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By Sami Zaptia.

Caretaker Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni said he considered his government as a caretaker government at his first press conference in March 2014 (Photo: Sami Zaptia).

London, 10 March 2021:

The eastern based Libyan government led by Abdalla Thinni announced today that it too is ready to hand over power to the new unified Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) headed by Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba.

The announcement came after the reunified and quorate House of Representatives (HoR) passed a vote of confidence in the Aldabaiba GNU. It also came as the Serraj-led Presidency Council and Government of National Accord said it was ready to hand over power to the GNU.

The Thinni government of March 2014 was initially the caretaker government after the Zeidan government lost a controversial vote of confidence. The Thinni government took over as caretaker awaiting a new government to be approved by the newly elected parliament, the HoR.

However, the Libya Dawn Tripoli militia coup forced the Thinni government to flee Tripoli while a rump of the outgoing parliament, the General National Congress (GNC) formed a new Government of National Salvation.

This government received no international recognition, and it was not until the 2015 Skhirat Libyan Political Agreement that selected Faiez Serraj and his Presidency Council that a Tripoli government received international recognition.

However, the HoR and the new Serraj regime fell out and the HoR, whilst recognizing the Serraj Presidency Council in principle, refused until this day to recognize his government, deepening the west-east political and military split.

With the announcement by both the Serraj and Thinni governments that they recognized the new GNU and would be handing over power, it will be the first time that Libya has one unified and recognized government since 2014.

Congress rump appoints Omar Hassi as Prime Minister | (libyaherald.com)

Congress sacks Zeidan: elections for new legislature in July | (libyaherald.com)

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Eastern based Thinni Libyan government announces readiness to hand over power to new GNU | - Libya Herald

TRIPOLI -In divided Libya, the breakthrough appointment of a unity government has raised hopes for reconciliation among people exhausted by a decade of chaos but now daring to dream of peace.

After seeing a succession of ceasefires and peace conferences flake out over the years, Libyans had grown accustomed to their hopes for a better future being dashed.

This time, it looks like itll work out. Im very optimistic, Salah, a shopkeeper in Tripoli, says with a wide smile.

Like many of his compatriots, Salah watched a live television broadcast on Wednesday of the session in which parliament approved a unity government to lead Libya to December elections.

A day after, he welcomed the move.

We need unity, we are all brothers, we should no longer be divided, the 40-year-old adds, dressed in a traditional djellaba robe.

The vote was widely hailed as historic for a country torn apart by conflict since 2011.

In February that year, inspired by the Arab Spring and backed by Western air power, Libyans rose up against Muammar Gadhafi and ousted within months a dictator who had ruled with an iron fist since 1969.

The oil-rich country of seven million people has since descended into anarchy, with two rival administrations vying for control and a myriad of militias fighting over its resources.

Libyas infrastructure is now derelict, its economy in tatters and public services wretched. The situation has been complicated by foreign interference.

Mammoth task

The new administration, headed by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, faces a mammoth task.

The Libyan economy is at a standstill: the dinar has plunged in value, property prices have soared and electricity cuts are a daily occurrence.

Life must return to normal, says Salah the shopkeeper.

The priority should be to address the daily lives of citizens, to solve the problems of power cuts and cash shortages, he added.

Across Tripoli, endless queues stretch out in front of banks, and dozens of motorists wait for hours at petrol stations.

During power outages, the city vibrates to the roar of generators.

The rusty frames of huge cranes sit on top of unfinished buildings that are overgrown with weeds.

The new government will, God willing, unify the institutions, says Nader Mansouri, 46.

It now has to deal with the crises facing citizens, the lack of cash, the power cuts, the coronavirus vaccination campaign.

The most important thing is to succeed in organising elections in December, the civil servant says, adding, theres foreign interference; we must end it now.

Miftah al-Malis, 36, says the vote of confidence in the government was a wise decision.

The Libyan people are tired and fed up, he says.

The conflict has gone on too long and there is no need for it, he says, adding that he too is optimistic and wishes to see Libyans unite.

Glimmer of hope

There is also optimism in Benghazi, Libyas second city in the east, where the countrys uprising began 10 years ago.

Benghazi suffered badly from the violence that followed.

In the old town, bullet pockmarked walls and damaged buildings are a constant reminder that the conflict tore through.

Its a glimmer of hope on the horizon, says Osama al-Werfalli, a 50-year-old businessman in Benghazi.

Werfalli says he has grown tired of the situation that has led to a deterioration in the living conditions of all Libyans.

This is also the case for Sayida al-Sarrawi, who hopes to see a new phase, without the divisions that citizens have suffered for years.

We want a Libya without wars and conflicts.

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Libyans disillusioned but daring to hope after confidence vote | | AW - The Arab Weekly

By Sami Zaptia.

London, 11 March 2021:

In a newreportreleased Wednesday, Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) call on the Libyan authorities to act immediately to stop the widespread and dangerous pattern of online violence against women (OVAW) in the country.

