and jihadist from around the world come there.
Plus it has religious importance for Islam - much more for the salafist.
But Libya is a constant inability to self govern, car bombs now - and an ISIS presence.
I guess you could call it a mini-Syria
NATO likely to provide security support to the UN backed General National Council
Almost unnoticed a development took place at the end of the summit, on Libya, which is likely to have great resonance in relations between Nato, the US and Russia, Trump and Putin. Nato's secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that the alliance is likely to provide security support to the Libyan government of Fayez al-Sarraj.
Special forces of Western countries are already in action in Libya - the US has carried out airstrikes on Isis and other Islamist terrorists. But any formal deployment of forces by Nato faces problems. There is the danger of mission creep: being sucked into a violent and semi-anarchic quagmire, as well as the fact that the Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, which Nato is supposed to prop up, has very little territory and very little power.
he man who claims to wield real power - an aspiring new Gaddafi according to his enemies - is former general Khalifa Haftar with his force the Libyan National Army (LNA). He has the backing of Egypt and the UAE whose warplanes have carried out airstrikes in his support. Now, crucially, he has the support of a Russia expanding its influence across the Middle-East and North Africa.
General Haftar went to Moscow twice last year to seek help and then turned up on board the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as it was returning from waters off the coast of Syria where it had been part of the blitzkrieg enabling Bashar al-Assad to recapture Aleppo. He met the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, on board, to discuss, according to the Kremlin, "fighting international terrorist groups in the Middle East."
The US under Barack Obama had refused to deal with General Haftar but the Libyan commander and his backers, the parliament in Benghazi, one of the country's three governments, say they are also now optimistic that they will get the support of the Trump administration
A bdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his victory and the Egyptian president has been pressing Washington to switch its support to General Haftar. And, according to reports, members of the Trump team have started discussing the Haftar option. An American official in Brussels commented: "The Trump people may well think Libya would be a less sensitive theatre to cooperate with the Russians on counter-terrorism than Syria: the common conception is that Libya is a mess - we have Daesh [Isis] running around there and if this guy Haftar is being effective, then maybe he is the man."
Leon Panetta warned that "legitimate questions about whether, if present trends continue, Nato will again be able to sustain the kind of operations we have seen in Libya without the US taking on even more of the burden."
The "trends" that Panetta was talking about was most of Nato not paying their way for the defence of the alliance. American officials pointed out that Mattis was having to make the same point again, much more forcefully, this week, six years later.
The issue of money is not something bothering General Haftar at the moment. Russia has printed 4bn Libyan Dinars (around $2.8bn) on contract to the Libyan Central Bank which it has transferred it to his backers in Benghazi. Haftar now claims that Moscow will enable him to spend the money legitimately by helping to lift the UN arms embargo in place since 2011. This allows only the UN-backed GNA administration in Tripoli to bring in weapons with the approval of the UN Security Council Committee.
General Haftar does not lack weapons: a steady, illicit flow comes from the Arab states backing him and his LNA is undoubtedly the most effective non-Islamist force in the country at present. Nato and the EU had been trying to get the general to come to an agreement with al-Sarraj's General National Council, namely that he retains military command while accepting the civilian administration. Boris Johnson wished earlier this month that "Gen Haftar can be persuaded that he can be a big part of the future of Libya but without necessarily having to be a new jefe."
It looks increasingly likely that what happens in Libya, as in so much else in the tide of current geopolitics, is likely to be decided by how relations evolve between Trump and Putin; the forming of the new order, with other international players increasingly on the sideline.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...tins-new-world-order/articleshow/57232557.cms
Almost unnoticed a development took place at the end of the summit, on Libya, which is likely to have great resonance in relations between Nato, the US and Russia, Trump and Putin. Nato's secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that the alliance is likely to provide security support to the Libyan government of Fayez al-Sarraj.
Libya has, of course, become a source of huge trouble for Europe since David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy instigated Nato's military intervention and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi six years ago. It is the main conduit for hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean and also the lawless place where Isis has established its main base for carrying out attacks in the Maghreb.
Special forces of Western countries are already in action in Libya - the US has carried out airstrikes on Isis and other Islamist terrorists. But any formal deployment of forces by Nato faces problems. There is the danger of mission creep: being sucked into a violent and semi-anarchic quagmire, as well as the fact that the Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, which Nato is supposed to prop up, has very little territory and very little power.
he man who claims to wield real power - an aspiring new Gaddafi according to his enemies - is former general Khalifa Haftar with his force the Libyan National Army (LNA). He has the backing of Egypt and the UAE whose warplanes have carried out airstrikes in his support. Now, crucially, he has the support of a Russia expanding its influence across the Middle-East and North Africa.
