Mediaboss Marketing

Issued on: 29/10/2021 - 05:52Modified: 29/10/2021 - 05:50

Ghadames (Libya) (AFP) Libya has hosted its first group of foreign tourists in a decade, with an excursion to an oasis town deep in the desert previously off-limits to visitors due to years of war.

French traveller Jean-Paul, who first visited Libya more than a decade ago, was among some 100 mostly European tourists on the trip.

He said he had long wanted to return to the "magnificent country, with extraordinary scenery and very welcoming people".

"Events meant for 10 years that wasn't possible -- then we were told we could finally come back on a supervised trip, with a security detail," the 57-year-old said.

"People here are very welcoming and you get the feeling that Libyans really want to see tourists again."

Police sirens echoed around the oasis of Ghadames, its old white buildings set amid a sea of palm trees, as the convoy of dozens of four-wheel-drives ferried the Italian, French, Icelandic and Swiss tourists through town.

Libya had been mostly off-limits to tourists throughout the four-decade rule of Moamer Kadhafi.

When the dictator was overthrown in a 2011 uprising, foreign visitors mostly continued to stay away as the country plunged into lawlessness and armed conflict.

Today, thanks to a year of relative calm following an October 2020 ceasefire and a United Nations-led peace process, the first group of tourists since 2012 were able to visit, on a tour paid for by the state.

Tour guide Ali al-Kouba says he wants to "break the wall of fear" for foreigners wanting to visit the vast Libyan Sahara.

Italian traveller and tour operator Giovanni Paolo, who wore a Tuareg-style yellow scarf against the desert wind, agreed.

"We were sure we'd be welcome in this wonderful country," he said.

The visitors arrived via a border crossing with Tunisia which had opened in September after months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They spent a night under the stars before heading deep into the dunes and rocky stretches of the southern Libyan wilderness.

Finally they reached Ghadames, the "pearl of the desert" some 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of the capital Tripoli.

The UNESCO-listed oasis city, a pre-Roman Berber settlement and a key stop on Saharan trade routes, has unique multilevel architecture with whitewashed, covered alleyways beyond the reach of the brutal summer sun.

The tourists wandered through the old city taking photos of its traditional houses, propped up with palm trunks.

They also visited the newer part of town, where a mosque with striking minarets faces modern villas echoing the style of the old town.

Jean-Jacques Sire, a 67-year-old Frenchman with a white beard, said he had visited Libya twice in the 1990s and "met an exceptionally welcoming population".

"When I found out that there was a group of people ready to come back, I didn't hesitate," he said.

Tourism has been a tiny industry in Libya, whose economy has been dominated by oil and gas since the mid-20th century.

But it did see a brief uptick in the 2000s as the Kadhafi regime mended ties with the outside world, spurred by the UN in 2003 lifting sanctions that had included a flight ban.

Tripoli also created a ministry for the sector and issued tourist visas for the first time, allowing some 110,000 foreign visitors to holiday in the country in 2010, bringing in $40 million (34 million euros).

But all that came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of an armed revolt in 2011.

And despite a year of relative calm, the country still sees localised outbursts of fighting and most countries advise their citizens against visiting.

But Khaled Derdera, who organised the tour, said he wanted to challenge the idea that Libya is "a country in decline".

"The idea of the trip was to bring back European tourists -- and today, here they are, on Libyan soil," he said.

2021 AFP

Read more:
Libya welcomes back tourists after years of war - FRANCE 24

First of all, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting and supporting this meeting at the request of the 5+5 JMC facilitated by UNSMIL. Also, I would like to express appreciation and gratitude to the representatives of Chad, Niger, and Sudan for participating in this important meeting and their willingness to work together with the 5+5 JMC on the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya in a way that would not have a destabilizing effect on the situation in their countries and in the region.

As you know, UNSMIL has consistently engaged in efforts with the aim of helping Libya to restore its stability, unity, and full sovereignty. These efforts, in close coordination with our Libyan friends and cooperation with international partners including our Egyptian partners, resulted in a critical milestone the Ceasefire agreement on 23 October 2020, adopted by the (5+5) Joint Military Commission (JMC).

From that date till now, we have witnessed relentless efforts of the (5+5) JMC working as one aimed at the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement starting from maintaining the ceasefire, opening the airspace, exchanging detainees, a joint effort in securing the Great Man-made River, and the opening of the coastal road.

