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Abdel Hakim Belhaj pictured in 2011 in Tripoli, Libya. He and his wife are suing those alleged to have been involved in their 2004 abduction. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

A husband and wife who were victims of a joint MI6-CIA rendition operation have been plunged into a Kafkaesque nightmare by the attempt to have their claim against the former foreign secretary Jack Straw heard in secret, the high court has been told.

Abdel Hakim Belhaj, a Libyan dissident, and his wife, Fatima Bouchar, who were abducted in 2004 and flown against their will to Tripoli, are suing Straw and the former MI6 counter-terrorism chief Sir Mark Allen as well as MI6 and the Foreign Office (FCO) for their alleged role in the operation.

Their claim is supported by a mass of documents discovered during the 2011 Libyan revolution, which detail the way in which Allen and MI6 took credit for the tip-off that enabled the CIA to kidnap the couple in Bangkok and fly them to one of Muammar Gaddafis prisons.

Government lawyers tried to persuade the supreme court to strike out the claim, but failed and are now asking the high court to agree to have much of the case heard in secret under the terms of the controversial Justice and Security Act.

The high court has heard that MI6 and the FCO have not given any indication even during secret sessions whether they intend to contest the allegations.

Absent that, we are in a wholly Kafkesque situation in which I do not know the response of the defendants to the most basic points, said Richard Hermer QC, for Belhaj and Bouchar.

The claim is based on documents that have been reported upon globally and never challenged, said Hermer, adding that the CIAs post-9/11 rendition programme is so widely understood that a hearing in open court would not damage UK-US relations.

The exceptionally serious allegations were supported by a wealth of evidence, and hearing the case in secret raises a very serious risk of dragging justice into disrepute, he said.

Rory Phillips QC, for the government, Straw and Allen, said the open justice principle was important, but parliament has recognised there is a higher public interest in allowing the government to defend itself more fully under the provisions of the Justice and Security Act.

Straw denies the allegations against him and has said he welcomed the chance to defend himself.

However, Phillips said that if the high court did not agree that the governments evidence was so sensitive that it should be presented only in secret, the government might still forbid Straw and Allen from relying upon it, meaning they would be in breach of the Official Secrets Act if they attempted to do so in open court.

The judge, Mr Justice Popplewell, described this scenario as having rather troubling ramifications.

Bouchar had been pregnant at the time of the abduction. She was released from prison shortly before giving birth. Her husband, who had been a leading member of an anti-Gaddafi militia, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), was detained for six years.

He alleges he was severely tortured throughout this time. He also says he was interrogated by British intelligence officers, who indicated to him that they knew he was being tortured.

A second LIFG leader was also abducted and flown to Tripoli along with his wife and four children. His damages claim against the British government was settled when he was paid 2.2m. Belhaj says he will settle for 1, but insists he and his wife also receive an apology.

Separately to the damages claim, lawyers for Belhaj and Bouchar are seeking a judicial review of the decision to not bring criminal charges against Allen. The decision was announced last year by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following a lengthy Scotland Yard investigation.

Hermer told the high court that the CPS announcement had confirmed that the British government had been involved in the couples rendition. He said it also confirmed that Allen was the suspect in the police investigation, and that he had sought political authority for some, but not all, of his actions. This authority must have been sought from Jack Straw, as foreign secretary, Hermer said.

Popplewell will make a decision on the governments secrecy application later in the year.

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Libya rendition case is 'Kafkaesque nightmare' for victims, court told - The Guardian

Oil ended modestly higher Monday as news that Libya and Nigeria have been invited to join OPECs meeting with other major producers later this month provided support to futures prices, which suffered from a drop of nearly 4% last week.

The two countries had been exempted from the pact among major oil producers, led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, to limit global production and ease a glut of oil that has plagued the industry.

The belief is that rising Libyan and Nigerian output are undermining both the efforts at rebalancing the market and the unity of the OPEC/non-OPEC coalition, Michael Lynch, president of president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, told MarketWatch.

Whether the group can extract more than some promises [from Libya and Nigeria] remains doubtful at this point, he said. But it is also doubtful whether Nigeria and Libya can continue growing their production.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August West Texas Intermediate crude CLQ7, +0.23% tacked on 17 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $44.40 a barrel, after tapping a low of $43.65. September Brent LCOU7, +0.60% on Londons ICE Futures exchange, also added 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $46.88.

Prices for WTI and Brent settled Friday at their lowest levels since June 26, according to FactSet data.

Late last week, oil reversed much of the gains seen during the two-week rally from late June, losing nearly 3% on Friday alone, as global oil output remained robust though demand was flat, leaving inventories near historic highs.

Providing some support for oil prices, however, OPEC is considering putting a cap on how much oil members Nigeria and Libya can pump, cartel delegates said.

Its quite remarkable how the supply cut exemptions from some OPEC members have come back to punish the cartel, as production in June climbed to the highest level so far in 2017, said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a daily note. With the increasing output from Nigeria and Libya threatening to disrupt the efforts made by the rest of the group to rebalance the markets and not being something that was priced in, the price of oil could remain under pressure.

