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Sirte liberation from ISIS
Libya's rival governments agree path to peace: Reports
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/i...hrough-between-libyas-warring-sides-196239825
Libya's warring rival governments have reached an agreement to end months of fighting in a deal brokered by Italy, according to reports from all sides.
The Tobruk-based House of Representatives and the Tripoli-based, UN-backed government of national unity announced they had reached a deal that Tripoli said would "stop the bleeding as well as [ensure] the return of displaced persons".
The House of Representatives has refused to recognise the Tripoli government's authority since its inception in 2015, leading to conflict between the two government's military backers and ongoing chaos in the country.
Few details were released about what had been agreed in Rome, however, and the compromise will be tested this week when the two sides return to negotiations in the Italian capital.
Nevertheless, the initial agreement, presided over by the Italian foreign minister, Angelina Alfano, was described as having "an atmosphere of friendliness and openness".
A statement released by the unity government, led by Abdulrahman Swelhi, said there would be further consultations between the two sides this week to reach a consensus and "stop the bleeding as well as [ensure] the return of displaced persons”.
For more than a year, the House of Representatives, led by Ageela Saleh, had refused to approve a government of national accord based in Tripoli, until changes are made to the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA).
Political deadlock between both sides had led to a military standoff between forces in the west and east of the country.
The State Council said in a note: “We agreed to reach peaceful and fair solutions to outstanding issues,” a reference to the military and political role in any unity government of the military commander of forces in the east, Khalifa Haftar.
Middle East Eye earlier this year reported that Russia had intended to secretly back Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army in the east of the country.
Saleh, who has been president of the HoR since August 2014, has been subject to US and EU sanctions since 2016 for stalling and blocking political progress.
Donald Trump, who met the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, this week, does not intend to adopt a hands-on role in Libya, inadvertently ceding the future of Libya to north African countries, the EU, Russia, Egypt and some Gulf states.
UN-proposed government's PM to meet with Donald Trump in Washington
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/un-proposed-governments-pm-meet-donald-trump-washington
The Head of the UN-proposed government's Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sirraj, has been invited to visit the White House to meet with the US President, Donald Trump, next June reported The New Arab news website, citing sources from Al-Sirraj's government.
According to the sources, Al-Sirraj will also meet with the commander of the self-styled army in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, in Washington, in what seems to be a brokered meeting under the auspices of the US.
Earlier this year, Haftar had refused to meet with Al-Sirraj in Cairo, Egypt, as part of the then Egyptian initiative to sit the two men together to discuss the Libyan political conflict.
The New Arab also indicated that after meeting Trump, Al-Sirraj is going to meet with officials from the US administration to discuss the situation in Libya.
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/un-proposed-governments-pm-meet-donald-trump-washington
The Head of the UN-proposed government's Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sirraj, has been invited to visit the White House to meet with the US President, Donald Trump, next June reported The New Arab news website, citing sources from Al-Sirraj's government.
According to the sources, Al-Sirraj will also meet with the commander of the self-styled army in eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, in Washington, in what seems to be a brokered meeting under the auspices of the US.
Earlier this year, Haftar had refused to meet with Al-Sirraj in Cairo, Egypt, as part of the then Egyptian initiative to sit the two men together to discuss the Libyan political conflict.
The New Arab also indicated that after meeting Trump, Al-Sirraj is going to meet with officials from the US administration to discuss the situation in Libya.
Derna throws an IS defeat anniversary celebration
https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/derna-throws-defeat-anniversary-celebration
After months of neck-to-neck fight with IS diehards in Derna, the city's Shura Council fighters managed to uproot the terrorists in April 2016.
Libya's Black Market Foreign Currency Exchange:
Libya Central Bank to Intervene in ‘War’ on Dinar in Coming Days
Oil export disruptions have cost Libya $160 billion since 2013
Many depositors have lost confidence in the banking sector
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/...k-to-intervene-in-war-on-dinar-in-coming-days
Libya’s central bank will intervene “intensively” to defend the country’s currency, the Tripoli-based governor said Sunday, as officials struggle to rein in a rampant black market and revive an economy in shambles after years of war.
Officials have described the financial sector as verging on collapse.
Libya has Africa’s largest proven crude reserves. But disruptions in oil exports, the country’s main source of revenue, have cost the country $160 billion since 2013, affecting not only cash reserves but also the value of the dinar, Al-Kabeer said. Rival governments and civil war have devastated confidence in the banking sector and left businesses unable to operate.
