The head of Libya’s national unity government plans to run for president next month, according to a senior official, an apparent breach of a pledge to remain neutral when he took office in March under an UN-backed peace process. Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah has become popular with big public spending programs after …
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Libyan elections commission to start registering candidates in Nov – commission head
Registration for candidates in Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections should open in November, the head of the electoral commission said on Sunday. Elections are a key step in a U.N.-backed process to end a decade of violence by creating a new political leadership whose legitimacy is widely accepted. But wrangling …
Read More »Libya detains 4,000 people in major anti-migrant crackdown
Hundreds of women and children among those detained during raids in Gargaresh town. A major crackdown in western Libya has resulted in the detention of 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children, according to officials. The raids took place on Friday in the western town of Gargaresh as part …
Read More »East Libyan forces and Chadian rebels clash in southern Libya
The Libyan National Army (LNA) of eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar clashed with Chadian rebel forces in the south of Libya on Tuesday and Wednesday, both sides said. The fighting underscores the risk of further instability in the Sahel region, where an array of groups operate across borders and where fighting …
Read More »Libyan interim PM says to visit Tunisia on Thursday amid tension
Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said on Wednesday he would visit Tunisia Thursday and meet President Kais Saied after weeks of friction between the North African neighbors over security. Neither the Tunisian foreign ministry nor presidency were immediately available to confirm Dbeibeh’s visit. The two countries have been in …
Read More »Worst Tripoli fighting in a year shows limits of Libya peace push
Fighting broke out in Tripoli early on Friday between rival armed forces, witnesses said, the heaviest clashes in the Libyan capital since the conflict between eastern and western factions paused a year ago. A resident of the Salah al-Din district in southern Tripoli said shooting began at about 2.30 a.m. …
Read More »Libya oil minister says he suspends NOC chief
Libya’s oil minister said on Sunday that he was suspending the head of the state oil company, escalating a dispute between the two – but with a move that he may struggle to enforce. Oil Minister Mohamed Oun said in a letter, confirmed by ministry sources, that National Oil Corp …
Read More »Suicide attacker kills self but no others in Libyan desert town
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint into the Libyan town of Zella on Sunday, killing himself but causing no other casualties, a spokesman for the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls that area, said. Libya has endured a decade of violence and chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against …
Read More »At least 57 Europe-bound refugees drown off Libya: IOM
At least 57 migrants drowned after their boat sank off Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday, the latest tragedy on the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing to Europe. “Horrified by yet another painful loss of life off the Libyan coast,” Federico Soda, the IOM’s Libya mission chief, said …
Read More »At least 57 migrants die in shipwreck off Libyan coast -UN
At least 57 people drowned on Monday after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the central Mediterranean, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. “According to survivors brought to shore by fishermen and the coast guard, at least 20 women and two …
Read More »Egypt’s Sisi opens naval base close to border with Libya
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a naval base on Saturday 135 km from the border with Libya, flanked by close ally Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Libya’s unity president. Egypt says the July 3 base will help it protect strategic and economic interests as …
Read More »Germany, UN host conference to push for progress in Libya
Germany and the United Nations are bringing together representatives of Libya with powers that have interests in the country at a conference Wednesday which aims for progress toward securing elections in the North African nation and the removal of foreign fighters.
Read More »Libyan unity PM declares coast road open but eastern forces still block it
The head of Libya’s unity government on Sunday declared the main coast road across its inactive front line reopened, but eastern-based forces allowed no traffic through, underscoring unresolved divisions that threaten a fragile peace process.
Read More »Blast kills two at southern Libya checkpoint
A blast struck a checkpoint in the southern Libyan city of Sebha on Sunday, killing at least two people including a senior police officer, local police, city officials and medics said. A security source in Sebha said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated a car bomb. …
Read More »Germany, UN to host conference on Libya in Berlin on June 23
Germany and the United Nations plan to host a conference on Libya this month in Berlin Germany and the United Nations plan to host a conference on Libya this month in Berlin, a gathering that aims to bring together powers with interests in the North African country and its transitional …
Read More »Lethal Disregard: UN urges Libya, EU to overhaul migrant rescue in Mediterranean
The United Nations says the current search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea fail to prioritize the migrants’ lives and safety, calling on Libya and the European Union to urgently reform their practices. The comments came after the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) released a report on Wednesday on the protection of people who …
Read More »Turkish, Qatari and German ministers visit Libya amid ceasefire efforts
Turkey and Qatar’s defence ministers and Germany’s foreign minister visited the Libyan capital Tripoli on Monday amid efforts to secure a ceasefire in the divided country, Libyan and Turkish media reported. Turkey provided crucial military support to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) to help it stave off a …
Read More »Putin, Erdogan discuss conflicts in Libya, Syria in phone call – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the conflicts in Libya and Syria with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in a telephone call on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement. The Kremlin said the call’s main focus was on the crisis in Libya, highlighting the need to make real steps towards …
Read More »UAE Embassy in Tripoli of Libya on fire over normalize ties with Israel
People in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, set the United Arab Emirates’ embassy on fire in protest at Abdu Dhabi’s decision to normalize ties with the Zionist regime of Israel. Photos have been circulated in social media of the embassy after the fire was put out, arabi21 website reported. A much-condemned deal …
Read More »Turkey supplies weapons to Libya following a plan to besiege Greece and Egypt: Report
Turkey has reportedly sent the latest KORKUT anti-aircraft system to Libya. The latest satellite images posted to a Twitter account showed that Turkish anti-aircraft systems in Korkut were located at Al-Watiya Air Base in western Libya, citing Pentapostagma. The air base is extensively equipped by both the Turkish Armed Forces …
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