Libyas crude-oil output has surged to more than one million barrels a day, up from 400,000 in October, while Nigerias output has risen to 1.6 million barrels a day, up from 200,000 barrels a day in October, according to JBC, a Vienna-based energy-industry consultancy.

The two OPEC members have now been invited to a meeting of major oil producers thats planned for July 24 in Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal Monday. The story cited comments from Kuwaits oil minister on the sidelines of an Istanbul oil conference.

Still, the main point of concern for investors is rising U.S. production. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. production increasing to nearly 9.34 million barrels a day last week, up from 9.25 million barrels a day the week prior. Production was up nearly 11% from a year ago and nearly back at its 10-month high.

Fridays updated rig count from Baker Hughes Inc. BHGE, -1.79% also point to production increases. Oil producers added seven more rigs to their working fleet, rising to 763, up more than double from the 351 at work a year ago.

Elsewhere on Nymex, prices for petroleum products inched higher. August gasoline RBQ7, -0.10% rose under half a cent to $1.501 a gallon, while August heating oil HOQ7, +0.04% added just over a half penny to $1.454 a gallon.

August natural gas NGQ17, -0.17% settled at $2.929 per million British thermal units, up 6,5 cents, or 2.3%.

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Oil notches a gain as traders weigh output-cap prospects for Libya and Nigeria - MarketWatch

The policy, if approved, would aim to further the existing US goal of supporting reconciliation between rival factions in eastern and western areas of Libya. The policy could also lead to the eventual re-opening of the US embassy and the establishing of a new intelligence sharing effort led by US special forces, according to the officials.

If approved, this would be the latest country in which President Donald Trump is expanding the US counterterrorism effort.

The new approach could lead to more regular visits to Libya by diplomatic personnel, including the US ambassador, who has not been stationed in the country because of the unstable situation.

The US is also considering re-establishing a presence in Benghazi after a 2012 attack that killed four Americans -- and also re-establishing a coordination center for some US forces and Libyan officials to facilitate counterterrorist intelligence sharing. US troops could also carry out a training and advisory role in conjunction with Libyan forces.

It's also expected that if approved, up to 50 US special operations troops could be sent to Libya on a rotating basis to share counterintelligence information.

Officials caution all of this could take months to implement and intelligence sharing and training efforts in Somalia are seen as the model for the new policy.

Small teams of US military and intelligence personnel have gone in and out of Libya in recent years for just a few days at a time to meet and share information with Libyan counterparts.

But it is significant that a more permanent US presence is being considered for the first time since the US closed its embassy in Tripoli in 2014 after the situation deteriorated following the 2012 attack at the US compound in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

On a practical level, these new strategy goals will be difficult to achieve, the official acknowledged.

The critical challenge continues to be forming a broad national government that would be accepted by both the internationally accepted Government of National Accord led by Prime Minister al Sarraj which controls much of the west of Libya and the Libyan National Army headed by Kalifa Haftar which dominates the east. The official said that the new policy calls for closer cooperation and intelligence sharing with Haftar.

While the intelligence sharing would largely focus on counterterrorism, the US is likely to provide assistance to Libya to address the migration crisis in the country.

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US military considers ramping up Libya presence - CNN International

12:53 Monday 10 July 2017

The government has missed a deadline to respond to critical recommendations that it resolves compensation for Libya-IRA victims by the end of this year.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) published a report in May which found successive UK governments had failed to support victims of Libyan-IRA terrorism, while French, American and German governments had successfully pressed Libya to pay compensation.

The committee called on the government to secure compensation by the end of this year.

The late Libyan dictator Col Gaddafi provided millions of pounds and 120 tonnes of weaponry to the IRA, including Semtex.

The government was due to respond to the NIAC report by Friday last week, July 7, but failed to do so.

Lawyer Matt Jury, who helped lead the Omagh bomb civil action and is acting for Libya-IRA victims, said the delay was unacceptable.

Does the government not realise that every time it fails to live up to an expectation, obligation or assurance it is unnecessarily adding to the victims pain and suffering? he said.

The victims have waited too long for this issue to be resolved and delays like this, without explanation, are simply inexcusable.

The inquirys recommendations were clear, as was its position that this matter should be resolved by the end of the year. The inquiry called for action, not procrastination, and the clock is ticking.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office missed its July 7 deadline despite assurances made to the victims lawyers that the deadline would be met, he said.

Victims only learnt of the plan not to respond in time through an answer to a parliamentary question last week, he added.

In an email to some campaigners on the day of the deadline, the FCO said the delay was because government was in purdah for much of the time between May 2 and June 30 due to the election and ministers had only limited time to consider the committees report in detail. It said a response would be given in September.

The government has persistently opposed moves by UUP peer Lord Empey to tap 9.5bn of terror-linked Libyan assets frozen in the UK to compensate victims.

Excerpt from:
Government misses deadline on Libya-IRA report - Belfast Newsletter

The Libya Observer

Central and southern regions of Libya go offline The Libya Observer Telecommunication services for central and southern Libyan cities have been cut off, state-owned Libya Telephone Company reported on Monday. On its official Facebook page, the company said a major fiber optic cable for telephone and internet ...

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Central and southern regions of Libya go offline - The Libya Observer