General Haftar went to Moscow twice last year to seek help and then turned up on board the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as it was returning from waters off the coast of Syria where it had been part of the blitzkrieg enabling Bashar al-Assad to recapture Aleppo. He met the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, on board, to discuss, according to the Kremlin, "fighting international terrorist groups in the Middle East."
The US under Barack Obama had refused to deal with General Haftar but the Libyan commander and his backers, the parliament in Benghazi, one of the country's three governments, say they are also now optimistic that they will get the support of the Trump administration
A bdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his victory and the Egyptian president has been pressing Washington to switch its support to General Haftar. And, according to reports, members of the Trump team have started discussing the Haftar option. An American official in Brussels commented: "The Trump people may well think Libya would be a less sensitive theatre to cooperate with the Russians on counter-terrorism than Syria: the common conception is that Libya is a mess - we have Daesh [Isis] running around there and if this guy Haftar is being effective, then maybe he is the man."
Leon Panetta warned that "legitimate questions about whether, if present trends continue, Nato will again be able to sustain the kind of operations we have seen in Libya without the US taking on even more of the burden."
The "trends" that Panetta was talking about was most of Nato not paying their way for the defence of the alliance. American officials pointed out that Mattis was having to make the same point again, much more forcefully, this week, six years later.
The issue of money is not something bothering General Haftar at the moment. Russia has printed 4bn Libyan Dinars (around $2.8bn) on contract to the Libyan Central Bank which it has transferred it to his backers in Benghazi. Haftar now claims that Moscow will enable him to spend the money legitimately by helping to lift the UN arms embargo in place since 2011. This allows only the UN-backed GNA administration in Tripoli to bring in weapons with the approval of the UN Security Council Committee.
General Haftar does not lack weapons: a steady, illicit flow comes from the Arab states backing him and his LNA is undoubtedly the most effective non-Islamist force in the country at present. Nato and the EU had been trying to get the general to come to an agreement with al-Sarraj's General National Council, namely that he retains military command while accepting the civilian administration. Boris Johnson wished earlier this month that "Gen Haftar can be persuaded that he can be a big part of the future of Libya but without necessarily having to be a new jefe."
It looks increasingly likely that what happens in Libya, as in so much else in the tide of current geopolitics, is likely to be decided by how relations evolve between Trump and Putin; the forming of the new order, with other international players increasingly on the sideline.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...tins-new-world-order/articleshow/57232557.cms
Libya is becoming a magnet for African jihadis, lured into its wilderness by the collapse of central authority and the rise of the Islamic State. The terror group swiftly ventured into Libya to set up Salafi rule and to use the war-torn country to reach not only the shores of Europe but to Libya’s neighbors: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Niger and Sudan.
ISIS already enjoys an affiliate in sub-Saharan Africa, with the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram pledging allegiance to the ISIS caliphate in March 2015. ISIS smuggles Nato arms from the Libyan battlefield to another ISIS-affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has also pledged loyalty to the self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In Libya itself, ISIS goes by the name Majlis Shura Shabab al-Islam (MSSI) — or the Shura Council of Muslim Youth. Established in western Libya back April 2014, it took the oath to al-Baghdadi in June, and one year later boasted of 800 fighters. Of that number 300 are Libyan militants who fought with ISIS, first in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zour and then in Mosul, and returned home to pay service to the jihadi project in their own country.
Videos appeared online of machine-gun toting Libyan jihadis dressed in beige fatigues taking mannequins from shop windows and shutting hairdressers
In November 2014, MSSI took over the Libyan city of Darna, 240 kilometers east of Benghazi, officially annexing it to ISIS’s Islamic State and renaming it the Vilayet of Darna — Vilayet being an old term describing one of the Ottoman Caliphate’s major administrative regions.
Videos appeared online of machine-gun toting Libyan jihadis dressed in beige fatigues taking mannequins from shop windows and shutting hairdressers, forcing women to wear the niqab from head to toe. MSSI now controls schools, mosque pulpits and the city’s local radio. A police force was created and charged with monitoring public vice.
Al-Baghdadi refused to send any weapons or money to his Libyan proxies, advising them to make money from trafficking, kidnapping and other illegal means, just as they did in Syria. Instead he sent them two of his top aides to advise on how to run the state — the Iraqi, Abu Nabil al-Anbari, and Abu Baraa al-Azdi, a Saudi. Both were long-time ISIS members who had spent time with the caliph at a US jail in Camp Bucca in Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border.
