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THE day before he ordered the US military to intervene in Libyas civil warwithout securing a constitutionally mandated authorization from CongressPresident Barack Obama, with presumably unintended irony, attempted to sound poetic about the need to defend democratic values in the nation then ruled by Muammar Gaddafi.

Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Gaddafi would commit atrocities against his people, Obama said.

Many thousands could die, he said. A humanitarian crisis would ensue. The entire region could be destabilized, endangering many of our allies and partners. The calls of the Libyan people for help would go unanswered.

The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun, he said.

Obamas Libyan allies did overthrow Gaddafi. But did democratic values triumph in Libya? What about US national security interests?

The State Departments most recent country reports on terrorismdescribing the situation in 2015, four years after Gadhafis removaldeclared that violent extremist groups operate with impunity throughout Libya. A Congressional Research Service report published this March made a similar assessment.

Criminals and violent Islamist extremists have exploited these conditions, said CRS, and the latter have strengthened their military capabilities and advanced their agendas inside Libya and beyond its borders.

Obamas decision to intervene in Libyas civil war harmed the interests of both the Libyan and American people. Now, the question is: Should the United States intervene in Syrias civil waronce again siding with rebels who oppose an authoritarian leader who has used evil means to maintain his power?

Last month, after an engagement between pro-Syrian regime forces and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the US shot down a Syrian military aircraft over Syrian territory.

A statement put out by Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led coalition operating in Syria and Iraq, said the coalition was not trying to fight the Syrian regime by shooting down its warplane.

The coalitions mission is to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria, said the statement. The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat.

Yet, in April, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described a step-by-step strategy for US-backed regime change in Syriaa regime change he envisioned would remove both IS and Assad and begin to create the sort of stable, peaceful government in Syria that Obama envisioned for post-Gaddafi Libya.

Overall, the situation in Syria is one where our approach today and our policy today is, first, to defeat IS, Tillerson said, according to a White House transcript.

By defeating IS we remove one of the disruptive elements in Syria that exists today, he said. That begins to clarify for us opposition forces and regime forces.

So, its to defeat IS; its to begin to stabilize areas of Syria, stabilize areas in the south of Syria, stabilize areas around Raqqa through ceasefire agreements between the Syrian regime forces and opposition forces, he said.

Stabilize those areas; begin to restore some normalcy to them. Restore them to local governanceand there are local leaders who are ready to return, some who have left as refugeestheyre ready to return to govern these areas.

Use local forces that will be part of the liberation effort to develop the local security forceslaw enforcement, police force, Tillerson said.

In the midst of that, through the Geneva Process, we will start a political process to resolve Syrias future in terms of its governance structure, he said, and that ultimately, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Bashar al-Assads departure.

Despite the similarity between this administrations desire to see Assads departure and the last administrations desire to see Gaddafis, it would be a mistake to see Libya and Syria as similar nations.

Libya, according to the CIA World Factbook, is 96.6 percent Muslim and they are virtually all Sunni. It sits in Africa, separated by wide deserts and the significant regional power of Egypt, from Israel and the heartland of the Middle East.

Syria is 87 percent Muslim. But its Muslim population is divided between 74 percent who are Sunni and a combined 13 percent who are Ismailis, Shiites and Alawitesthe sect of the Assad family.

Ten percent of Syrians are Christianstargeted for genocide by the Islamic State, not Assad. Three percent are Druze.

Syria borders Lebanon Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Israel.

Pointing to the precedent set in the 12th century by Nur ad-Din and Salah ad-Din, al-Qaida leader Ayman al Zawahiri has cheered on the Syrian rebellionseeing Islamist control of Damascus and Cairo as strategic precursors to the conquest of Jerusalem.

After pursuing regime change in both Iraq and Libya, we have not been able to establish stability in either of these countries or deny their territory to terrorists.

This does suggest a basic rule that can be applied to Syria: A Middle Eastern regime that does not come to power through its own power cannot retain power. Nor restrain terrorists.CREATORS.COM

Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com.

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Will Syria be the next Libya or worse? - The Manila Times

Libya and Nigeria, which have both boosted oil production since they were exempt from global cuts this year, may be asked to cap their crude output soon in an effort to help re-balance the market, Kuwait Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers have invited the two African nations to their committee meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 24 to discuss the stability of their production,Almarzooq said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Istanbul. Almarzooq is chairman of the committee monitoring the compliance of OPEC and non-OPEC suppliers with output cuts that started in January and have been extended to March.

Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

We invited them to discuss the situation of their production, Almarzooq said. If they are able to stabilize their production at current levels, we will ask them to cap as soon as possible. We dont need to wait until the November meeting to do that, he said, referring to the upcoming OPEC meeting scheduled for Nov. 30.