That has spawned a vibrant black market in which the currency is trading at about 9 or 10 dinars to the dollar, compared to the official rate of 1.4 to the dollar.
Liquidity circulating outside the banking industry has surged to about 30 billion dinars, or nearly 70 percent of the total, compared to 9 percent in 2010, al-Kabeer said.
Al-Kabeer didn’t outline what steps the regulator would take, but said solutions to the country’s problems require bridging the political divisions in government and uniting key state institutions such as the National Oil Corp., which oversees the country’s oil reserves He also called for curbing public spending, reviving the private sector and boosting growth and investment opportunities.
Uniting the nation has been an elusive task in the post-Qaddafi era. The central bank itself, like the National Oil Corp., has two chains of command, with al-Kabeer heading it in Tripoli and another command headed by a former deputy operating in the east.
Libya: From Misrata to Tripoli, a first-hand account from Dr Tankred Stoebe
Misrata
Misrata is steeped in history. Strategically located on the Mediterranean Sea, the city is known as much for its pride and independence as for its traders, smugglers, and pirates. Misrata is a sandy and dusty but bustling desert city that was subjected to heavy fighting between February and May 2011. Economically and militarily powerful, its hospitals are well-equipped and its health system better organised than those in the east. Compared to Benghazi and Tripoli, Misrata is for now relatively safe so, this was where we decided to set up base.
Misrata buildings damaged by years of civil war
Between Misrata and Tripoli
Living conditions and hygiene are truly appalling in the detention centre in a small town halfway between Misrata and Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Intended for 400 refugees, there were only 43 detainees, 39 of them women from Egypt, Guinea, Niger or Nigeria who’d been there for a month with no contact from the outside world. Most come from Nigeria, and told me their homes had been bombed. The Libyan coastguard intercepted their inflatable dinghy near the Mediterranean coast and they were sent to the detention centre.
After being provided with a special permit and a police escort we managed to enter the coastal town. It was reduced to rubble; not one building has been left intact. A deathly silence hangs over the town.
Sirte
We went to Ibn Sina hospital.
Relatively unscathed by the bombs, it had been ransacked. Abandoned over a year ago, the hospital was once a modern, 350-bed facility equipped with several operating theatres, an intensive care unit, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a cardiac catheterisation laboratory, and 20 practically new dialysis machines.
Sirte’s main hospital, the Ibn Sina, is to reopen next week following extensive repairs to damage caused by the fighting last year as the so-called Islamic State (IS) was ousted from the town.
Last week a medical team carried out a three-day deep clean of much of the hospital including its intensive care, surgical and neonatal departments. Sirte has been given $7.6 million to rebuild its hospital.
Last week the UN handed over the keys to ten ambulances intended for Sirte to Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj.
Following his release two weeks ago, Sirte’s mayor Mukhtar Al-Madani has been busy checking on the town’s rebuilding. He inspected the University of Sirte yesterday, ahead of its planned reopening on 30 April.
Unfortunately, it is not all good news from the town. There continues to be a danger from unexploded ordinance and there is still some looting going on. Last night thieves stole more than a kilometre of electrical copper cabling which plunged a local farm in to darkness.However Sirte police say they caught two suspects with some cables and they are questioning them in Misrata.
Misrata
Misrata is steeped in history. Strategically located on the Mediterranean Sea, the city is known as much for its pride and independence as for its traders, smugglers, and pirates. Misrata is a sandy and dusty but bustling desert city that was subjected to heavy fighting between February and May 2011. Economically and militarily powerful, its hospitals are well-equipped and its health system better organised than those in the east. Compared to Benghazi and Tripoli, Misrata is for now relatively safe so, this was where we decided to set up base.
Misrata buildings damaged by years of civil war
Between Misrata and Tripoli
Living conditions and hygiene are truly appalling in the detention centre in a small town halfway between Misrata and Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Intended for 400 refugees, there were only 43 detainees, 39 of them women from Egypt, Guinea, Niger or Nigeria who’d been there for a month with no contact from the outside world. Most come from Nigeria, and told me their homes had been bombed. The Libyan coastguard intercepted their inflatable dinghy near the Mediterranean coast and they were sent to the detention centre.
After being provided with a special permit and a police escort we managed to enter the coastal town. It was reduced to rubble; not one building has been left intact. A deathly silence hangs over the town.