Many of the jihadis operating in Libya today are Yemeni and Tunisian veterans of the wars in Iraq and Syria. Foreign fighters in Libya now number around 400 although ISIS claims that it is much higher. Some are former Gaddafi supporters who went underground after their leader’s death in October 2011, similar to the way ex-officers in Saddam’s army sided with the jihadis after their president’s fall in 2003.
As it does in Syria and Iraq, ISIS feeds off the chaos and rules by striking fear into the hearts of locals. In August 2014, they executed an Egyptian citizen at a Libyan football stadium beneath the black flag of ISIS. In January 2015, they attacked the luxury Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, killing four foreigners — including an American contractor — and four Libyans.
gunmen who attacked the Corinthia Hotel blew themselves up after killing 9 people, including four foreigners.
++
The following month, they killed nine Libyan guards in an attack on an oil field, and a month later laid claim to a car bomb that went off near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tripoli. They also seized nine foreigners at the al-Ghani Oilfield, and by May 2015 had taken control of Sirte International Airport.
he epitome of ISIS atrocities in Libya was the abduction and execution of 21 Egyptian Copts, all working as laborers in Sirte, the birthplace of Gaddafi on the south coast of the Gulf of Sidra halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi. They were beheaded, kneeling in their orange jumpsuits along the Sirte shoreline. The backdrop was no accident — ISIS wanted the world to see that this wasn’t the deserts of Iraq and Syria but the shores of the Mediterranean facing Europe; ISIS was inching closer to new territory. The video of the mass execution was posted on the group’s media channels. In it, one terrorist pointed to the ocean — to nearby Italy — threatening the now famous: “We will conquer Rome!”
General Haftar has welcomed Trump’s election, hoping to do business with the new US president. For his part, Trump has promised to strike at ISIS across the world and might find a natural ally in the 75-year-old Libyan strongman.
http://www.atimes.com/article/isis-thriving-libya-6-years-revolt-gaddafi/
The Libyan Army retook Sirte from ISIS last December, and hopes to repeat the task elsewhere, with aid from the United States. Until that happens, the country will remain a failed state on every single level of governance, giving Libyans little reason to celebrate the sixth anniversary of what was supposed to be a glorious revolution against Muammar al-Gaddafi.
Corinthia Hotel Bombing- Tripoli Jan 2015
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/n...li_corinthia_all_staff_evacuated#.WKnGOn-MFSM
The greatest impact of President Donald Trump’s expected designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a radical organisation will be felt in Libya, drastically changing the balance of power in the country’s civil war in favour of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar feels power on his terms is within his grasp. The real reason behind his anti GNA stance is due to what he claims are former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) extremists and Muslim Brotherhood members that dominate it.
Released: Part of a group of 110 jailed Libyan Islamic Fighting Group members walk off after being released from the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli - (Part of the Qaddafi attempt to quell "days of Rage" protests in 2011)
The Brotherhood is the really the key component of the failing Govenrment of National Accord (GNA), set up in Tripoli with United Nations support, but unable to wrest control of the city from warring militias.
Haftar, allied to a rival eastern government, is the GNA’s key rival, and has made no secret of labelling its Brotherhood members “terrorists.”
The Field Marshall's powerful Libyan National Army is already battling militias in Benghazi, and successful military campaigns last year have left it controlling two thirds of Libya’s vast oil production and much of the country.
Whereas the Obama administration viewed the Brotherhood as a positive non-violent expression of Islamism, Trump officials view it in the same category as Al Qaeda and IS.
Senior Officials in the new administration say a decision to designate it a terrorist organisation was delayed last week, but may be enacted later this month.
Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon has long made combatting the Brotherhood his cause celebre.
Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is of the same mind, using his January confirmation hearing to equate Brotherhood with Al Qaeda:
Brotherhood supporters insist the organisation, which spans many sub groups across the Muslim world, is committed to non-violence.
The Brotherhood traces its roots to formation in Egypt in 1928.
Senior sources inside the Trump administration state there is a concern about offending Qatar and or targeting all Muslim Brotherhood affiliates, such as CAIR & Turkey's Government AKP party and Tunisia’s Muslim Brotherhood allied Enhahda party.
Equally though, Pentagon officials fear being left behind in Libya, where Russia has already moved to back Haftar. Last month it invited him aboard it aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, for a phone call with defence minister Sergei Shoigu about possible military cooperation.
US Defence officials fear Russia may, in the words of one officer, “Do a Syria on us” in Libya:
In Syria, Russian support for Bashar Al Assad has undone years of US diplomacy, handing the dictator the upper hand. Russian support for Haftar may do the same thing if, as the general insists, he is successful in capturing Tripoli soon.
