Archive for the ‘Libya’ Category

19 bodies of Egyptian migrants found in Libya desert – News24

Benghazi - The decomposed bodies of 19 Egyptian migrants were found in the Libyan desert overnight after the truck in which they were smuggled into the country overturned, the Red Crescent said Sunday.

The bodies were buried in a cemetery near the Libyan border town of Tobruk, the organisation said.

It was unclear when the Egyptians died but their bodies were in a state of decomposition when found in a desert area near Tobruk in Libya's remote east.

Meanwhile a security official in Tobruk said a search was underway for a group of 29 other Egyptians reported missing by authorities in their country.

Since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been riven by chaos, making it the main gateway for African migrants heading for Europe on dangerous Mediterranean crossings.

Human traffickers have exploited the instability to boost their lucrative but deadly trade.

Egyptians have travelled to Libya for decades, to look for jobs in the oil-rich North African country or to use it as a transit route to Europe.

Since January 100 000 migrants have made the perilous sea journey to Europe, around 85 000 of them arriving in Italy from Libya, according to the International Organiaation for Migration.

The United Nations says more than 2 200 migrants have died this year attempting to make the crossing.

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19 bodies of Egyptian migrants found in Libya desert - News24

IOM Libya monthly update – June 2017 – ReliefWeb

SITUATION UPDATE

June continues to see a large number of rescue missions as favorable sea and weather conditions contributed to an increase in migrant boats off Libya. A total of 2,483 migrants were rescued in Libyan waters in June, the majority off Azzawya. Clashes between the Libyan Coast Guard and migrant smugglers were reported on the 11 June, which led to the death of one migrant and the injury of two others. During the reporting period, the remains of 107 men, women and children were discovered along the Libyan coastline.

112 migrants were reportedly found in a truck in Garaboli after being held by smugglers. They were transferred to detention centres. In addition, six migrants (2 from Cameroon and 4 from Nigeria) were reported kidnapped and assaulted between Sabha and Ashshwayrif. One of the migrants reportedly died as a result, the remaining were found in poor health in Bani Waleed.

A peace agreement was signed on 19 June between the mayor of Misratah and the Tawergha Local Council. The agreement would enable the return of Tawergha IDPs, the majority of whom had been displaced in 2011, safely to their homes. According to DTM Data, 42% of those displaced between 2011 and 2014 were Tawergha IDPs from Misratah. As of the time of publication, no IDPs had been reported to have yet returned. (DTM Displacement Tracker)

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IOM Libya monthly update - June 2017 - ReliefWeb

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

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

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

Heavy clashes break out east of Libya’s capital – Reuters

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