Sirte
We went to Ibn Sina hospital.
Relatively unscathed by the bombs, it had been ransacked. Abandoned over a year ago, the hospital was once a modern, 350-bed facility equipped with several operating theatres, an intensive care unit, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a cardiac catheterisation laboratory, and 20 practically new dialysis machines.
Sirte’s main hospital, the Ibn Sina, is to reopen next week following extensive repairs to damage caused by the fighting last year as the so-called Islamic State (IS) was ousted from the town.
Last week a medical team carried out a three-day deep clean of much of the hospital including its intensive care, surgical and neonatal departments. Sirte has been given $7.6 million to rebuild its hospital.
Last week the UN handed over the keys to ten ambulances intended for Sirte to Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj.
Following his release two weeks ago, Sirte’s mayor Mukhtar Al-Madani has been busy checking on the town’s rebuilding. He inspected the University of Sirte yesterday, ahead of its planned reopening on 30 April.
Unfortunately, it is not all good news from the town. There continues to be a danger from unexploded ordinance and there is still some looting going on. Last night thieves stole more than a kilometre of electrical copper cabling which plunged a local farm in to darkness.However Sirte police say they caught two suspects with some cables and they are questioning them in Misrata.
Dignity gunmen vandalize Benghazi Medical Center
stock photo -Benghazi Medical Center
Bengazi Medical Center bomb December 2016
http://www.libyanexpress.com/benghazi-medical-center-rocked-by-blasts/
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relatives, activists, and local journalists told Human Rights Watch by phone that dozens of civilians unexpectedly fled the besieged Ganfouda neighborhood in the eastern city of Benghazi on March 18, 2017, after a nearly two-year stand-off between LNA forces and fighters of the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC),
a coalition of armed groups opposing the LNA.
About half of the civilians, some accompanied by BRSC fighters, fled to al-Sabri and Souq Elhout neighborhoods in downtown Benghazi, which remain under BRSC control. LNA fighters intercepted about seven families after one of their cars broke down and attacked and killed some of them and arrested others, the relatives said.
Human Rights Watch reviewed videos and photos shared by family members of victims, local journalists, and activists that purport to show bodies of BRSC fighters in Benghazi that LNA fighters allegedly desecrated and mutilated during or after the March 18 evacuation of Ganfouda residents.
n a letter sent to Hiftar on March 8, 2017, Human Rights Watch raised concerns for the safety of Ganfouda residents trapped by the fighting and said that LNA leaders should ensure safe passage for civilians and unimpeded delivery of aid
A member of the Libyan National Army, the armed forces allied with the Interim Government in al-Bayda, stands next to a hole on a wall during clashes with the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, an Islamist militia alliance, in Benghazi, Libya.
a coalition of armed groups opposing the LNA.
About half of the civilians, some accompanied by BRSC fighters, fled to al-Sabri and Souq Elhout neighborhoods in downtown Benghazi, which remain under BRSC control. LNA fighters intercepted about seven families after one of their cars broke down and attacked and killed some of them and arrested others, the relatives said.
Human Rights Watch reviewed videos and photos shared by family members of victims, local journalists, and activists that purport to show bodies of BRSC fighters in Benghazi that LNA fighters allegedly desecrated and mutilated during or after the March 18 evacuation of Ganfouda residents.
n a letter sent to Hiftar on March 8, 2017, Human Rights Watch raised concerns for the safety of Ganfouda residents trapped by the fighting and said that LNA leaders should ensure safe passage for civilians and unimpeded delivery of aid
A member of the Libyan National Army, the armed forces allied with the Interim Government in al-Bayda, stands next to a hole on a wall during clashes with the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, an Islamist militia alliance, in Benghazi, Libya.
Life in Tripoli carries on, despite rising crime, skirmishes and the occasional tank on the street. But the absence of law and order and dire financial conditions place a heavy strain on the population.
"It's impossible to get by with a salary that has not been raised since 2011 while prices are skyrocketing," complained bank employee Wurud, a mother of two who also teaches private English lessons to fill the gap.
A box of nappies used to cost seven dinars, now it's 21. The price of some vegetables like chilli peppers has multiplied by 10
The unofficial exchange rate of the dinar has risen from 1.3 to the dollar in 2014 to more than seven dinar to the dollar at the time of writing, making it expensive to import the consumer goods that the Libyan market relies on.
