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Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily appointed UN special envoy to Libya
Former Senegalese minister and UN diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily will be the new UN envoy to Libya after the Security Council approved the appointment. In December, Mr Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former UN deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser — a job that did not require council approval. Mr Guterres said Mr Bathily brings 40 years of experience to his new role in Libya. Libya’s transitional government, which opposed Mr Bathily’s nomination, reportedly sent a protest letter to Mr Guterres, which raises questions about how effective the new envoy can be in trying to resolve the country’s crisis. "The United States will provide full support to Special Representative Bathily as he mediates the Libya-led political process, and we call upon the international community to work in lockstep with the special representative," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 19:00 UTC
There is plenty of blame to go around in Libya
There is plenty of blame to go around in LibyaHafed Al-GhwellPeople inspect the damage following clashes between backers of rival governments in Libya's capital Tripoli. Oil production — and by extension the revenues from exports — has long had strategic, political and economic significance to the multitude of actors active in Libya. As Libyan factions reorient themselves and plan their next moves, international efforts remain rudderless and devoid of any sense of urgency. In essence, the international community has not only engineered the deliberate failures that are stifling progress in Libya, it has also become numb to the tragic consequences. Hafed Al-Ghwell is a non-resident senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 18:22 UTC
Norland, Bashagha discuss military de-escalation in Tripoli
U.S. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, spoke on the phone today with Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha following the latter’s trip to Turkey, the American embassy announced. “We discussed the importance of de-escalating the military confrontation in and around Tripoli,” Norland was quoted as saying by the embassy via Twitter. The two also discussed “the urgent need for all parties” to work with the new U.N. Envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily to “establish a clear roadmap to early elections as the only solution to Libya’s instability.”
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 15:32 UTC
5 wounded after clashes rock Warshafana, in outskirts of Tripoli
Libyan armed factions fought in the western outskirts of Tripoli late on Friday and early Saturday as forces aligned with Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s government further consolidated their control over the capital. Fighting took place in Warshafala, a district west of Tripoli that has been the site of repeated clashes throughout the 11 years of violence and chaos since a NATO-backed uprising ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi. According to Tripoli’s Ambulance and Emergency Service, five people, all from the same family, were wounded in the aftermath of the clashes. The clashes, along with a major pro-Dbeibah group taking over a military headquarters in southern Tripoli, come a week after Libya’s biggest bout of warfare for two years, as several rival factions battled in and around the capital. Last week’s fighting dislodged several groups that had aligned with Dbeibah’s rival as prime minister – the former interior minister Fathi Bashagha who has been appointed by the eastern-based parliament to head a new government.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 12:14 UTC
16 new people test positive for Coronavirus in Libya
16 new people tested positive for COVID-19, marking 8 percent of the infection rate, according to a Friday report by the National Center for Disease Control in Libya (NCDC). The center also said 23 have recovered during the same reporting period. The total recorded COVID-19 cases in Libya have exceeded more than 50,000 since the start of the pandemic, while over 490,000 of which have recovered, according to the NCDC. The virus has claimed the lives of 6,437 people. Over two million people received one dose of the vaccination, while more than one million others were vaccinated with two doses.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 12:14 UTC
Dbeibeh, eyeing military build-up, meets Erdogan in Istanbul
Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday as the outgoing Libyan premier signals intent to boost military cooperation after a recent wave of violence in the Libyan capital, which threatened to dethrone him from power. Accompanied by the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya Saddek Elkaber, Dbeibeh discussed with Erdogan “a number of economic dossiers in the public and private sectors, as well as increasing military cooperation between the two countries through training and development for all military and support forces,” according to a statement by Dbeibeh’s media office. Turkey considers Dbeibeh as Libya’s legitimate leader and has a military presence in the country. In June, the Turkish parliament extended for another 18 months a mandate that allows the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya. The mandate first came into force in January 2020 following a security and military agreement with Libya’s UN-backed administration in Tripoli in November 2019.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 10:58 UTC
Clashes rock outskirts of Libyan capital
TRIPOLI : Libyan armed factions fought in the western outskirts of Tripoli late on Friday and early Saturday as forces aligned with Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's government further consolidated their control over the capital. Last week's fighting dislodged several groups that had aligned with Dbeibah's rival as prime minister - the former interior minister Fathi Bashagha who has been appointed by the eastern-based parliament to head a new government. Following last week's fighting, both Bashagha and Dbeibah have visited Turkey, which helped the now-divided western factions fight off an eastern assault in 2020. During last week's fighting, a major Bashagha-aligned faction based in Zawiya was said to be among groups that were repulsed from the outskirts of the capital. In the southern Tripoli district of Ain Zara, a powerful faction that backed Dbeibah during last week's fighting took over a security headquarters.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 10:57 UTC