In response to the aspirations of the Libyan people and in line with conclusions of the Berlin Conferences 1 and 2 and respective United Nations Security Council resolutions on Libya, the (5+5) JMC signed on 8 October 2021 in a meeting in Geneva, facilitated by UNSMIL a comprehensive Libyan Action Plan, which will be the cornerstone for the gradual, balanced, and sequenced process of the withdrawal of mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libyan territory.

The Action Plan is a Libyan plan agreed by the JMC and supported by the Libyan authorities; is a nationally owned and led instrument with concrete ideas and parameters on how to implement it. The plan is a critical step for the long and arduous process on the way to sustainable peace, stability, security, cooperation, and development in Libya and the region.

Based on the Action Plan, the JMC intends to develop an implementation plan and mechanism for the gradual, balanced, and sequenced departure of all mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces, through consultations and negotiations with Libyas neighbors and other international partners.

The Action Plan was acknowledged at the Stabilization Initiative Conference which was held in Tripoli on 21 October in the presence of Foreign Ministers or their representatives including those of Chad, Niger, and Sudan, as well as of representatives from the JMC who presented the Action Plan.

The JMC has laid the foundation for peace and political processes including the elections in Libya. Our meeting today, and the meetings and consultations that will follow, are only the first steps in the way of preparing a concrete implementation plan for the withdrawal of all mercenaries, foreign fighters, and foreign forces from Libya, important also in light of the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

I would like to express my hope that your meeting in Cairo will result in a mutual understanding of major building blocks and coordination mechanisms necessary for the withdrawal and will enable agreeing on the first steps of the withdrawal process that will take fully into account the needs and concerns of Libya and its neighbors. I count on your full cooperation as well as the support of the African Union in this noble and critically important endeavor.

I pledge the full support of the UN.

Thank you

Continued here:
Remarks of the UN Special Envoy for Libya and Head of UNSMIL, Jn Kubi, on the opening of the (5+5) JMC meeting in Cairo - 30 October 2021 [EN/AR] -...

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron that Turkey will not attend the Paris conference on Libya, in which Greece, Israel and the Greek Cypriot administration will participate in.

This came during their meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome.

France aims to hold a conference on Libya similar to the previous Berlin conference, Erdogan said on Monday in a press conference.

In response to a question about Ankaras participation, Erdogan said We cannot attend the Paris conference in which Greece, Israel and the Greek Cypriot administration participate. We told Macron that if these countries are to attend the conference, then there is also no need to send special representatives.

Erdogan reiterated to Macron that Turkey's presence in Libya is legitimate and falls under an agreement with the Libyan government, referring to the signing by the former Government of National Accord in November 2019 of two military and economic agreements with Turkey, according to the Turkish newspaper, Daily Sabah.

He also added, "Our soldiers there are instructors," refuting that the Turkish presence in Libya is similar to the presence of illegal mercenaries in the country.

France claims that Paris conference aims to give a final international push so elections are held by year-end and to endorse the departure of foreign forces.

Original post:
Turkey will not attend Paris conference on Libya that Greece, Israel and Greek Cypriot administration will participate in, Erdogan says - The Libya...

AUGUSTA, Italy (AP) Hundreds of migrants protested for the 10th straight day Monday outside a United Nations facility in Libya's capital of Tripoli demanding evacuation from the North African nation.

The gathering outside the U.N. refugee agencys facility began after Libyan authorities launched a massive crackdown on migrants earlier this month in the western town of Gargaresh, detaining more than 5,000 people.

The detained migrants were held in overcrowded detention centers where torture, sexual assault and other abuses are rife. U.N.-commissioned investigators said earlier this month that abuse and ill treatment of migrants in Libya amount to crimes against humanity.

The government in Tripoli defended the raids, saying it was cracking down on illegal migration and drug trafficking.

Libya was plunged into turmoil by the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The North African nation has since emerged as a popular, if extremely dangerous, route to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war in Africa and the Middle East.

Panicked and fearing detention, several hundred migrants have gathered outside the U.N. refugee agency's community center in Tripoli since the crackdown began Oct. 1 in Gargaresh, a major hub for migrants.

The migrants have continued their protest even after the UNHCR said Friday it has temporarily suspended its activities at the center after two of its workers were injured amid tensions among the crowd.

