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People rescued at sea by Mdecins sans Frontires and SOS Mditerrane. Photograph: Bram Janssen/AP

Three NGOs have suspended migrant rescues in the Mediterranean because of the increasingly hostile stance of the Libyan authorities and coastguard.

Save the Children and Germanys Sea Eye have joined Mdecins sans Frontires (MSF) in halting operations because they feel their crews can no longer work safely in what Sea Eye called a changed security situation in the western Mediterranean.

Libya has asserted its right to operate well beyond the territorial limit of 12 nautical miles, defending the move as necessary in order to control the rescue operations. Coastguard ships have repeatedly clashed with NGO vessels on the edge of Libyan waters, sometimes opening fire.

The crew of a rescue ship belonging to the Spanish aid group Proactiva Open Arms reported last week that the Libyan coastguard had fired warning shots while the vessel was in international waters. The Libyan coastguard told the ship not to come or we will shoot you, the charity said.

Marcella Kraay, a coordinator with MSF onboard Aquarius, a vessel chartered by the German-French charity SOS Mditerrane, told the Guardian: Obviously these incidents are something that concern us.

Shooting in the air is actually a very common message of crowd control its used to calm people down. What happened last week with Proactiva is not a big departure from the concerns we had before. We take this stuff very seriously in our security analysis.

But Kraay said the crews main concern was for people being sent back to lawless, violent Libya, and for those who remain trapped there. Migrants and refugees who have spent time in detention camps in Libya have reported appalling treatment including forced labour, beatings, torture and rape.

This is the real issue, Kraay added, saying fewer boats had appeared to be leaving in the past couple of weeks and there was evidence that many were being turned back. People in Libya are suffering immensely, their only way out is via the sea.

A Libyan coastguard official, Ayoub Qassem, said that in general, the country does not reject the NGOs presence, but we do demand from them more cooperation with the state of Libya. They should show more respect to Libyan sovereignty.

Sea Eye said it had reached its decision with a heavy heart. In a statement on the groups Facebook page, its founder, Michael Busch Heuer, said it would leave a deadly gap in the Mediterranean, adding that Libya had made an explicit threat against NGOs operating around its coast.

Save the Children said its rescue ship, the Vos Hestia, would stay in Malta until it received assurances from the Libyan authorities. The necessary pause in operations from charity rescue ships likes ours and others will undoubtedly put lives at risk, said the groups operations director, Rob MacGillivray.

Tensions have also been mounting for weeks between the aid groups, whose vessels have rescued nearly one-third of the 100,000 migrants who have landed in Italy this year, and the government of Italy, where public opinion is increasingly turning against migrants.

The Italian navy is providing technical and operational assistance to Libyas coastguard to increase its capacity to intercept migrant boats and return their passengers to Libya, while some politicians in Rome have suggested that certain NGOs may be actively facilitating people smuggling.

Rome has drawn up a strict code of conduct for NGOs at sea and prosecutors in Sicily have begun investigations against some they suspect of colluding with people smugglers. The Italian foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, said Libyas growing involvement was reducing people smuggling.

In an interview in La Stampa on Sunday, Alfano said Rome aimed to avoid deaths at sea by reducing departures from Libya. The governments policy was of taking away criminal earnings from traffickers, because fewer persons departing mean the traffickers earn less, to finance aid agencies working with refugees and migrants to assure respect for human rights in Libyan camps.

The vast majority of refugees and migrants reaching Europe this year have landed in Italy, according to the International Organisation for Migration. At least 2,242 people are thought to have died this year attempting to cross the western and central Mediterranean.

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Three NGOs halt Mediterranean migrant rescues after Libyan hostility - The Guardian

Tripoli - The former prime minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan, was kidnapped by gunmen from a hotel in the capital Tripoli on Sunday.

This was the second time that Zeidan was kidnapped from a hotel after he was forced out of Tripolis Corinthia Hotel at gunpoint in October 2013.

Members of Haytham Tajouris Tripoli Revolutionary Brigard (TRB) were alleged to be behind Zeidans latest kidnapping from the Victoria Hotel in Khaled Ben Waled Street, off Omar Mukhtar Street, the Libyan Herald reported.

There are unconfirmed reports that the TRB was executing a warrant issued by the attorney general Sadiq Al-Sour. There has as yet been no reaction from the Presidency Council (PC).

Zeidan left for Germany in March 2014 after he was fired by the-then Parliament, the General National Congress (GNC).

The former PM returned to Libya on several occasions, during one of which visits he claimed he was still prime minister. He returned again this year and told the media he had visited a number of towns and cities including Tobruk, Beida, Benghazi, Zintan, Sebha and Jufra.

After a visit to Sebha in July, reports filtered through that while on a visit to the town he had called for the division of Libya, claims that he strongly denied.

During his abduction in 2013 Zeidan was held for a few hours before being released. The previous abduction was blamed on two GNC members for Zawia, Mustafa Treiki and Mohamed Al-Kilani. In 2014 Kilani was killed in fighting with Warshefana forces. Kidnappings of politicians and citizens alike continue to plague Libya. In June the United Nations reported numerous cases of kidnappings, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual assault, mass killings and summary executions in all areas of Libya by several groups with and without official mandates. The assessment came in the UN Libyan Experts Panel final report presented to the Security Council. The 299-page report said that the (UN Libya Experts) Panel continues to receive frequent reports of serious human rights violations. The absence of the rule of law and institutional control over armed groups, some of which continue to operate under official mandates, have led to a deterioration of the human rights situation in Libya.

Detention conditions continue to be inhumane throughout Libya, and formal and informal detention centres are under the control of armed groups.