New UN Libya envoy is Senegal’s Bathily
Will security deal with Israel jeopardize Japan’s impartial image in the Middle East? Japan has long been hailed as an impartial broker of a future deal between Israel and the Palestinians. (AFP)“Japan feels relieved from the pressure that existed in trying to balance its Middle East policy with its energy security,” Tanaka told Arab News Japan. Waleed Siam, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to Tokyo, told Arab News Japan that the Japanese government is “mostly supportive” of the two sides. Japan has long framed itself as the country most capable of negotiating a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 10:23 UTC
New UN Libya envoy is Senegal's Bathily - statement
TUNIS : U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Senegalese diplomat and former government minister Abdoulaye Bathily as his Libya envoy, the U.N. Libya mission said in a statement on Saturday. Bathily succeeds Jan Kubis, who stepped down from the role late last year as diplomacy aimed at resolving Libya's longstanding conflict faltered in the run-up to an aborted national election. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by Jason Neely)
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 09:58 UTC
UN chief appoints Senegal's Bathily to head UN Libya mission
In December, Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former U.N. deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser — a job that did not require council approval. So, the mission has had no leader as Libyans grapple with a constitutional and political crisis. Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Guterres said Bathily brings 40 years of experience to the job of special representative and head of Libya’s U.N. political mission. Bathily has doctorates from Universite Cheikh Anta Diop and the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and is fluent in English, French, Soninke and Wolof.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 09:45 UTC
Security Council approves Bathily as new head of UN Mission in Libya
The Security Council on Friday approved former Senegalese minister and U.N. diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily as the new U.N. envoy to Libya, ending a nine-month vacancy. The vote came a day after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had nominated Bathily. The 75-year-old succeeds Ján Kubiš of Slovakia, who previously served as special envoy and head of U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). In 2018, he was appointed as Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Madagascar and in 2019 as Independent Expert for the strategic review of the United Nations Office for West Africa. Mr. Bathily is fluent in English, French, Soninke and Wolof.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 09:30 UTC
Security Council Approves New Head of UN Mission in Libya
The last UN special representative, Jan Kubis, resigned November 23, 2021, after 10 months on the job, and a number of candidates proposed by Guterres were rejected by council members, Libya or neighbouring countries. In December, Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former UN deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser — a job that did not require council approval. So, the mission has had no leader as Libyans grapple with a constitutional and political crisis. Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Guterres said Bathily brings 40 years of experience to the job of special representative and head of Libya's UN political mission.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 03:03 UTC
Security Council approves new head of UN mission in Libya
The last U.N. special representative, Jan Kubis, resigned Nov. 23, 2021, after 10 months on the job, and a number of candidates proposed by Guterres were rejected by council members, Libya or neighboring countries. In December, Guterres appointed veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams, a former U.N. deputy special representative in Libya, as his special adviser — a job that did not require council approval. So, the mission has had no leader as Libyans grapple with a constitutional and political crisis. Libya has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. AdvertisementGuterres said Bathily brings 40 years of experience to the job of special representative and head of Libya’s U.N. political mission.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 02:46 UTC
Inside Libya's secret jail: 'Being alive is a miracle'
"For 47 days, no-one knew where I was," Mr Elhouderi says. After about two weeks, Mr Elhouderi was finally brought in for interrogation, and the beatings mostly stopped. Initially, Mr Elhouderi was accused of "breaching the ministry's secret information system". In many ways, Mr Elhouderi's interrogator - who was bluffing about Mr Mrabet - was right. Months after their release, neither Mr Elhouderi nor Mr Mrabet have been reinstated at the ministry, nor have they received any kind of compensation.
Source:Libya Today
September 03, 2022 00:25 UTC
Russia Considering Reopening Embassy In Libya
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2022) Russia is actively considering reopening its embassy in Libya once all technical and security issues are resolved, Alexander Kinschak, the head of the Russian foreign ministry's middle East and North Africa department, said in an interview with Sputnik. All the necessary organizational and technical matters are being worked on, including security of our diplomatic mission. We pay special attention to this aspect, considering the existing tense military-political situation in Libya, including the metropolitan area," Kinschak said. According to the diplomat, Russia also plans to open the General Consulate in Benghazi after the embassy in Tripoli resumes its operations. Russia also had the General Consulate in Benghazi, which was closed in 1992.
Source:Libya Today
September 02, 2022 23:08 UTC