America’s allies are already scrambling to embrace Haftar. France admitted last July that it has deployed special forces to help him uproot terrorists in Benghazi - the same terrorists Washington accuses of killing US ambssador Chris Stevens in the city in 2012.
And last week Britain’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson said Hafter must be part of any unity administration: “That’s the crucial question: how to make sure that Haftar is in some way integrated into the government of Libya.”
The Brotherhood is itself struggling to win support across the Arab World. Its government was removed in a popular coup by the Egyptian army in 2013 and Brotherhood candidates were crushed in Libyan elections the following year.
A terrorist designation would fall neatly into Trump’s ambition to form a working relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has also announced combatting terrorism is top of his agenda.
Making common cause, while also agreeing spheres of influence in both Europe and the Middle East are top of the agenda of a mooted summit meeting between the two men, a meeting that, in the words of one Trump advisor “Just can’t come soon enough" following the left over Obama-ites sabotage of Gen. Flynn.
http://timesofoman.com/article/103145/Opinion/Columnist/Libya's-final-hours
Haftar feels power on his terms is within his grasp. The real reason behind his anti GNA stance is due to what he claims are former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) extremists and Muslim Brotherhood members that dominate it.
Released: Part of a group of 110 jailed Libyan Islamic Fighting Group members walk off after being released from the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli - (Part of the Qaddafi attempt to quell "days of Rage" protests in 2011)
The Brotherhood is the really the key component of the failing Govenrment of National Accord (GNA), set up in Tripoli with United Nations support, but unable to wrest control of the city from warring militias.
Haftar, allied to a rival eastern government, is the GNA’s key rival, and has made no secret of labelling its Brotherhood members “terrorists.”
The Field Marshall's powerful Libyan National Army is already battling militias in Benghazi, and successful military campaigns last year have left it controlling two thirds of Libya’s vast oil production and much of the country.
Whereas the Obama administration viewed the Brotherhood as a positive non-violent expression of Islamism, Trump officials view it in the same category as Al Qaeda and IS.
Senior Officials in the new administration say a decision to designate it a terrorist organisation was delayed last week, but may be enacted later this month.
Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon has long made combatting the Brotherhood his cause celebre.
Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is of the same mind, using his January confirmation hearing to equate Brotherhood with Al Qaeda:
While Trump mulls a terrorist designation through presidential order, Senator Ted Cruz has reintroduced a congressional bill, shelved two years ago, to enact the same thing.
Brotherhood supporters insist the organisation, which spans many sub groups across the Muslim world, is committed to non-violence.
The Brotherhood traces its roots to formation in Egypt in 1928.
Senior sources inside the Trump administration state there is a concern about offending Qatar and or targeting all Muslim Brotherhood affiliates, such as CAIR & Turkey's Government AKP party and Tunisia’s Muslim Brotherhood allied Enhahda party.
Equally though, Pentagon officials fear being left behind in Libya, where Russia has already moved to back Haftar. Last month it invited him aboard it aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, for a phone call with defence minister Sergei Shoigu about possible military cooperation.
US Defence officials fear Russia may, in the words of one officer, “Do a Syria on us” in Libya:
In Syria, Russian support for Bashar Al Assad has undone years of US diplomacy, handing the dictator the upper hand. Russian support for Haftar may do the same thing if, as the general insists, he is successful in capturing Tripoli soon.
America’s allies are already scrambling to embrace Haftar. France admitted last July that it has deployed special forces to help him uproot terrorists in Benghazi - the same terrorists Washington accuses of killing US ambssador Chris Stevens in the city in 2012.
And last week Britain’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson said Hafter must be part of any unity administration: “That’s the crucial question: how to make sure that Haftar is in some way integrated into the government of Libya.”
The Brotherhood is itself struggling to win support across the Arab World. Its government was removed in a popular coup by the Egyptian army in 2013 and Brotherhood candidates were crushed in Libyan elections the following year.
A terrorist designation would fall neatly into Trump’s ambition to form a working relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has also announced combatting terrorism is top of his agenda.
Making common cause, while also agreeing spheres of influence in both Europe and the Middle East are top of the agenda of a mooted summit meeting between the two men, a meeting that, in the words of one Trump advisor “Just can’t come soon enough" following the left over Obama-ites sabotage of Gen. Flynn.
http://timesofoman.com/article/103145/Opinion/Columnist/Libya's-final-hours
A fighter, supporter of the Libyan Government of National Accord, uses a dummy to catch the attention of Islamic State group snipers at the frontline in Sirte on September 22, 2016.
members of the forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) gather in the coastal city of Sirte, east of the capital Tripoli, during their military operation to clear the Islamic State (IS) group's jihadists from the city, on Oct. 14, 2016
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Minister of Truth
Practically Perfect
Does this mean kicking the Jews out of the West Bank?