The situation deteriorated outside the day center after hundreds of migrants fled the overcrowded Mabani detention center in Tripoli on Friday. Guards shot dead six migrants and injured at least 15 others, according to the U.N. migration agency.

However, Libya's interior ministry, which oversees migrant detention centers, said only one migrant died due to the chaotic scramble during the mass escape.

Footage shared by migrants showed a crowd outside the facility, with women and children sitting in the street. Libyan police vehicles were also seen nearby. Some migrants held banners with slogans such as: Libya, NO. Out of it, Yes, and Immediate Evacuation.

Hanadi al-Nazir, a Sudanese migrant, said she was detained along with her husband Friday in the Gargaresh raids.

They beat and whipped us during the raids, she recalled. She said security forces bound their hands behind their backs and took them to the Mabani detention center.

Al-Nazir said they managed to flee the center during the mass escape. Since then, they have taken refuge outside the UNHCR center fearing they could again be detained.

Evacuation is the solution, she said in a telephone interview from outside the center. It is not safe for us to stay here anymore.

Abeer Adam is another migrant from Sudans war-ravaged Darfur region. The 35-year-old mother managed to flee, along with her four children, when forces stormed her makeshift home in Gargaresh on Oct. 1. They went directly to the UNHCRs center, she said.

Many women and children are still in prison, she said over the phone. All here are scared.

The U.N. refugee agency has called on Libyan authorities to allow the resumption of humanitarian flights, which have been suspended for almost a year.

The suspension has led some countries to stop receiving additional resettlement submissions from Libya for 2021, causing the loss of 162 places on direct resettlement flights out of the North African country, the UNHCR said.

The agency warned that around 1,000 resettlement slots will not be filled either from Libya or through the Emergency Transit Mechanism, which allows the UNHCR to evacuate people out of Libya and then process their claims for long-term solutions.

These flights are a lifeline for migrants, the agency said.

Read the original post:
Migrants protest outside UN office in Libya for 10th day

TRIPOLI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Hundreds of migrants and refugees waited outside a United Nations centre in Tripoli on Sunday to seek help in escaping Libya after what aid groups called a violent crackdown in which thousands were arrested and several shot.

The migrants say they have faced violent abuse and extortion in a country that has had little peace for a decade, but has become a major transit point for people seeking to reach Europe in search of a better life.

"We are guilty of nothing except emigrating from our country... but we are treated as criminals and not as refugees," said Mohamed Abdullah, a 25-year old from Sudan.

He said he had been beaten and tortured during his detention in five different centres in Libya, and that he had nowhere to go for shelter or food.

Armed forces in Tripoli began a series of mass arrests a week ago, detaining more than 5,000 people in overcrowded detention centres as aid and rights groups voiced alarm.

On Friday, guards in a centre killed at least six migrants there as the overcrowding led to chaos, the U.N. migration agency IOM said, and scores managed to flee the area before being detained again. read more

Many of the people waiting outside the U.N. centre in Tripoli, some sleeping on the pavement, were wounded, with bandages on their heads, legs or hands. Some walked only with crutches or the help of friends.

Migrants wait outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) negotiation office in Tripoli, Libya, October 10, 2021REUTERS/Nada Harib

Read More

They spoke of hunger, desperation and abuse. "I was beaten and humiliated a lot in prison. Many were beaten and tortured," said Matar Ahmed Ismail, 27, from Sudan.

Libya's Government of National Unity said it was "dealing with a complex issue in the illegal migration file, as it represents a human tragedy in addition to the social, political and legal consequences locally and internationally".

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said it was trying to help people waiting at the centre and urged crowds there to disperse so it could assist the most vulnerable. It added it was ready to assist with humanitarian flights out of Libya.

Nadia Abdel Rahman came to Libya three years ago from Eritrea via Sudan with her husband, her son and her sister, brother-in-law and nephew, hoping to reach Europe by sea.

She said her husband had been seized by criminals who demanded a ransom but killed him even though she paid. Her brother-in-law died at sea when attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

She was arrested last week in the crackdown, she said. "We only want one thing, and that is to not live in Libya," she said.

Mousa Koni, a member of Libya's three-man Presidency Council, which acts as interim head of state, on Saturday said he had intervened with the Interior Ministry "to end this suffering".

Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Jan Harvey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read more here:
Migrants in Libya fearful and angry after crackdown and killings - Reuters