Banks maintain an official rate of 1.4 dinars to the dollar, which is less punishing than that found on black market exchanges (see graph below). But official institutions do not have enough foreign currency left for importers and individual clients.
Before the crash, many people could afford medical treatment and education abroad. Now, if you want to pay for anything overseas using the services of black market dealers is usually the only option: banks will not let customers transfer through official channels and at the official rate.
This raises costs five-fold and more.
In Souq al-Turk, a wheelbarrow of money is pushed down the narrow alleyways in March 2017
In Tripoli's gold souk, which is the prime market place for currencies, wheelbarrows of cash are pushed through the narrow alleys, only a stone's throw away from the central bank.
Meanwhile, people queue for hours to withdraw weekly allowances of as little as 300 dinars from their personal accounts, or else go home empty-handed when the bank has run out of cash for the day.
"It's impossible to get by with a salary that has not been raised since 2011 while prices are skyrocketing," complained bank employee Wurud, a mother of two who also teaches private English lessons to fill the gap.
A box of nappies used to cost seven dinars, now it's 21. The price of some vegetables like chilli peppers has multiplied by 10
The unofficial exchange rate of the dinar has risen from 1.3 to the dollar in 2014 to more than seven dinar to the dollar at the time of writing, making it expensive to import the consumer goods that the Libyan market relies on.
Banks maintain an official rate of 1.4 dinars to the dollar, which is less punishing than that found on black market exchanges (see graph below). But official institutions do not have enough foreign currency left for importers and individual clients.
Before the crash, many people could afford medical treatment and education abroad. Now, if you want to pay for anything overseas using the services of black market dealers is usually the only option: banks will not let customers transfer through official channels and at the official rate.
This raises costs five-fold and more.
In Souq al-Turk, a wheelbarrow of money is pushed down the narrow alleyways in March 2017
In Tripoli's gold souk, which is the prime market place for currencies, wheelbarrows of cash are pushed through the narrow alleys, only a stone's throw away from the central bank.
Meanwhile, people queue for hours to withdraw weekly allowances of as little as 300 dinars from their personal accounts, or else go home empty-handed when the bank has run out of cash for the day.
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On May 10, a conference will be held in Washington, organized by the National Council on US Libya Relations and the National Council on US-Arab Relations, with support from several think tanks including the Beirut Institute. The conference, titled “New Vision, Hope and Opportunities,” will be attended by former Libyan prime ministers, representatives from the governing presidential council, the foreign minister, and UN envoy Martin Kobler. The conference will review the past six years as a necessary basis for the future once mistakes are recognized and obstacles identified.
The conference will address the fate of the Sukhayrat Agreement, which had proposed a roadmap for Libya, to explore the prospects of it succeeding in the coming period and whether it needs amending. The meeting will also tackle the security complexities in Libya and the region, with experts making interventions on regional roles, militias, Daesh and the Libyan National Army led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
“
The regional complications are also noteworthy. The UAE, for example, backs Haftar as a spearhead against radical Islamist expansion in Libya. The UAE has not concealed its fight against extremism in Egypt and elsewhere too, because it sees it as an existential threat. Qatar does not share this view, and has supported Islamists in Tripoli either directly or via Turkey, because it believes Islamist parties have the right to participate in government everywhere.
Egypt sees Libya as having important strategic depth.
It relies significantly on Libyan oil imports and has an army of workers across the border. Yet the top priority for Cairo remains the threat of Islamist extremism, which it wants to head off in Libya without becoming directly involved militarily in the quagmire. The other important neighbor is Algeria, which has had prolonged differences with Libya over borders and oil. Algeria does not want a vacuum through which terrorism can enter its territory.
Saudi Arabia is leaving the Libyan issue to the UAE and Qatar, proposing itself as a neutral party trying to resolve it. But according to Libyans, the Kingdom can play a role in stopping the export of extremist Salafists to North Africa, particularly Libya. One of them said there are “very worrying signs in the eastern region, where Islamist extremism has made a comeback through the Salafists to impose restrictions on civil rights.” One example he cited is how the religious authorities in Barqa recently imposed a decision on the military governor in the eastern region to prevent women in Libya from leaving the house without a male guardian.
Libya will not become a modern state unless it adopts the 1969 constitution as the basis of a secular constitution, and rejects amendments that impose an Islamic state. The international community can help fundamentally in this regard. The Obama administration had adopted so-called centrist Islam as an acceptable way to introduce religion in Arab states without opposition from the international community. But the Trump administration does not share this view, which provides an opportunity to think of new ways to address the Libyan crisis. The Trump administration does not believe in appeasement, which had marked Obama’s approach to this issue, and prefers the separation of religion and state.