Convoy carrying head of Libya's U.N.-backed government shot at in Tripoli
A convoy carrying the prime minister of Libya's U.N.-backed government and the heads of an allied parliament and presidential guard came under fire in Tripoli on Monday, but none of the three were harmed, officials said.
A spokesman for the U.N.-backed government, Ashraf Tulty, said the motorcade had been hit by shooting as it passed through Tripoli's Abu Salim district. It was unclear who was behind the shooting or whether it was a targeted attack, he said.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/worl...ibyas-unbacked-government-shot-at-in-tripoli/
*I underlined the back-story..Not even the GNA is unified,and the head of the old GNC is still in opposition*
A convoy carrying the prime minister of Libya's U.N.-backed government and the heads of an allied parliament and presidential guard came under fire in Tripoli on Monday, but none of the three were harmed, officials said.
A spokesman for the U.N.-backed government, Ashraf Tulty, said the motorcade had been hit by shooting as it passed through Tripoli's Abu Salim district. It was unclear who was behind the shooting or whether it was a targeted attack, he said.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/worl...ibyas-unbacked-government-shot-at-in-tripoli/
*I underlined the back-story..Not even the GNA is unified,and the head of the old GNC is still in opposition*
The bodies of dozens of African migrants have washed ashore in the western Libyan city of Zawiya, humanitarian officials said.
At least 74 bodies were found in Zawiya in the latest tragedy at sea as migrant deaths reach record levels along the Libya-Italy smuggling route.
Mohammed al-Misrati, a spokesman for Libya’s Red Crescent, said the bodies were found on Monday morning and humanitarian workers retrieved them.
He said a torn rubber boat was found nearby and he expected more bodies to surface as such boats usually carry up to 120 people.
2/21/17
GENEVA —
The trial in Libya of Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of former strongman Moammar Gadhafi and 36 other members of his regime, failed to live up to international standards of fairness, a United Nations report said Tuesday.
The trial was a major effort by the Libyan judiciary to hold people accountable for crimes, including grave violations of human rights during the 2011 revolution, which toppled former dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
But in the end, the U.N. report determined the trial did not do what it was meant to do. The report calls the trial procedure flawed and unfair. For example, the report says defendants were held incommunicado for prolonged periods and allegedly were subjected to torture — charges that were never investigated.
The report says lawyers complained they were unable to meet their clients in private and had difficulty accessing documents. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights' representative in Libya, Claudio Cordone, says each defendant was limited to two witnesses.
Speaking by telephone from Doha, he says the trial missed the opportunity to provide an historical record of the conduct of the defendants and the regime during the revolution.
"Had the evidence been produced in court and given, in particular, that the trial was broadcast live — which is actually a welcome development — it would have given an opportunity for Libyans and everybody else to hear what exactly had happened or what, at least, these people were being accused of. But that, unfortunately, did not take place," Cordone said.
Libya does not allow for a full appeal, but only cassation — that is, a review of certain points of law. Nine of the defendants were given the death penalty, including Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who was tried in absentia and sentenced in July 2015.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libya's former stongman Moammar Gadhafi, is shown inside a courtroom cage, Zintan, Sept. 19, 2013.
*the irony abounds*
The 'humanitarian warriors' of the UN call current trials "unfair" -after assassinating his father.
Hillary got her democracy ..huh..
The trial in Libya of Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of former strongman Moammar Gadhafi and 36 other members of his regime, failed to live up to international standards of fairness, a United Nations report said Tuesday.
The trial was a major effort by the Libyan judiciary to hold people accountable for crimes, including grave violations of human rights during the 2011 revolution, which toppled former dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
But in the end, the U.N. report determined the trial did not do what it was meant to do. The report calls the trial procedure flawed and unfair. For example, the report says defendants were held incommunicado for prolonged periods and allegedly were subjected to torture — charges that were never investigated.
The report says lawyers complained they were unable to meet their clients in private and had difficulty accessing documents. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights' representative in Libya, Claudio Cordone, says each defendant was limited to two witnesses.
Speaking by telephone from Doha, he says the trial missed the opportunity to provide an historical record of the conduct of the defendants and the regime during the revolution.
"Had the evidence been produced in court and given, in particular, that the trial was broadcast live — which is actually a welcome development — it would have given an opportunity for Libyans and everybody else to hear what exactly had happened or what, at least, these people were being accused of. But that, unfortunately, did not take place," Cordone said.