Arrests and detentions by armed groups do not respect due process. The Panel received numerous reports of kidnappings and arbitrary detentions used by armed groups for political or material benefit. Politicians, activists, bank employees and journalists are frequent targets, added the report.

African News Agency

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Former Libyan PM kidnapped in Tripoli - Independent Online

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Security sources affiliated to the units guarding the Sharara oil field in the southwest of the country confirmed the continuing of work and oil production in the field, denying any security breaches in the field or the surrounding area.A security officer in charge said that the oil field is "secure", accusing some media outlets of sedition and undermining destabilization. He also assured that the countrys only source of income is a red line.Earlier, field workers have confirmed the decline in production due to deteriorating security conditions in the vicinity of the field.

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Residents of the Al-Naqaza district, west of Al-Khums city, woke up to the tragic incident of the seven vacationers who drowned on the districts beach, which is known as a tourist destination during the summer.Rescue teams and local citizens recovered four bodies, while the three other bodies were still being sought.Earlier, the Civil Safety Department warned holidaymakers of the current weather vagaries and high sea tides during this week.

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Derna's security official, Yahya Al-Assi Omar, said that the body of the pilot Adel Al- Jahani, was handed over to his family on Monday after an agreement between Derna Council of Elders and dignitaries from the eastern region.He added that the city's hospitals are suffering a shortage in medical supplies and some important drugs such as pressure, diabetic and liquidity medications, in addition to 80% of the city's bakeries are closed because of lack of fuel shipments due to the continued siege imposed on the city.

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The Crises and Emergency Committee of the Ministry of Health has called Brega Oil Marketing Company to cooperate with all health facilities to provide the fuel needed to run the generators operating the facilities.The committee demanded the company to expedite fuel delivery due to the frequent interruption of electricity that lasts for hours, in order to preserve the life of patients.

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Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an independent, medical humanitarian organization, has announced a freeze on its rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.According to the head of the Italian section of the organization, Lauris de Felipe, the suspension came after threats by the Libyan Coast Guard and the policies adopted by the Italian government that impeded the function of the mission.He added that the Libyan authorities have called on the staff of international relief organizations to stand-off a distance of hundreds of kilometres away from their coasts despite that earlier activists were allowed to carry out search and rescue operations at 11 miles from the coast.

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The Libyan authorities has released 80 Tunisian citizens who had been held in a prison in the city of Al-Zawia on attempting illegal migration from the Libyan coast towards Italy.Human rights activist, Mustafa Abdelkabir, said in a press statement that negotiations were held with the Libyan authorities for four days for the release of the Tunisians before returning to their country through the Ras Ajdir border in a private bus on Friday.

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Sources close to the management of Tripolis Al-Ittihad FC confirmed that the club has made an official offer to the French coach Diego Garzitto to take over the substantive responsibility of the team ahead of the commencement of the Libyan Football League.The source added that the French coach tends to accept the offer and he will arrive in Libya in the coming days, especially after the tense relationship with his current Sudan team Al-Merikh, over his late dues for several months.

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News Roundup - Mon, Aug 14, 2017 - The Libya Observer

Commander of Dignity Operation, renegade General Khalifa Haftar, said on Monday his army would continue fighting against terrorists until it takes full control of the entire country.

During his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Haftar claimed that 90% of the countrys territoryis under his control, asking Russia to provide military assistance to his forces.

We are determined to continue our struggle until the army takes full control of the Libyan territory. He said.

He also accused head of Presidential Council Fayez Sirraj of violating Paris agreement.

Dignity Operation militants do not differentiate between the real terrorists and the political opponents, regarding them as two sides of the same coin.

For his part, Russia's top diplomat said all mediation efforts to end Libyas conflict should be based on the United Nations, adding that his country supports the political settlement and full-scale restoration of the statehood of Libya.

Khalifa Haftar arrived in Moscow on Saturday.

Continued here:
Eastern General vows to continue fighting to liberate Libya - The Libya Observer

Reuters

By Jessica Resnick-Ault

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled more than 2.5 percent on Monday in volatile trade, as dollar strength and weak domestic demand data in China hammered prices that had received a short-lived boost on concerns about potential reductions in crude supply from Libya.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures settled down $1.37 or 2.63 percent at $50.73.

"It is a strong dollar, concern about China demand, and weak volumes," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with Price Futures Group in Chicago.

The dollar rose broadly as traders unwound bearish bets against the U.S. currency that have come in the wake of increasing tensions with North Korea and underwhelming inflation data.

The absence of further abrasive rhetoric by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the weekend helped bring investors back to the dollar, analysts said.

Oil prices fell on news that refinery runs in China dropped in July.

Analysts said the drop was steeper than expected, exacerbating concerns that a glut of refined fuel products could weaken Chinese demand for oil.

Efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers to limit output have helped lift Brent past $50 a barrel. Still, analysts and traders worry that U.S. output could undermine efforts to cut production.

U.S. shale output is expected to rise again in September, according to U.S. data issued late in the session. U.S. shale oil production for September which includes a new regional data input, is forecast to rise by 117,000 barrels per day to 6.15 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

Trade was volatile, with prices falling early on the Chinese demand data, then retracing losses after Libya's national oil corporation said it was investigating security violations at the country's largest oil field. A disruption from the 270,000 bpd Sharara field could cut supplies from producer group OPEC. The NOC did not specify whether the violations had affected output at the field.

Rising production in Libya has added to the global crude glut. The OPEC member country is exempt from the global deal to cut output and has been trying to regain pre-war production levels.

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Oil prices fall 2 pct on oversupply upstages Libya concerns - Nasdaq