Some have accused the Trump administration of seeking the partition of Libya, based on positions made by some advisers but not on declared policies. Those advisers are talking about a new US policy that takes into account the possibility of federalism in Libya. Shunaib said the Sukhayrat Agreement could be amended to take into account “historical backgrounds that were not accommodated before,” including the fact that Libya comprises three historical states: Barqa (Cyrenaica), Tripoli and Fezzan. A decentralized federal system must be seriously considered, with more than three states — five or six — because the centralized system is inconsistent with Libya’s history, he believes.
Today we are in an era of radically different policies, in which Libya deserves American and European attention because of the implications for US interests and strategic positioning.
Raghida Dergham
Shunaib recalled that before 1969 and Gaddafi’s regime, Libya had two capitals, Benghazi and Tripoli, due to historical differences, and that Muammar Gaddafi had “punished the eastern region, completely neglecting Barqa.” So today “another city should be considered practically, such as Sirte, to be a provisional capital that can be protected.” Such a neutral capital should be one of the important amendments to the Sukhayrat Agreement, he believes.
He also called for guaranteeing the sovereignty of institutions, especially the oil corporation and the central bank, with a UN Security Council resolution. He also called for seriously considering the creation of a new army, which could be a federal army.
Russia has shown a special interest in Libya, but the US has yet to do so. The time has come for Washington to change tack. Libya is crucial to the security of North Africa, Europe, the US and Russia because the ongoing vacuum will lead to eventual Afghanization and Somalization so close to Europe. Libya, Shunaib recalled, is a resource-rich country whose oil has special qualities that make it ideal for petrochemical industries, and so has a special value for the US.
Libya was born with a UN resolution in 1951, but was never a state in the modern sense. It is time to re-create Libya as a modern state based on a realistic vision that respects the constitution and institutions, not on appeasement. The international community owes it to Libya, and stands to gain from helping its people and trying to preventing a further power vacuum and collapse.
• Raghida Dergham is a columnist, senior diplomatic correspondent, and New York bureau chief for the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the UN. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an honorary fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP — the Global Network of Science Academies. She can be reached on Twitter @RaghidaDergham.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1092281
The conference will address the fate of the Sukhayrat Agreement, which had proposed a roadmap for Libya, to explore the prospects of it succeeding in the coming period and whether it needs amending. The meeting will also tackle the security complexities in Libya and the region, with experts making interventions on regional roles, militias, Daesh and the Libyan National Army led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
These proposals include pushing for strong US leadership to gather all Libyan parties in one room for prolonged discussions, parties that include both those who support and oppose the Sukhayrat Agreement, in order to amend its clauses and impose the amended version on the parties, including Parliament, Haftar and the Islamists in Tripoli, said Shunaib.
“
No one is saying the Libyan issue is not astoundingly complex. The UN and US under Barack Obama backed the Sukhayrat Agreement and considered Sarraj the only internationally recognized leader. But the Libyan Parliament remains internationally recognized as the legitimate legislative authority in the country.
The regional complications are also noteworthy. The UAE, for example, backs Haftar as a spearhead against radical Islamist expansion in Libya. The UAE has not concealed its fight against extremism in Egypt and elsewhere too, because it sees it as an existential threat. Qatar does not share this view, and has supported Islamists in Tripoli either directly or via Turkey, because it believes Islamist parties have the right to participate in government everywhere.
Egypt sees Libya as having important strategic depth.
It relies significantly on Libyan oil imports and has an army of workers across the border. Yet the top priority for Cairo remains the threat of Islamist extremism, which it wants to head off in Libya without becoming directly involved militarily in the quagmire. The other important neighbor is Algeria, which has had prolonged differences with Libya over borders and oil. Algeria does not want a vacuum through which terrorism can enter its territory.
Saudi Arabia is leaving the Libyan issue to the UAE and Qatar, proposing itself as a neutral party trying to resolve it. But according to Libyans, the Kingdom can play a role in stopping the export of extremist Salafists to North Africa, particularly Libya. One of them said there are “very worrying signs in the eastern region, where Islamist extremism has made a comeback through the Salafists to impose restrictions on civil rights.” One example he cited is how the religious authorities in Barqa recently imposed a decision on the military governor in the eastern region to prevent women in Libya from leaving the house without a male guardian.