Libya does not allow for a full appeal, but only cassation — that is, a review of certain points of law. Nine of the defendants were given the death penalty, including Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who was tried in absentia and sentenced in July 2015.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libya's former stongman Moammar Gadhafi, is shown inside a courtroom cage, Zintan, Sept. 19, 2013.
*the irony abounds*
The 'humanitarian warriors' of the UN call current trials "unfair" -after assassinating his father.
Hillary got her democracy ..huh..
Libyans are living in fear of the breakout of a war on oil resources; especially as general Khalifa Haftar and his army have seized control over the country's Oil Crescent, which represents 80 percent of its resources.
He warned of an upcoming war between Haftar's supporters in east and south of Libya and other Islamic militias west of the country.
Al-Tabeeb noted that neighboring countries like Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt are aware of such danger, presenting a political initiative to resolve the tense situation.
Meanwhile, political analyst Mohammad Bo Oud said that Libyan parties started realizing the disastrous situation in the country, adding that they were now seeking to reach a political agreement to end the conflict.
He said that Libya is facing a severe economic collapse as banks lost liquidity and people are standing in long lines to refuel their vehicles.
Long lines for gas have become a common sight in Benghazi.
He warned of an upcoming war between Haftar's supporters in east and south of Libya and other Islamic militias west of the country.
Al-Tabeeb noted that neighboring countries like Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt are aware of such danger, presenting a political initiative to resolve the tense situation.
Meanwhile, political analyst Mohammad Bo Oud said that Libyan parties started realizing the disastrous situation in the country, adding that they were now seeking to reach a political agreement to end the conflict.
He said that Libya is facing a severe economic collapse as banks lost liquidity and people are standing in long lines to refuel their vehicles.
Long lines for gas have become a common sight in Benghazi.
It’s almost 8:00 pm, sitting home with no power, no gas in my car, and no cooking gas to eat heated food.
The only things that keep my body warm are the four layers of clothes I wear right now. I had exactly 40 percent of battery in my laptop, which motivated me to write this post and to make myself busy — trying to think free of the sounds of clashes and explosions outside
I have to walk most of the mornings to the adjacent bakery to get fresh bread. Getting bread in the morning was as easy as getting a cup of coffee from the nearest coffee shop till not very long ago. But now, I have to stand in lines for 30 to 45 minutes to get it. Why is that happening? According to a government spokesman, there is a shortage of flour.
The reason for the shortage is Libya’s financial situation that prevents the government from importing flours more regularly.
Also most of the flour stocks are located in Benghazi’s neighborhoods that have turned into war zone, making distribution harder. Bread is the main staple food for 80 percent of Libyan population. It’s like Mexican people depend on tortilla, or Asians on rice. In other wards, I have little choice but to get bread in the morning to eat something during the day.
Bengazi bakery bread lines
Food shortage is not the only issue afflicting Benghazi residents. The city’s health delivery system is in crisis too. Many hospitals, located in the war zone, have closed. Those still open, suffer from medical supplies shortage. The reasons are the same as for the food shortages. It’s not the only issue.
Functioning hospitals also suffer from staff shortages. Most of the medical staff in the city hospitals are foreigners and have fled because of the unrest.
In addition, many of Libyan medical staff also had to leave Benghazi as their homes are located in the war zone. This situation has become a nightmare for the residents, especially those who need regular healthcare.
The nephrology department at one such hospital, which offered dialysis services to kidney patients, was recently closed due to clashes in its vicinity, endangering the life of many patients who need regular dialysis.
Many Gas stations have also shut down, because of supply disruptions. If one gas station opens, I would wait in lines for no less than 5 hours to fill my car. I see people making BBQ while they are waiting to fill up their tanks. I spend my wait time reading books.
Gas Shortages started with the closing of the main commercial port in Benghazi due to clashes inside the port. Therefore, ships loaded with gas now have to go to Tobruk to offload their cargo and transport it to Benghazi.
The main problem is that Tobruk port cannot handle this amount of operation as it was designed to deal with particular number of ships. Production and supply disruptions are not just making the common Libyans’ life miserable.
Coupled with falling oil prices and instability, the situation is raising fears of a complete collapse of Libya’s economy.
Cooking gas has become a luxury in the last four months. It is impossible to get a compressed natural gas cylinder. Again, reasons are similar. Ships loaded with CNG have to dock at Tobruk port, which has limited capacity to handle this extra cargo for a big city such as Benghazi. Many Benghazi residents have been forced to use small electric stoves for cooking. But that does not keep us away from problems either due constant power outages.
Temperatures plummet during winter months in Benghazi, necessitating home heating. But gas shortages and power outages are adding to our miseries. We face frequent outages that could last from two hours to 48 hours.