Crude sank into bear territory last month amid concerns the cutbacks by producers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies are being partially offset by a rebound in supply by Libya, Nigeria and U.S. shale output. Libya and Nigeria were both exempt from the cuts due to their internal strife.

The two countries came into focus after they seemed to resolve some of the political challenges that had slashed their production. Libyas oil output has climbed to more than 1 million barrels a day for the first time in four years. Nigerias production rose 50,000 barrels a day in June, according to a Bloomberg survey.

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Capping Libya and Nigeria might help but wont cut the supply by much, Abdulsamad Al-Awadhi, a London-based analyst and Kuwaits former representative to OPEC, said Monday by phone. OPEC needs to have better compliance, and it must respect the right of Libya and Nigeria to go back to the market. Other countries that raised output while Libya and Nigeria are out should do more and give space to these two countries to go back to the market.

KuwaitsAlmarzooq said he sees the oil market moving in the right direction. Growth in the number of operational oil rigs has started to slow, and crude inventories are declining, he said. Benchmark Brent crude, which has fallen 17 percent this year, gained as much as 47 cents on Monday in London and was trading at $46.94 a barrel at 7:24 a.m. local time.

Output at older oil fields from China to North America -- comprising a third of world supply -- fell 5.7 percent last year, the most since 1992, according to Rystad Energy AS. It will drop about 6 percent in 2017 if oil stays at current prices, the consultant said. U.S. crude drillers increased the rig count last week by 7 to 763, Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday.

Giving Libya and Nigeria exemptions to production cuts was a collective decision, and any proposal to include them in OPECs plans will also require a joint decision, Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo told reporters at the event in Istanbul. He said it is still too early to discuss steeper cuts by the group and its allies.

The OPEC/non-OPEC ministerial monitoring committee will discuss the impact of the output curbs on the market at the July 24 meeting, Almarzooq said. Deepening the reductions under the current agreement is not on the agenda, he said.

It is too early to discuss deeper output cuts by OPEC/non-OPEC producers participating in the agreement to curb production,Almarzooq said. We just finished the meeting in May and we need to give it more time.

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Libya, Nigeria May Be Asked to Cap Oil Output, Kuwait Says - Bloomberg

TRIPOLI Heavy clashes erupted on Sunday between rival factions on the coastal road east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to a witness and local reports.

The clashes broke out when an armed group opposed to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli tried to approach the capital and were confronted by forces that have aligned themselves with the GNA, the witness said.

The fighting exposes the GNA's vulnerability to militias that gained influence during and after Libya's 2011 uprising.

The anti-GNA forces, which are aligned with a previous, self-declared government, were driven from Tripoli late in May and have been trying to regroup. The GNA recently issued a warning about a counter-attack on the capital.

Since the GNA arrived in Tripoli last year it has co-opted some of the many armed groups that had a presence in the capital. But it has made little progress integrating them and the security situation has remained highly volatile.

Groups aligned with the self-declared national salvation government and largely drawing on support from the western city of Misrata have battled to hold their ground.

The two sides clashed on Sunday near the coastal town of Garabulli, about 50 km (30 miles) east of Tripoli.

"The ground is shaking under my feet," said a resident who asked not to be named. "The noise from the clashes is so loud that I think the groups fighting are using heavy artillery."

GNA-aligned brigades closed the coastal road in Tajoura, an eastern suburb of Tripoli, and built sand barriers to try to block their rivals' advance.

Local authorities were advising residents to evacuate and stay away from the area. The U.N. mission to Libya urged both sides to refrain from further escalation.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Edmund Blair)

MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday and congratulated the armed forces for their "victory" over Islamic State after nearly nine months of urban warfare, bringing an end to jihadist rule in the city.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., agreed to meet with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 election campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing three advisers to the White House.

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Heavy clashes break out east of Libya's capital - Reuters

A member of the Libyan National Army fires his weapon in Benghazi's central Akhribish district on July 6, 2017. AFP / Abdullah Doma

BENGHAZI // Extremists are still battling Libyan forces in Benghazi days after strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled army declared victory in the eastern city.

ColMiloud Zwei, spokesman for Haftar's Libyan National Army, said on Sundaythe fighting persisted in the district of Soug Al Jarid, located between the central neighbourhoods of Soug Al Hout and Al Sabri, the extremists' last strongholds.

Col Zwei said 20 LNA soldiers have been killed by "terrorists" who had been hiding in houses since Haftar on Wednesday announced the "total liberation" of Benghazi.

Three others were killed on Sunday in mine blasts as soldiers carried out search operations in Al Sabri and Soug Al Hout, he added.