Libya will not become a modern state unless it adopts the 1969 constitution as the basis of a secular constitution, and rejects amendments that impose an Islamic state. The international community can help fundamentally in this regard. The Obama administration had adopted so-called centrist Islam as an acceptable way to introduce religion in Arab states without opposition from the international community. But the Trump administration does not share this view, which provides an opportunity to think of new ways to address the Libyan crisis. The Trump administration does not believe in appeasement, which had marked Obama’s approach to this issue, and prefers the separation of religion and state.
Some have accused the Trump administration of seeking the partition of Libya, based on positions made by some advisers but not on declared policies. Those advisers are talking about a new US policy that takes into account the possibility of federalism in Libya. Shunaib said the Sukhayrat Agreement could be amended to take into account “historical backgrounds that were not accommodated before,” including the fact that Libya comprises three historical states: Barqa (Cyrenaica), Tripoli and Fezzan. A decentralized federal system must be seriously considered, with more than three states — five or six — because the centralized system is inconsistent with Libya’s history, he believes.
Today we are in an era of radically different policies, in which Libya deserves American and European attention because of the implications for US interests and strategic positioning.
Raghida Dergham
Shunaib recalled that before 1969 and Gaddafi’s regime, Libya had two capitals, Benghazi and Tripoli, due to historical differences, and that Muammar Gaddafi had “punished the eastern region, completely neglecting Barqa.” So today “another city should be considered practically, such as Sirte, to be a provisional capital that can be protected.” Such a neutral capital should be one of the important amendments to the Sukhayrat Agreement, he believes.
He also called for guaranteeing the sovereignty of institutions, especially the oil corporation and the central bank, with a UN Security Council resolution. He also called for seriously considering the creation of a new army, which could be a federal army.
These ideas will no doubt be met with opposition and criticism from some circles, but they are helpful as a basis to revive the Libyan issue in the US and internationally. There is a chance for US-Russian dialogue that could lead to accord or cooperation in Libya, where the two countries have shared interests that go beyond terrorism and include economic interests, especially after reports of the discovery of the largest gas basin in North Africa, and possibly the Mediterranean, in the Gulf of Sirte.
Russia has shown a special interest in Libya, but the US has yet to do so. The time has come for Washington to change tack. Libya is crucial to the security of North Africa, Europe, the US and Russia because the ongoing vacuum will lead to eventual Afghanization and Somalization so close to Europe. Libya, Shunaib recalled, is a resource-rich country whose oil has special qualities that make it ideal for petrochemical industries, and so has a special value for the US.
Libya was born with a UN resolution in 1951, but was never a state in the modern sense. It is time to re-create Libya as a modern state based on a realistic vision that respects the constitution and institutions, not on appeasement. The international community owes it to Libya, and stands to gain from helping its people and trying to preventing a further power vacuum and collapse.
• Raghida Dergham is a columnist, senior diplomatic correspondent, and New York bureau chief for the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the UN. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an honorary fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP — the Global Network of Science Academies. She can be reached on Twitter @RaghidaDergham.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1092281
Libya has seized two foreign-flagged oil tankers and detained their crews for allegedly smuggling fuel after an hours-long gunbattle off the west coast, authorities said.
The crews of the two vessels were taken to Tripoli where they are to face prosecution.
Libya-based smugglers kill man for baseball hat, rescued migrants say
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased teenager was killed by human traffickers because they wanted his baseball hat.
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased teenager was killed by human traffickers because they wanted his baseball hat.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/re...ll-man-baseball-hat-rescued-migrants-say.html
the leaders of two major factions in Libya’s civil war have reportedly agreed to hold elections after meeting in the UAE. In separate statements, President Fayez al-Sarraj and General Khalifa Haftar, the leaders of Libya’s two main warring factions, said they wanted to work together. It was their first meeting since January 2016, and reports said they agreed on elections in March 2018.
Libya’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Sadiq Al-Gharyani has urged Libyan people to stage mass demonstrations to demand their rights as the country’s economic crisis worsens with no government solution in sight.
“The people in general are complaining and feel imminent danger because of conspiracies and plots by the international community and some of our people,” he said in his weekly program on Tanasuh TV on Wednesday.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/different-face-libya/
Libya’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Sadiq Al-Gharyani has urged Libyan people to stage mass demonstrations to demand their rights as the country’s economic crisis worsens with no government solution in sight.