Prices of daily-use items have also soared because of the port closure. All the goods now have to be shipped from other ports in Libya, resulting in extra transportation costs. In addition, the Libyan Dinar has also lost its value to dollar, increasing landing cost of imported goods. Price rises obviously force people to spend more, which means more visits to the banks.
Many banks within the city are closed due to the security issues. Only a few are open outside Benghazi. You can imagine when people go to get their money. Yes, again you have to stand in lines no less than two hours to withdraw money.
Schools are closed because of the precarious security environment. A few schools are open in areas where refugees families escaping war are residing. These families suffer as much or even more than an average Benghazi resident because besides facing food, fuel and power shortages, they are forced to live a difficult life away from their homes.
Children proudly display bread after their parents successfully purchased
I have became used to the sounds of clashes, gunfights, shelling and loud explosions. These horrors have became part of my life in the middle of a war. My biggest anxiety is to be hit by random gunshots or falling mortars while I move around. The other day, while I was home playing with my five-month old daughter, I heard huge explosions near my house. A mortar had fallen in front of my house. Fragmented pieces of metal and shrapnels seriously damaged my house. Thankfully no one was injured. This is the biggest fear of everyday life in a war zone.
http://viewsweek.com/viewsweek-exclusive/libyas-benghazi-war-zone/
The only things that keep my body warm are the four layers of clothes I wear right now. I had exactly 40 percent of battery in my laptop, which motivated me to write this post and to make myself busy — trying to think free of the sounds of clashes and explosions outside
I have to walk most of the mornings to the adjacent bakery to get fresh bread. Getting bread in the morning was as easy as getting a cup of coffee from the nearest coffee shop till not very long ago. But now, I have to stand in lines for 30 to 45 minutes to get it. Why is that happening? According to a government spokesman, there is a shortage of flour.
The reason for the shortage is Libya’s financial situation that prevents the government from importing flours more regularly.
Also most of the flour stocks are located in Benghazi’s neighborhoods that have turned into war zone, making distribution harder. Bread is the main staple food for 80 percent of Libyan population. It’s like Mexican people depend on tortilla, or Asians on rice. In other wards, I have little choice but to get bread in the morning to eat something during the day.
Bengazi bakery bread lines
Food shortage is not the only issue afflicting Benghazi residents. The city’s health delivery system is in crisis too. Many hospitals, located in the war zone, have closed. Those still open, suffer from medical supplies shortage. The reasons are the same as for the food shortages. It’s not the only issue.
Functioning hospitals also suffer from staff shortages. Most of the medical staff in the city hospitals are foreigners and have fled because of the unrest.
In addition, many of Libyan medical staff also had to leave Benghazi as their homes are located in the war zone. This situation has become a nightmare for the residents, especially those who need regular healthcare.
The nephrology department at one such hospital, which offered dialysis services to kidney patients, was recently closed due to clashes in its vicinity, endangering the life of many patients who need regular dialysis.
Many Gas stations have also shut down, because of supply disruptions. If one gas station opens, I would wait in lines for no less than 5 hours to fill my car. I see people making BBQ while they are waiting to fill up their tanks. I spend my wait time reading books.
Gas Shortages started with the closing of the main commercial port in Benghazi due to clashes inside the port. Therefore, ships loaded with gas now have to go to Tobruk to offload their cargo and transport it to Benghazi.
The main problem is that Tobruk port cannot handle this amount of operation as it was designed to deal with particular number of ships. Production and supply disruptions are not just making the common Libyans’ life miserable.
Coupled with falling oil prices and instability, the situation is raising fears of a complete collapse of Libya’s economy.
Cooking gas has become a luxury in the last four months. It is impossible to get a compressed natural gas cylinder. Again, reasons are similar. Ships loaded with CNG have to dock at Tobruk port, which has limited capacity to handle this extra cargo for a big city such as Benghazi. Many Benghazi residents have been forced to use small electric stoves for cooking. But that does not keep us away from problems either due constant power outages.
Temperatures plummet during winter months in Benghazi, necessitating home heating. But gas shortages and power outages are adding to our miseries. We face frequent outages that could last from two hours to 48 hours.
Prices of daily-use items have also soared because of the port closure. All the goods now have to be shipped from other ports in Libya, resulting in extra transportation costs. In addition, the Libyan Dinar has also lost its value to dollar, increasing landing cost of imported goods. Price rises obviously force people to spend more, which means more visits to the banks.
Many banks within the city are closed due to the security issues. Only a few are open outside Benghazi. You can imagine when people go to get their money. Yes, again you have to stand in lines no less than two hours to withdraw money.