Col Zwei said LNA forces had killed several jihadists and arrested 17 since Wednesday.

Field Marshal Haftar declared war on extremists in Benghazi three years after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Libyan dictator Muammer Qaddafi.

Code-named Operation Dignity, the offensive targeted several jihadists groups which had overrun Benghazi after the uprising.

These include the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, an alliance of Islamist militias among them suspected members of the Islamic state group and the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Al Sharia.

On Sunday, he was in the UAE for talks with top UAE leaders on military cooperation, state media in Abu Dhabi reported.

Haftar does not recognise the authority of the UN-backed Government of National Accord based in the capital Tripoli, instead backing an alternate government set up in the country's east.

After he announced that extremists forces were driven from Benghazi, thousands of residents took to the streets of Libya's second city to celebrate.

But on Sunday the LNA urged residents to avoid entering the "liberated areas" of the city, where they said mines were still being cleared.

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Extremists battle Libya forces in 'liberated' Benghazi - The National

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The Coast Guard of the Libyan Navy, rescued eighty African migrants from various nationalities off the coast of Castelverde yesterday, after receiving information of their presence from Libyan fishermen. Among those rescued were 20 women and 7 children, said naval spokesman, Colonel Ayoub Qasim, adding that the Coast Guard rushed to the scene where the boat had crashed. Those still afloat were clinging to the driftwood created by the crushed boat. The scene was six miles north of the castelverde, and 10 Libyan fishermens boats participated in the rescue.

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Zuara Municipal Council held a meeting with members of the Red Cross organization at the Zuara Guest House. According to the Councils Facebook page, some of the topics discussed at the meeting were illegal immigration and what the Red Cross could provide the municipality to help tackle it. It was also stated that the Red Cross provided assistance, including supply of body bags and other special items for dealing with corpses. It was agreed that a meeting would be held at a later date to organize future health training courses.

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Four children, four women and three men departed yesterday evening from Matiga International Airport destined for Tunisia to receive urgent healthcare after severe injuries sustained at the beach incident on the Shat Road. The Central Operations Room of the Ministry of Health had announced earlier that the final count after an accidental shell struck innocent beachgoers on the Shat Road was 32 wounded and 5 deaths.

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One of the members of the Dialogue Committee of the House of Representatives, Ziad Daghim, said he was surprised at statements made by the First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emhamed Shoaib. Shoaib described meetings in the Netherlands between the delegations of the House of Representatives and the High Council State as contrary to all expectations, and a deviation from the political agreement, causing confusion. Daghim stressed in a press statement that the provisions of the agreement limited the right to amend between the two sides without specifying who would supervise such amendments or where and when they would take place.

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The President of the Presidential Council Fayez Sarraj revealed that his governments contacts of the highest level have made contact with Saudi authorities to release the Libyan detainees who originate from the city of Zawiyah. The detainees were arrested at Jeddah airport after performing Ummrah. The details were released after the meeting between Sarraj and his Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala and attended by a delegation of representatives of the city of Zawiyah and a number of the families of the detainees in Tripoli last Saturday.

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UN proposed government, Mohamed Sayala, discussed the return of the Spanish companies to complete suspended projects contracted before 2011 in the oil sector. Sayala called for facilitating the Spanish visa to Libyans, especially the sick and wounded, and to help Libyan students to study and train in Spain. This came during his meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister on the sidelines of his participation in the International Ministerial Conference on Illegal Immigration held in Rome.

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Unknown gunmen assassinated the head of the security department of Gharyan, Colonel Abd AlRazzaq Amish, on his way home on Saturday evening. Colonel Amish was shot dead and died instantly in front of his house with the perpetrators yet to be determined. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Abd Salam Ashour, denied there were any threats to Colonel Amishs life and his feeling is that the murder is unlikely to have any political dimensions.

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Corinthia Hotel management will begin opening reservations for hotel guests by the beginning of August, according to Corinthia Hotel representative. The representative added that all relevant measures have been taken to resume work, reopen reservations and welcome both domestic and international guests. The hotel management said that they have secured and provided all amenities at the hotel which has only recently reopened up for reservations of wedding ceremonies, hosting conferences, forums and workshops after it was all closed after being targeted by ISIS late 2014.

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A workshop on partnership with the Municipal Council of Sirte on building the vision of reconstruction and development was organized by the Tunisian Republican Institute and concluded in Tunis on Saturday evening. The workshop ended up with a series of recommendations on security, reconstruction, local economic recovery, community reconciliation and development. The workshop was attended by the Mayor of the Municipality of Sirte Mokhtar Al-Madani, members of the Municipal Council, experts, consultants and representatives of civil society organizations.

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News Roundup - Sun, Jul 9, 2017 - The Libya Observer