Libya’s Ministry of Oil and Gas announced yesterday that the first meeting to choose the headquarters for the African Energy Bank was held yesterday chaired by Libya’s Oil and Gas Minister, Mohamed Aoun. Aoun has been assigned by the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) to chair the committee to select an African country that has expressed its willingness to be the headquarters of the African Energy Bank. Aoun chaired the first meeting, held virtually, in the presence of all members of the committee and the presence of the APPO’s General Secretary. It is noteworthy, the Oil Ministry explained, that APPO seeks to establish this bank in order to confront the challenges facing African countries in extracting oil wealth and benefiting from it in the transition to producing renewable energies, and to support oil industry projects, and the general development of African member countries.

Emad al-Trabulsi, the Interior Minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity, discussed the Interior Ministry’s plans for securing Libya’s borders and combating illegal migration with Martin Longden, the British Ambassador to Libya. During their meeting today at the Interior Ministry’s office in Tripoli, attended by the Minister’s Office Director Brig. Gen. Abdulwahid Abdulsammad and his advisor, discussions covered prospects for joint security cooperation between Libya and Britain. According to the Interior Ministry’s Facebook page, the talks reviewed the Libyan Interior Ministry’s action plans to secure borders, combat illegal migration, support efforts to eliminate crime, human trafficking and smuggling gangs, and curb the phenomenon of illegal migration. The paper stated on Friday that Britain’s Minister for Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson, finalized the new deal during his visit to Libya last week, where he held talks on illegal migration with the head of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

Minister of Economy and Trade Mohamed Al-Huwaij confirmed the availability of 45 essential commodities at low prices across all regions of Libya during a meeting with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. A statement by the Government of National Unity media office said the meeting aimed to review the availability of essential commodities and control their prices in anticipation of the holy month of Ramadan. Al-Huwaij emphasized that the Economic and Security Committee will oversee the local factories and suppliers, distribution mechanisms, supply prices, and profit margins. For his part, Dbeibah stressed the need for the Ministry of Economy to monitor the supply of essential commodities and local factory productivity. He also called for setting necessary controls to ensure the availability of commodities throughout the month.

On the night between 11 and 12 September 2023, the eastern Libyan city of Derna was devastated by floods that caused thousands of deaths and the destruction of entire neighborhoods. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Unsmil) launched an appeal to start a "coordinated national program" for reconstruction which, to date, has never really started. “Agenzia Nova” spoke about it with Claudia Gazzini, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group (Icg) who recently conducted a visit to the disaster sites. In the meantime, adds Gazzini, the authorities in eastern Libya are carrying out a Gaddafi-era project to build around "2.000 Korean housing units" near Derna. These Gaddafi projects are finished, but the central issue of Derna, also as a social fabric, is not addressed", explains the analyst again.

The state Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) confirmed the lifting of force majeure and the resumption of exploration in the Ghadames Basin (concessions 1,2/113) in April. The announcement came yesterday during a meeting between PGNiG and the state Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) at the latter’s Tripoli headquarters. It will be recalled that PGNiG had previously announced that it had made two gas discoveries in the region before declaring the state of force. It will also be recalled that in November last year, the NOC had announced that during a virtual meeting it had discussed the lifting of force majeure and resumption of exploration activity by PGNiG. NOC discusses with Polish Oil and Gas Company’s resumption of work next year (libyaherald.com)

TRIPOLI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Monday that 521 illegal migrants had been rescued off the coast of Libya over the past week. Between March 3 and March 9, 521 migrants were intercepted and subsequently returned to Libya, the IOM said in a statement, adding among those rescued were 16 women and 28 children. It said that the bodies of two illegal migrants were also retrieved off the Libyan coast. So far this year, a total of 1,915 illegal migrants have been rescued, while 80 illegal migrants died and 126 others went missing off the Libyan coast. Because of the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya.