The report exposes the full scale of online harassment, threats, misogyny, text-based abuse, image-based sexual abuse, the use of deep fake pornography, doxing (publication of personal information such as a private address) and cyberstalking suffered by women in Libya. The report shows that this violence, which started following the 2011 uprising and its ensuing armed conflicts, goes unchecked by the authorities, leaving women to be intimidated, silenced and forced out of public spaces.

LFJL carried out a detailed survey of 163 respondents, documenting their experiences online. Ninety six percent of respondents saw OVAW as a serious problem in Libya and over two thirds of them had been the victims of attacks themselves, with the primary targets being women expressing views online, activists, human rights defenders and women working in political affairs.

The impact is significant, as many women prefer to withdraw from public space due to the attempts to undermine, defame and slander them, not to mention death threats, said political activist Abeir Imneina.

Following the 2011 uprising, women in Libya have increasingly used social media to engage in online activism, but an intense backlash against them as the conflict in the country intensified has led many to self-censor or stop their public activism altogether to protect themselves and their families. Numerous victims told LFJL that online violence had had negative psychological effects on them, such as anxiety, panic attacks, a sense of powerlessness and poor sleep and concentration, but it doesnt always end there.

Tragically, far too often in Libya online abuse has been followed by physical attacks includingenforced disappearancesand brutalkillings, committed in broad daylight, said LFJL Research Fellow Dr Olga Jurasz. Over 80% of survey respondents said that online violence against women was just as serious as offline violence.

While it is often difficult to identify perpetrators, 60% of respondents believed that OVAW in Libya is committed by state actors and affiliated militias, as well as private actors, with the sole aim of silencing women. As OVAW can result in significant mental suffering, when committed by state agents or their affiliates it may amount to torture in some cases.

Despite the scale of the problem, Libya does not have laws which specifically criminalise online or offline violence against women. Since 2011, several draft laws have been proposed to tackle violence against women, but all of those seen by LFJL fall short of international law and standards. For example, they did not cover violence committed online, did not address womens right to personal integrity, focused primarily on physical pain inflicted on the victim with disregard to psychological suffering, and did not ensure access to safety or redress for victims.

The Libyan authorities have also failed to carry out effective investigations under provisions of the Penal Code, which criminalise violence more broadly and could be used to hold perpetrators accountable, despite women reporting incidents to the police and prosecutors. This sends a clear message to the public and perpetrators that online violence against women will go unchecked.

Online violence is a weapon used to silence women, undermining respect for human rights and the rule of law, said Marwa Mohamed, LFJLs Head of Advocacy and Outreach. This issue needs to be given the attention it deserves. Libya must pass a law on gender-based violence, including online violence against women, and prosecute perpetrators in line with its international obligations under key human rights treaties.

While 76% of survey respondents said that social media platforms should also take responsibility for the issue, most had not reported such incidents or were not aware of the existence of complaints mechanisms. Where respondents had reported incidents, they also had to get groups of other users to report the issue before platforms would carry out investigations and delete abusive accounts. Several respondents told LFJL that one or two people reporting an abusive account would usually not prompt social media platforms to conduct investigations.

Social media platforms must do more to tackle abuse on their platforms, said Mohamed. As a first step, social media platforms must commit to the eradication of online violence against women by adopting a human rights-based approach, ensuring that data evidencing online violence against women is made available for use in investigations and legal proceedings aimed at establishing accountability.

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Urgent Action Needed to Address Shocking Levels of Online Violence Against Libyan Women: LJFL | - Libya Herald

By Sami Zaptia.

(Photo: TLBC).

London, 9 March 2021:

The Tripoli Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that it will participate in the Tunisian-Libyan Economic Forum on 11 March in the city of Sfax.

The event is organized by the Tunisian-African Business Council and more than 200 Tunisian and 100 Libyan business leaders will participate in it. They will be from the construction, trade, industry and services sectors.

The Tripoli Chamber reported that a number of ministers, deputy ministers, heads of government institutions and heads of chambers of commerce from various Libyan regions will also be present.

The forum, which will convene under the slogan We meet hope and challenge to build an integrated economy, will address a number of problems and difficulties facing businesses in the two countries and impede partnership relations, including the transport sector, logistical support, cash situations, flexibility of banking sector services with institutions and facilitation procedures by the concerned official institutions.

3rd Tunisian-Libyan Economic Forum, Sfax 11 March | (libyaherald.com)

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Tripoli Chamber to participate in the Tunisia-Libyan Economic Forum: 11 March, Sfax | - Libya Herald

Thu, Feb 18, 2021

MENASourcebyKarim Mezran

Geneva, Switzerland.- In the photos taken on February 5, 2021, the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (FDPL), sponsored by the UN, managed this Friday (5), after two failed votes, to elect a transitional government, in charge of overcome six years of civil war and lead Libya to elections on December 24. The list of four candidates that achieved the majority necessary to be elected in the third round was led by Mohammad Younes Menfi, who will be the president of the new Presidential Council, while Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi will be vice-presidents, and Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah Prime Minister.

