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June 28, 2017, 8:39 AM EDT

Libyan oil shipments are poised to hit the highest in at least three years in the latest sign the North African country is managing to sustain a production revival.

Exports are on course to reach about 715,000 barrels a day this month, the most since July 2014, when Bloomberg began monitoring Libyan shipments, tanker-tracking data show. With relatively limited capacity to process that crude in its domestic refineries, the shipments have been moving in lock-step with production.

Libyas surging output is a key factor helping to undermine the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries efforts to reduce global supply and increase oil prices. The group met last week in Vienna to discuss how to deal with rising production in Libya and Nigeria -- both OPEC nations exempt from supply curbs -- rather than deepening output cuts by other members. U.S. production climbing to the highest since August 2015 has further derailed OPECs efforts.

Exports from Libya are recovering with Sharara, the countrys largest oil field, resuming output, as well as the fields operated by Wintershall AG. The country was pumping 902,000 barrels a day as of June 20, according to the state National Oil Corp. It would be the highest level since June 2013.

The NOC and Germany-based Wintershall agreed earlier this month to restart production in some areas, allowing for crude to flow again from the Agkhara deposit. The deal also allowed Libyas Sarah oil field to resume output, according to a person familiar with the situation. Sharara was pumping 270,000 barrels a day as of the start of last week.

So far this month, 30 cargoes comprising 25 Aframax-class tankers and five Suezmaxes have loaded from Libyan ports, totaling 20.03 million barrels, according to Bloomberg estimates. An additional five tankers are set to load in the coming days.

Italy is the most popular destination for Libyan barrels, accounting for 10 of Junes shipments. A further six headed to Spain, and two cargoes each were shipped to France, Greece, the U.K. and the U.S.

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Libyan Crude Gushes Into Tankers as Nation's Output Accelerates ... - Bloomberg

Call to all residents of Libya to reduce energy consumption The Libya Observer The General Electricity Company has pleaded with citizens, factory owners and companies to reduce their energy consumption as much as possible during the coming days. The company is doing its best to make citizens more aware in order to maintain some ...

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Call to all residents of Libya to reduce energy consumption - The Libya Observer

TUNIS Hundreds of fighters from Chad and Sudan's Darfur region are feeding off instability in Libya, battling for rival factions, seeking to build rebel movements and engaging in banditry and arms trafficking, Geneva-based researchers said on Tuesday.

Failure to secure peace deals and reintegrate rebels in Chad and Sudan has led to a "market for cross-border combatants" linking those two countries and Libya, said a report by the Small Arms Survey group.

With desert regions already crisscrossed by Islamist militants, people smugglers and arms traffickers, there is a growing risk of destabilization unless long marginalized communities can be integrated, it says.

The 179-page report largely focuses on the Teda, or Tebu, people inhabiting the Tibesti mountains in northern Chad that fringe the borders of Libya and Niger. They have played a central role in rebellions in all three countries.

Their most recent insurrection in Chad ended in 2011, but the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi the same year drew them in, providing easy access to weapons.

"This chaos attracts fighters - including armed opposition forces - from northern Chad and Darfur, and is already having repercussions in Chad and Sudan," the report said.

"The ChadSudanLibya triangle has once again become the center of a regional system of conflicts. A notable consequence of these conflicts has been the re-emergence since 2011 of a regional market for cross-border combatants."

Since 2012, a series of gold rushes from Darfur in the east to Algeria in the west had further destabilized the region.

FLUID MILITARY ALLIANCES

Chad and Sudan support opposing armed factions in Libya, where loose and shifting rival alliances have been battling for power since 2014, creating rival governments in Tripoli and the east of sprawling Libya. Rebels from both countries have mostly aligned with their respective government's enemies.

Competing Libyan armed factions frequently accuse each other of deploying mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa.

A U.N.-backed government that arrived in the Libyan capital last year was meant to unify warring factions, but has largely failed to exert its authority.

Some 1,500 Sudanese fighters may currently be in Libya, mostly deployed with forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, said Jerome Tubiana, a co-author of the report.

About 1,000 Chadians are based with anti-Haftar forces, and several hundred more are either trying to stay neutral or are willing to work for either said, he said.

The report cited several examples of Chadian and Sudanese groups being stationed in the central desert region of Jufra, a recent flashpoint for fighting between pro-Haftar forces and their foes, and in Benghazi, where Haftar's forces have been waging a long campaign against Islamists and other opponents.

The report argued that military-focused efforts to stabilize the region are unlikely to work, calling for socio-economic policies to integrate the Teda.

"The Libyan crisis and the issue of a jihadist presence in the Sahara will not be resolved by a military intervention in southern Libya or by placing Western soldiers along porous and virtually non-existent borders," it said.

"The importance of the presence of the three states (Libya, Chad and Niger), not only militarily, but also in terms of providing services and development, cannot be underestimated."

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

MOSCOW/KIEV/WASHINGTON A major global cyber attack disrupted computers at Russia's biggest oil company, Ukrainian banks and multinational firms with a virus similar to the ransomware that infected more than 300,000 computers last month .

JAKARTA Indonesian authorities have imposed a travel ban on tycoon and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who is building resorts to be managed by Trump hotels, over an investigation into allegations he threatened a prosecutor via a text message.

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Hundreds of fighters from Chad, Darfur feeding off Libya's turmoil: report - Reuters

18:51 Monday 26 June 2017

A bill aimed trying to get compensation for victims of Libyan-backed IRA terror had its first reading in the House of Lords on Monday the first step on its way to potentially becoming law.