Delays and fear of reprisals from the Libyan Arab Armed Forces have also deterred others from seeking aid, particularly those perceived to be opponents of the eastern authorities. Crackdown on dissentSince the disaster, the Libyan Arab Armed Forces and affiliated armed groups have also cracked down on people for criticising the Libyan authorities' lack of preparedness and crisis response. Libyan activist Al-Numan al-Jazwi, 46, was arbitrarily arrested by the Libyan Arab Armed Forces-affiliated Internal Security Agency on 16 September while he was filming aid distribution efforts in Derna. Despite these prosecutions, higher-ranking officials and commanders and members of powerful armed groups, have not been investigated. Amnesty has shared its findings and recommendations with the Tripoli-based public prosecutor's office, the Libyan Arab Armed Forces' chief-of-staff and the acting prime minister of the eastern-based Government of National Stability, which is allied to the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, and has requested responses.

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The Tripoli based Libyan Minister of Economy and Trade, Mohamed Al-Hwej, today relented to protests by businesses through the various chambers of commerce by ordering the release of goods stuck in ports for about six months. These have been paid for through hard currency purchased on the black-market. The CBL is attempting to reduce the black-market rate of the US dollar, currently at about LD 7.30 to the dollar. This gap is filled by smaller traders who fill the market – through hard currency purchased on the black-market. The route of the problem is that demand for hard currency is higher than the supply offered by the CBL.

Thousands still missing six months after Libya floods01:41It has been six months since devastating floods struck north-eastern Libya. It caused two dams near the city of Derna to collapse. Over 4,300 people are believed to have been killed in the floods, but half a year later, thousands remain missing.

The Minister of Labour and Rehabilitation, Ali Al-Abed Al-Rida, accompanied by the Undersecretary for Rehabilitation Affairs and in the presence of the Ambassador of South Korea to Libya, opened (last Thursday 7 March) new training departments at the Libyan Korean Vocational Training Centre. The new departments are in the fields of computers, welding, sewing, and plumbing, which were developed with advanced equipment for the first time in Libya. The Minister, accompanied by the Ambassador, also opened a new department for detecting car faults, supported by modern training equipment, and with the full support of Korea. At the conclusion of the visit, His Excellency the Minister honoured the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea for her efforts and those who excelled at the centre. It is noteworthy that the Libyan Korean Center was established in 2008 based on a cooperation agreement with the State of Libya, represented by the Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation, for vocational training and support for small and medium enterprises according to the needs of society and the labour market.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The United Nations expects eastern Libyan tribal leaders to submit by Thursday their list of conditions to reopen blocked oil terminals, UN envoy Ghassan Salame said. Libya's oil production had dropped sharply since groups loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar began a blockade on Jan. 18, closing ports and fields in the east and south. "The (UN Libya) mission wants the oil to flow as soon as possible," he added. Libya's oil production had dropped to 204,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Monday due to the blockade, a source from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. The NOC says output will eventually fall to 72,000 bpd if the stoppage continues, from about 1.2 million bpd previously.

ANKARA: Most Arab countries are set to mark the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Monday, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. After the new moon was sighted on Sunday, religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that the observation of the fasting month will begin on Monday. Similarly, Muslims in Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Sudan will begin fasting on Monday. However, in Jordan, Oman, Libya, Morocco, and Iran, Ramadan will commence on Tuesday as the new moon was not sighted on Sunday. In Turkiye, the Religious Affairs Directorate relies on the sighting of the crescent new moon from anywhere in the world (ihtilaf-i metali) rather than its local sighting to determine both the start of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which directly follows Ramadan.

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily has called for the urgent need of electoral law implementation and forming a unified government to pave the way for elections in the country. “I encouraged them to continue seeking consensus within the HCS, the House of Representatives, and the broader Libyan political spectrum, including key actors, on implementing electoral laws and forming a unified government to lead Libya towards elections,” Bathily added. During a phone conversation with Aguila Saleh, speaker of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, Bathily also emphasized the need for prompt efforts to reach a political compromise in Libya. Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled, due to disagreements among the Libyan parties over election laws. Ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid escalating violence and unrest.

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