The Libyan peoples hopes have been raised and lowered by a succession of events so often in the past decade that it seems foolish to get on a roller coaster of emotions again.

A fact-based and precise analysis cannot be anything but negative toward the real possibility of Libya re-establishing its statehood, unity, and stability while acquiring, for the first time in its history, a pluralist, transparent, and inclusive political system. There are plenty of facts to support this conclusion.

The Libyan state, though not completely failed, is very limited in its governing functionalities. Authority is fragmented through dozens if not hundreds of armed militias, criminal gangs, and extremist groups. In addition, Libya is also occupied by countless foreign mercenaries competing for power against each other to pursue unachievable total victory. This was most recently exemplified by an attack on the city of Tripoli, the United Nations-backed Government of National Accords (GNA) capital, by the forces of former General Khalifa Haftar on April 4, 2019. It is a clear example of a dominant, foolish attitude even though the situation is a zero-sum game. Even if Haftars forces could enter Tripoli, how did they plan to control a city of almost two million inhabitants who are hostile to Haftars force? It would have beena Pyrrhic victory of epic proportions.

On the positive side, there are significant new developments that raise hopes for a reversal of the negative trend that has plunged Libya into the current crisis sparked by Haftars April 2019 attack.

The intelligent and astute ways through which the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General Stephanie Williams led the divisive, weak, and riotous Libyan political class to establish the Libyan Political Dialogue Forums Advisory Committee is noteworthy. On February 5, 2021 in Geneva, it resulted in seventy-five representatives of the Libyan people successfully voting on a list of candidates to numerous positions, including president of the Presidential Council, which went to Mohammed al Manfi, and Prime Minister of a new government of national unity, which went to businessman Abdul Hamed Dbeiba .

This is undoubtedly a major outcome for many reasons that requires some time before it can be entirely and completely assessed. Nevertheless, even such a success would not be enough by itself. Thankfully, it is complemented by the apparent and hopefully long-lasting realignment of most international actorsincluding Egypt, Turkey, Italy, France, and the United Arab Emirateswho have intervened in the internal affairs of Libya and brought it to near collapse through their respective proxies. The necessity to obtain the withdrawal of these foreign entities from Libya has been evident for a long time and has been pursuedby various United Nations (UN) special envoys and by Williams relentless but unsuccessful predecessorGhassan Salame.

This situation of widespread foreign intervention suddenly mutated in the late Fall of 2020 when a change of positions occurred in the capitals of the various stakeholders. Haftars military defeat and, arguably, the election of a new US president, helped energize UN mediation and allowed for a rethinking of their involvement in Libya in many foreign capitals.

Russia, which has its forcesthe Wagner Groupentrenched in central Libya, ignored the complaints of their former proxy Haftar by accepting to limit their actions to a defensive posture, and showed much more interest in dealing with the GNA and its Turkish protectors. Egypt, the main supporters of the strongman of the East, as Haftar is mockingly called, is becoming dissatisfied with their policy of full support for the general and is displaying a readiness to engage with Tripoli to find a peaceful solution.

This same attitude has been followed by almost all other foreign actors involved in Libya. This alignment of foreign powers has been brought aboutat least in good partby the new Joe Biden administration, after four years of a confused, erratic, and ultimately self-defeating policy led by Donald Trump.

Its worth noting that even though President Biden has done very little in foreign policy, having only taken office on January 20, it is the attitude and the posture of the new American leadership that the Middle East and North Africa are currently taking note of. This was demonstrated by President Bidens first foreign policy declarations, which were directed against Saudi Arabias and the United Arab Emirates actions in regard to the civil war in Yemen.

The Biden administration aims not only to defend democracy and human rights, but to return to an effective US foreign policy determined to retain the American global position of primacy. This includes defending institutions that have supported it and, in doing so, rallying US allies around a renewed vision of multilateralism. The elites of the various regional powers in the Middle East, which believed that they could continue to pursue their own interests freely and ruthlessly because the US was de facto disinterested during Trumps presidency, have realized rapidly that the climate was changing and that a change of policies on their part was more convenient and safer.

Despite its marginality and irrelevance for USs interests, Libya has come to constitute the litmus test of this perceived change in the world political landscape. If this perception matures into an effective and permanent policy to support negotiated solutions acceptable to the Libyan people, then their pessimistic attitude could turn into a cautious optimism.

Karim Mezranis a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. Follow him on Twitter:@mezrank.

Fri, Dec 11, 2020

The politics of pandemics: Evolving regime-opposition dynamics in the MENA region.

ReportbyFrederick Kempe, Giampiero Massolo, Karim Mezran, Annalisa Perteghella, Emadeddin Badi, Yahia Mohamed Lamine Mestek, Hafsa Halawa, Abbas Kadhim, Gawdat Bahgat, Nadereh Chamlou

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The Biden administration may have hit the reset button in Libya - Atlantic Council