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Tripoli - The head of Libya's UN-backed unity government has announced a new political roadmap for his violence-wracked country, with presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in March 2018.

Political rivalry and fighting between militias have hampered Libya's efforts to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The Government of National Accord has been struggling to assert its authority since it began work in Tripoli in March 2016, with a rival administration based in the remote east refusing to recognise it.

"Presidential and parliamentary elections will be organised in March 2018," GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj said in a speech broadcast on television late on Saturday.

He said the polls aimed to elect a new president and parliament whose mandate will be of "three years maximum or until the drafting and organisation of a referendum for a constitution".

Sarraj spoke haltingly and sounded tired as he delivered his speech flanked by Libya's flag and behind him the slogan "Libya, together towards reconciliation and construction".

He outlined a nine-point roadmap which he said would help shake off years of security problems, division and economic woes, and was aimed at relaunching the Libya Political Agreement.

The UN-backed LPA agreed in 2015 by rival Libyan groups paved the way for the creation of the GNA.

Sarraj said the GNA would remain as a caretaker government until after the elections.

He said the lack of security in Libya was the most "thorny" issue facing the country, and regretted that his predecessors did not disarm militias after the 2011 revolt.

"We are now harvesting the fruits of these mistakes," said Sarraj.

"The time has come for unity and the rescuing of our nation."

Sarraj continues to face opposition despite receiving the backing of many political and military leaders.

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Libya PM calls for elections in March - News24

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium should withdraw its frigate from an EU mission to break up human trafficking networks near Libya because the presence of such vessels encouraged migrants to make the perilous journey across the central Mediterranean, the migration minister said.

Belgium has sent a frigate to take part in an EU operation to map and disrupt networks of people smugglers off the Libyan coast who send migrants toward Italy, often on ramshackle dinghies which are barely seaworthy.

While saving the migrants is not the core task of the military vessels that are part of the mission, they often have to do so.

"I personally think this operation should not be repeated because it is pure lunacy. There is no logic to it," migration minister Theo Francken told broadcaster VTM.

"It is not about whether we should save them or not. We should. But this creates an effect of drawing in migrants with more dead people as a result. It is a shame on Europe," Francken, who has a record of criticizing NGOs over their behavior in the Mediterranean, added.

A spokeswoman for the Belgian defense ministry said the country would continue to be part of the mission only if the Libyan government allowed EU vessels inside its waters, as foreseen in phase two of the EU operation.

In the first six months of 2017, some 85,000 people arrived on Italy's southern shores, a fifth more than in the same period last year, EU border agency Frontex said earlier this month.

Nationals of Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ivory Coast, which have a low likelihood of being recognized as asylum seekers in Europe, represented the highest number of arrivals, Frontex added.

Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Richard Balmforth

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Belgium should take frigate out of migration mission off Libya: minister - Reuters

i24NEWS

Egypt says it destroyed 15 arms-laden SUVs from Libya Sacramento Bee Egypt's military says its jet-fighters have destroyed 15 all-terrain vehicles carrying weapons and explosives along with "criminal elements" after they were detected getting ready to cross the Libyan border into Egypt. A military statement Sunday said ... Egypt kills nine militants in Sinai, destroys weapons convoy near Libyai24NEWS Egypt's army foils militants attempt to cross Libyan borderAhram Online Egyptian Air Force destroys terrorist supply convoy near Libyan borderAMN Al-Masdar News (registration) Xinhua all 11 news articles »

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Egypt says it destroyed 15 arms-laden SUVs from Libya - Sacramento Bee

The Libya Observer

Al-Sirraj says it's about time Libya's crisis ended, proposes a road map The Libya Observer The Head of the Presidential Council of the UN-proposed government, Fayez Al-Sirraj, said it is time to unite Libya and save it from the crisis it is going through, adding that everyone is to blame for what has become of the country nowadays. In a ... and more »

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Al-Sirraj says it's about time Libya's crisis ended, proposes a road map - The Libya Observer

Opec wants an orderly recovery in oil production from Libya, Nigeria and Iran and has a flexible output target under its cuts agreement to accommodate more crude from the three member nations, the groups secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo said. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was anticipating a revival in production from the three when it set a targeted output range from 32.5mn bpd to 33mn bpd under its November agreement, Barkindo told Bloomberg Television last week at a conference in Istanbul. Nigeria will support a cap on its production, the countrys Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Kachikwu told reporters in the capital Abuja. What we would like to see is an orderly recovery that would not disrupt significantly the re-balancing of the market, which is a very delicate process which has taken longer than expected because of the change in fundamentals, Barkindo said. By setting a range for the production ceiling, Opec was making provisions for the expected recovery of production from Libya, Nigeria and Iran, he said. Opec decided in November to reduce its output by 1.2mn bpd to 32.5mn starting January 1 to clear a global glut. Other producers including Russia joined the deal, which was extended through March 2018. Libya and Nigeria were both exempted from the cuts due to their internal strife, while Iran was allowed to raise production by 90,000 bpd as it was recovering from sanctions. Crude slid into a bear market last month amid concerns that cutbacks by Opec and allied producers are being partially offset by a rebound in supply from Libya and Nigeria and by US shale output. Benchmark Brent crude has dropped 17% this year. Opec pumped 32.6mn bpd in June, and its output exceeded demand in the first half of this year, according to a report the group issued last Wednesday. Compliance with the curbs needed to clear a global inventory surplus has faltered to its lowest level since they began in January, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Dramatic improvement in output from Libya and Nigeria diluted Opecs actual supply cut of 920,000 bpd in June, almost halving it to 470,000, the IEA said in a report. If Libya can sustain current production of about 1mn bpd, Nigeria builds on recent gains and the rest of Opec holds output steady, then the groups cuts could be eroded in July to less than 300,000 bpd, the Paris-based agency said. Libya and Nigeria may be asked to cap their output soon in an effort to help re-balance the market, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said on July 10. Both African nations are expected to send representatives to the next meeting of the Opec and non-Opec Joint Technical Committee on July 22 in Russia, Barkindo said. Opec recognises that Libya, Nigeria, and Iran have faced severe challenges, and it welcomes their increased production, he said. We are glad these countries are recovering fast. Nigerias output limit would come into play when the nation can pump at a stable rate of 1.8mn bpd, about 100,000 more than its currently producing, Kachikwu said. We still are below the 1.8mn bpd benchmark set for us by Opec, he said. I think that over the next one or two months, hopefully, we can get to that point where we can say the recovery has been tested, it is systemic and predictable. Nigeria will miss an Opec ministerial committee meeting in Russia scheduled for July 24, but Kachikwu plans to meet with Saudi Arabia and Russia after that, he said. Libyas output has risen to 1.05mn bpd, or 45,000 bpd more than the country was pumping at the beginning of July, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified for lack of authorisation to speak to the media. The nations output is at the highest level since June 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The global cuts accord between Opec and non-Opec producers faced headwinds in the first quarter this year and didnt cause crude stockpiles to decline fast enough, Barkindo said. The current market downturn is lasting longer than previous slumps, due largely to 700,000 bpd to 800,000 bpd of additional supply from the US, he said.

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Opec can absorb 'orderly recovery from Libya, Nigeria and Iran' - Gulf Times