Libyan ministers respond to international reports on immigrants' abuse
A tripartite meeting for the Libyan Interior, Foreign and Justice Ministers responded Thursday to the international reports that tackled abuse against illegal immigrants. In a joint meeting, Fathi Bashagha, Mohammed Sayala and Emhemed Abdelwahid said the hurdles the illegal immigrants go through "should be tackled objectively and in a civilized way". "Those ideological media outlets that are shedding tears on the status of the illegal immigrants are using the immigrants for political agenda and thus they should pressure their governments to devise plans to curb migration flows by investments and work opportunities in Africa to allow the immigrants lead a normal life.” The ministers stated. Meanwhile, a statement by the Interior Ministry said illegal immigration needs national plans as Libya has been exhausted financially, politically and administratively by it over the years, calling for ending the use of this issue in political, social and economic agenda by different countries. The Government of National Accord came under bitter criticism for alleged abuse and violations against illegal immigrants in detention centres across areas under its control to the extent that Italian NGOs called on the government not to renew MoU with Libya for "arbitrary detention and abuse against immigrants"
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 20:23 UTC
Tripoli-based House of Representatives elects new Speaker, Deputies
The Tripoli-based Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) elected Thursday Hamouda Sayala as the new Speaker after six months from electing Sadiq Al-Kahili. The HoR in Tripoli also elected in an on-air session Jalal Shuwaidi as first deputy speaker and Mohammed Lino as a second deputy speaker, besides Mosab Al-Abed as rapporteur and Rahma Abu Bakr as deputy rapporteur. When Khalifa Haftar's forces led an offensive against Tripoli in April 2019, HoR members who rejected the war moved to Tripoli and started since their first meeting in May issuing resolutions against Haftar and his loyalists for their part in the aggression on Tripoli. They agreed to establish Audit Bureau in Tripoli and to form revision commissions for the internal rules as well as the HoR's decisions since 2014 as per Skhirat agreement of 2015. Over the last six months, Sayala was formerly the Tripoli-based HoR spokesman, Mosaab Al-Abed retained his job as rapporteur while Al-Kahili was the Speaker.
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 19:52 UTC
EU High Representative calls for respecting truce in Libya
The European Union's High Representative Josep Borrell said the escalation in Tripoli needs to stop as a matter of urgency and all parties need to fully respect the truce they agreed to, refrain from any further military action, and re-engage in a political dialogue for a solution to the crisis in Libya. “We need to keep the momentum created by the Berlin process and the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2510 (2020). Talks in Geneva under UN leadership should resume as quickly as possible, so that the parties move towards swift deescalation and commit to a sustainable ceasefire.” Borrell added in a statement by the EU issued on Wednesday. He said the EU remains strongly committed to support the UN-led peace process in Libya and the efforts by the UN envoy Ghassan Salame to implement the Berlin declaration, as the only way out of the Libyan crisis. Meanwhile, the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj suspended Wednesday all dialogue talks with Haftar.
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 18:56 UTC
Lawyer claims Italy can't charge captain in Libya arms case
Italian authorities contend the captain violated embargoes by both the United Nations and the European Union. The Italian government considers efforts to keep weapons from reaching Libya's warring forces crucial to ending the fighting in that country. Chaos and lawlessness have mainly held sway in Libya since 2011, after an uprising deposed and killed longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Italian prosecutors have asked experts to see whether crew members' cell phones, turned on during the voyage, will help them determine the Bana's actual route. But Fumagalli, the defense lawyer, argued that sometimes cell phones at sea can pick up signals from countries near by, but that doesn't indicate a boat is in these countries' waters.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 18:11 UTC
Turkish president meets Libyan PM in Istanbul
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Fayez al Sarraj, head of Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). Warring parties announced a cease-fire on Jan. 12 in response to a joint call by Turkey and Russia. But talks for a permanent cease-fire ended without an agreement after Haftar left Moscow on Jan. 14 without signing a deal. Following the attack, the GNA announced it withdrew from the UN-hosted military committee talks in Geneva until a determined stance is embraced against the violations of Haftar’s forces. On Thursday, the UN announced the resumption of military committee meetings.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 18:11 UTC
Bolton makes no apology for hardline stance on N. Korea: report
"It endangers us and our people, and endangers our friends and allies in the Asian Pacific," he continued. "Indeed, it endangers peace and security around the world because North Korea with nuclear weapons will sell those weapons to anybody with hard currency to buy. So I make no apology for taking what some people call a hard line against North Korea's nuclear weapons program because you can bet, and you can see the history and you can read it. A softer line has failed."