“The people in general are complaining and feel imminent danger because of conspiracies and plots by the international community and some of our people,” he said in his weekly program on Tanasuh TV on Wednesday.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/different-face-libya/
Misruta is a commercial port city with more than half a million residents, including Turkmans, Egyptians, Arabs, Amazigh-Berbers, Italians, and others who have migrated from other cities in Libya. Misrutans have a reputation of being friendly.
“We have a lot of factions, and people with different ideologies, but I talk to all of them, and I do business with all of them, Mohamed Nahla, a former sales representative at an American oil service company, RedWings told The Media Line.
In contrast to other cities in Libya like Tripoli and Benghazi, Misruta is also known as a safe city.
“We go out during the spring time to the gardens, and take our families on picnics where we sit, drink tea, and enjoy a decent conversation.” Mohamed Mahmoud a Marketing Specialist at Jahed NGO, an organization handling civil affairs in the city told The Media Line.
Misratans have an organized work force, banking system, and strong independent social and civil societies. “We don’t really depend on the politicized central bank of Libya, who isn’t sending us money to live our daily life; the banks aren’t functioning, and it has no money, but we created our own network of donors from businessmen, and support from independent underground NGOs, our only concern is stability of our country,” Khalifa Alghweil, the Prime Minister of the National Salvation Government told The Media Line. “I wish we can burn all the oil, so the Libyans in other cities can focus on other opportunities, and start working.”
Misrata
“We have a lot of factions, and people with different ideologies, but I talk to all of them, and I do business with all of them, Mohamed Nahla, a former sales representative at an American oil service company, RedWings told The Media Line.
In contrast to other cities in Libya like Tripoli and Benghazi, Misruta is also known as a safe city.
“We go out during the spring time to the gardens, and take our families on picnics where we sit, drink tea, and enjoy a decent conversation.” Mohamed Mahmoud a Marketing Specialist at Jahed NGO, an organization handling civil affairs in the city told The Media Line.
Misratans have an organized work force, banking system, and strong independent social and civil societies. “We don’t really depend on the politicized central bank of Libya, who isn’t sending us money to live our daily life; the banks aren’t functioning, and it has no money, but we created our own network of donors from businessmen, and support from independent underground NGOs, our only concern is stability of our country,” Khalifa Alghweil, the Prime Minister of the National Salvation Government told The Media Line. “I wish we can burn all the oil, so the Libyans in other cities can focus on other opportunities, and start working.”
Misrata
Wikileaks founder calls Hillary Clinton “butcher of Libya 
Julian Assange, the editor of the whistle-blowing website of Wikileaks, called the former US Foreign Secretary,
Hillary Clinton, the butcher of Libya.
In a tweet, Assange branded Clinton as the “butcher of Libya” in a scathing response to the former presidential candidate’s labeling of Wikileaks as “Russian Wikileaks.
Clinton claimed to take “absolute personal responsibility” for her loss, adding that she “was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter, on October 28, and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off.” Russia Today reported.
http://www.libyanexpress.com/wikileaks-founder-calls-hillary-clinton-butcher-of-libya/
Julian Assange, the editor of the whistle-blowing website of Wikileaks, called the former US Foreign Secretary,
Hillary Clinton, the butcher of Libya.
In a tweet, Assange branded Clinton as the “butcher of Libya” in a scathing response to the former presidential candidate’s labeling of Wikileaks as “Russian Wikileaks.
Clinton claimed to take “absolute personal responsibility” for her loss, adding that she “was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter, on October 28, and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off.” Russia Today reported.
http://www.libyanexpress.com/wikileaks-founder-calls-hillary-clinton-butcher-of-libya/
Forces loyal to Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Monday launched an offensive to oust jihadist from their last two strongholds in second city Benghazi, they said.
Forces loyal to Haftar, who does not recognise a UN-backed unity government in Tripoli and backs a rival parliament, have retaken most of the coastal city since it was overrun by jihadists in 2014.
Haftar's forces retook certain positions from the jihadists, but reported no casualties among their ranks, Chehibi said.
Footage and pictures shared online showed columns of tanks, armoured vehicles and ambulances heading towards the neighbourhoods.
Jihadists groups in the city include the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, an alliance of Islamist militias among them suspected members of the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Al-Sharia.