Schools are closed because of the precarious security environment. A few schools are open in areas where refugees families escaping war are residing. These families suffer as much or even more than an average Benghazi resident because besides facing food, fuel and power shortages, they are forced to live a difficult life away from their homes.
Children proudly display bread after their parents successfully purchased
I have became used to the sounds of clashes, gunfights, shelling and loud explosions. These horrors have became part of my life in the middle of a war. My biggest anxiety is to be hit by random gunshots or falling mortars while I move around. The other day, while I was home playing with my five-month old daughter, I heard huge explosions near my house. A mortar had fallen in front of my house. Fragmented pieces of metal and shrapnels seriously damaged my house. Thankfully no one was injured. This is the biggest fear of everyday life in a war zone.
http://viewsweek.com/viewsweek-exclusive/libyas-benghazi-war-zone/
Libyan military authorities impose ban on travelers under 45
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...f735ee31334_story.html?utm_term=.2ed2a79fb7f5
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...f735ee31334_story.html?utm_term=.2ed2a79fb7f5
A car bomb exploded in Benghazi on Sunday, killing two Dignity Operation militants, local sources said.
he explosion comes just after 4 days from the assassination attempt of Chief of Benghazi Security Department, Salah Huwaidi by a car bomb.
Sources claimed the car bomb attack on Al-Saiqa convoy came in retaliation for Salah Huwaidi’s failed assassination attempt. Huwaidi’s Criminal Investigation Department accused Al-Saiqa affiliates of being behind the car bomb that targeted Huwaidi’s convoy 4 days ago.
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/car-bomb-targets-military-convoy-libya’s-benghazi
he explosion comes just after 4 days from the assassination attempt of Chief of Benghazi Security Department, Salah Huwaidi by a car bomb.
Sources claimed the car bomb attack on Al-Saiqa convoy came in retaliation for Salah Huwaidi’s failed assassination attempt. Huwaidi’s Criminal Investigation Department accused Al-Saiqa affiliates of being behind the car bomb that targeted Huwaidi’s convoy 4 days ago.
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/car-bomb-targets-military-convoy-libya’s-benghazi
Clashes broke out between rival factions in Abu Salim neighbourhood of Tripoli on Thursday, eyewitnesses said.
Al-Burki and Ganiewa armed brigades exchanged fire and random shelling in highly populated areas causing panic among local residents.
There are reports of casualties from both sides.
Tanks and trucks mounted with heavy machine guns were seen roaming the streets.
The Libyan Red Crescent warned local residents near the clashes zone to stay at home and keep away from windows while it tries to find a safe corridor for them.
The reason behind the clashes is not clear, but sources claimed it is related to exchange of abduction of fighters by both warring factions.
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/heavy-fighting-erupts-libyan-capital
Al-Burki and Ganiewa armed brigades exchanged fire and random shelling in highly populated areas causing panic among local residents.
There are reports of casualties from both sides.
Tanks and trucks mounted with heavy machine guns were seen roaming the streets.
The Libyan Red Crescent warned local residents near the clashes zone to stay at home and keep away from windows while it tries to find a safe corridor for them.
The reason behind the clashes is not clear, but sources claimed it is related to exchange of abduction of fighters by both warring factions.
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/heavy-fighting-erupts-libyan-capital
Libyan air traffic controllers are threatening nation-wide industrial action because of what they say is the refusal of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) to pay for new equipment and training.
In a statement issued today by the General Workers Union, the air controllers say that if the CBL continues to delay making the payments they will take industrial throughout Libya that will effectively close down the airspace and stop all local and international flights.
Air traffic controllers have been complaining about the lack of equipment and training for five years. It has resulted in a series of strikes. The last planned national strike, in October 2015, was averted at the last minute when the traffic controllers opted to suspend their planned action.
In a statement issued today by the General Workers Union, the air controllers say that if the CBL continues to delay making the payments they will take industrial throughout Libya that will effectively close down the airspace and stop all local and international flights.
Air traffic controllers have been complaining about the lack of equipment and training for five years. It has resulted in a series of strikes. The last planned national strike, in October 2015, was averted at the last minute when the traffic controllers opted to suspend their planned action.
A Libyan boy holds a portrait of General Khalifa Haftar amid celebrations in Benghazi last October
..multinational military operation involving British, French and US forces is coordinating air strikes in support of a renegade general battling Islamist militia groups from a base near Benghazi in eastern Libya, air traffic recordings obtained by Middle East Eye reveal.
The leaked tapes appear to confirm earlier reports suggesting the existence of an international operations centre that is helping General Khalifa Haftar in his campaign to gain control of eastern Libya from groups he has declared to be “extremists”.....
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/r...ern-support-renegade-libyan-general-185825787