The proposer of the bill UUP peer Reg Empey said the DUP has been supportive of it, and he likewise expects support from Labour and Conservative quarters.

However, he indicated he is disappointed not to have seen some mention of any bid to attain compensation for victims of Gaddafi-sanctioned terror in Mondays deal between the DUP and Conservatives.

The bill is called the Asset Freezing (Compensation) Bill, and was introduced to the House at about 3.30pm.

Its aim is to give the UK Treasury access to an estimated sum of roughly 9.5billion, made up of assets of the former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The money is held in the UK, and is frozen.

Gaddafi a major funder of the IRA was killed in 2011 as an uprising against him plunged his north African nation into turmoil.

Lord Empeys previous effort to pass such a bill fell due to the suspension of Parliament for the snap election.

The next reading of the new bill could come in autumn, he said.

People have to understand youve got to be persistent, he told the News Letter.

Lord Empey said he envisages that only a relatively small proportion of the estimated 9.5bn would be used to compensate IRA victims.

Longer term, he added he would like to see a fund set up to aid Gaddafis victims in the UK and Libya alike, with both governments plus western companies which have Libyan contracts paying into it.

Obviously, the biggest number of victims of Gaddafi are in Libya, he said, adding that he is not aiming for a smash and grab on the Gaddafi reserves.

However, he said he feels the Treasury is likely to oppose his bill, because they will not want to upset the reputation of the City of London as a place to bring money.

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New IRA-Libya compensation bill makes its first appearance - Belfast Newsletter

The International Criminal Court has demanded that Libya hand over former leader Muammar Gaddafis son Saif after his release by an armed militia, but it is the court, not Saif, which should be on trial.

One word tells you all you need to know about the ICC, and thats Isis. These terrorists have perpetuated the most appalling crimes in Libya, not least the ritual execution filmed and uploaded onto its website of Egyptian Coptic Christians on a beachfront two years ago. The result? No indictments from the ICC.

The ICC is a kangaroo court if ever there was one, and its pursuit of Saif smacks of politics. Consider that for years he pushed for reforms in Libya, and consider also that he commanded no military nor police units. Indeed he was not in a position to commit war crimes. And yet The Hague wants him for crimes against humanity.

As to the Saif prosecution, where is the evidence? Leaked e-mails show his role in trying to hold back the fighting in the 2011 revolution.

One of Hillary Clintons e-mails Unclassified US Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05792027 Date: 01/07/2016 Release in Part B6states:

Sent Sunday, February 27, 2011 10:10am: The moderates, led by Saif al-Islam Qaddafi favour aggressive police anti-riot tactics but are opposed to the use of deadly force. Saif is also calling for negotiations with tribal leaders in the east, including members of the former royal family.

Additionally, consider how the ICC treated Abdullah al Senussi, Gaddafi seniors former intelligence chief, who was also charged by the ICC.

However, the ICC agreed Libya could try him, and raised no objections when that trial degenerated into a free-for-all with militias guarding the courtroom and intimidating witnesses.

That Tripoli trial went from bad to farce when themilitia group Zintan, who to be fair never mistreated Saif, refused to hand him over to Tripoli. So instead, Tripoli court officials arranged for a video link with Zintan so he could be tried. That video link broke down multiple times and in the end Saif and Zintan just refused to take part. No matter; the Tripoli judges sentenced him to death, with no public evidence ever produced.

The ICC pursuit of Saif Gaddafi is a travesty of justice

Detractors argue correctly that the ICC is Africa-focused and ignores Syrians, Iraqis, Sri Lankans, Israelis, British and Americans who are deemed safe.

After all, you dont hear of the ICC considering bringing Tony Blair to justice.

Clearly, the ICC is broken. Outside legal interference by a moribund ICC is negative, and supporters of such a move are exhibiting exceedingly poor judgment.

This is not an academic matter because Saif Gaddafi, newly free and at an undisclosed location in Libya, has a part to play in ending the civil war.

The ICC pursuit of Saif is a travesty of justice. The only reason ICC judges make outrageous rulings is because it is in effect ruling against Africa; because against Africans, you can do anything without fear of a backlash.

The Hague-based bogus ICC is a dishonourable court doing dishonourable things. What a tragedy for international criminal justice.

It has been said that the ICC is a political court; a political court that must be fought politically. The ICC has nothing to do with international criminal justice. It is a kangaroo court covertly receiving direct instructions from powerful Western neocolonial powers that jokingly dont themselves accept the rulings of the ICC.

In a way, the ICC is Europes equivalent of Guantanamo Bay. A court calling itself such in name only. Its judges, prosecutors et al, should resign instead of shamelessly drawing huge salaries and engaging in outrageous, procedural, racist, illegal, unnecessary and meaningless activities, which are politically motivated.

Several newspapers, and Reuters, reported in February 2011 that Saif advocated holding back in fighting with rebels in Libya and of his hopes for a ceasefire.

Saif may well help unify Libya and bring peace to the war-riven country. Heshould be free of meddling by The Hague and Western powers to do so if he so chooses.

The US is not a party to the Rome Statute. Therefore the ICC cannot conduct investigative activities in the US nor have any real jurisdiction over its citizens except under extraordinary circumstances which to date have never occurred.

The seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, the US and Yemen.

Following 60 ratifications, the Rome Statute entered into force on July 1, 2002, when the International Criminal Court was formally established. The UKs position as regards the ICC is selective and ambiguous.

So in conclusion in the name of justice, the ICC must be reformed and restructured, because it is there where the core problem lies.

Richard Galustian is a British political and security advisor based in MENA countries for nearly 40 years.

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The ICC and Libya - Times of Malta