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 17:03 UTC
Turkey Joins the Scramble for the Middle East
Turkey might bomb Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in Iraq, Turkish aircraft might skirmish occasionally with Greek counterparts, but no one got their boots muddy. Fast forward to today, and Turkish troops are now treading in the footsteps of Ottoman forebears in Libya, Syria, Iraq and even Qatar. The difference is that this one pits Turkey directly against the Syrian state rather than against Kurdish militias. In the fractured Middle East of today, several states are either failed or failing. In Libya, Syria and Iraq, authority is contested, and incursions can have very limited goals yet still be effective.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 14:26 UTC
Virus fears weigh on European stock markets
PARIS: Coronavirus fears weighed on European stock markets Thursday despite China reporting a big drop in new cases and easing borrowing costs to cushion the epidemic’s economic impact. In a widely anticipated move, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) lowered its one-year and five-year loan prime rates as policymakers seek to reduce the impact of the virus-fuelled slowdown on companies and households. China reported a big drop in new cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak. European stock markets were slightly lower approaching the half-way mark, with a rebound for British retail sales failing to ignite the pound and London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index. Elsewhere Thursday, oil prices were mixed as traders assess the virus’ impact on demand for crude in China, the world’s biggest importer and consumer of the commodity.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 11:37 UTC
Turkish Foreign Minister says international community cannot move to create a ceasefire in Libya
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that world powers cannot seem to come together to prevent the fighting in Libya. Cavusoglu added that international governments seem to lack the resolve to consolidate their efforts in assisting a strategy to end the conflict in the war torn country of Libya. This statement was issued through Anadulu News Agency on Thursday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused Russia on last Thursday, of being involved in the Libyan conflict at the highest level. He repeated his statement that the private Russian security company, Wagner was in fact, supporting Heftar’s militias on the ground in Libya.
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 11:03 UTC
IOM calls on the international community to save illegal immigrants in Libya
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has called on the international community to assist in saving migrants who are caught up in Libya. They also called on the European Union to seek the establishment of an alternative, more secure and humanitarian mechanism to help deal with migrants who are rescued from boats attempting to achieve passage to Europe near the Libyan coast. The organization released a statement saying that approximately 200 migrants attempting to make the crossing had been returned to the same port, which coincidentally was subjected to repeated attacks by Heftar’s militias just hours before their rescue. The leader of the IOM indicated that the time had come for Libya to take more appropriate measures to guarantee that migrants rescued at sea would be transferred to safer accommodation in order to avoid the system which is currently in place where migrants are placed in arbitrary detention.
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 11:03 UTC
Libya Has Plenty Of Resources, Reestablishing Oil Incomes Now Best Way Of Helping
"The best way of assisting Libyans today would be to have a ceasefire and to have reestablishment of oil incomes into the country. Because Libya is a rich country, has potential. So we don't want to substitute humanitarian [assistance] or to increase humanitarian assistance when there are still local resources," Maurer said. He added that the ICRC is still reviewing the possibility of boosting help to Libya since the country has a lot of "vulnerable" people. The ICRC president went on to say that the budget on Libya almost doubled in a year and a half.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 10:30 UTC
Libya’s recognized government withdraws from ceasefire negotiations
Libya’s internationally recognised leader on Wednesday dashed hopes of quickly reviving U.N. ceasefire negotiations after his side withdrew, saying talk of them resuming had been overtaken by events as eastern forces continue to shell the capital. The National Oil Corporation and United Nations said shells had almost hit a highly explosive gas tanker. Nearly nine years after rebel fighters backed by NATO airstrikes overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya still has no central authority. “We really want a ceasefire and serious negotiations to end the war for the sake of all Libyans,” Jalal al-Bosairi, a 45-year-old businessman, said in a Tripoli cafe. Another round of political talks is scheduled next week in Geneva.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 09:56 UTC
‘My Libya visits helped avert a national crisis,’ Neville Gafa insists
Neville Gafa “coordinated” efforts to stymie migration from Libya took place between July 2018 and January 2020, the former OPM official said. In a Facebook post in which he elaborated on the testimony he gave yesterday in front of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, Gafa insisted that his regular visits to Libya helped maintain strong relations between Malta and the Libyan authorities. “At the same time, thousands of migrants, among them pregnant women and children, were saved from drowning,” Gafa said. “I am proud of all that I did in the interest of national security,” Gafa concluded. The UN deems Libya unsafe for migrants and is opposed to repatriations to the North African state.
Source:Libya Today
February 20, 2020 09:56 UTC
PC approves development projects for the southern region
The Government of National Accord (GNA) is to fund development projects for the population in the southern region, as it has approved the plan put forward by the Minister of Planning, Taher al-Juhaimi, and the member of the Presidential Council, Abdul Salam Kajman. The parties agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to quickly start the implementation of the program with coordination with the governor of the Central Bank of Libya and the head of the Audit Bureau, in order to achieve the goals set, by the specified dates. The program plan contains a list of targeted projects to be implemented in all regions and a proposal on how the allocated sums should be distributed, according to the PC information department
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 09:11 UTC
Misurata criticizes identity-based crimes against its fellow towns
The Emergency Room of Misurata has condemned the kidnappings and killing based on identity by what it described as "gangs of treachery" in the city of Tarhuna, in reference to the militia loyal to Haftar known as "Kaniyat. Misurata's emergency room referred in a statement on Wednesday, to the kidnapping and murder of 3 civilians from the city of Misurata, found dumped on the side of the road on the 14th of February. "The Presidential Council and the ministries of justice and interior bear full responsibility for these criminal acts," the statement reads, demanding firm actions to be taken in this regard.
Source:Libya Observer
February 20, 2020 09:11 UTC