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The UN panel said its requests for information from the UAE had received no response. (Photo: Internet)

The United Arab Emirates assistance that violates a U.N. arms embargo has significantly boosted air power for forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, a report by U.N. investigators published on Friday said, according to what Reuters quoted.

Air power has helped Haftars eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) gain the upper hand since last year in Libyas conflict between rival groups vying for power, Reuters added.

The panel of experts which reports on violations of U.N. sanctions across Libya said Haftars forces had received aircraft as well as military vehicles from the United Arab Emirates, and had built up an air base at Al Khadim, Reuters indicated.

The annual U.N. report provides rare detail on the level of outside intervention in Libya, where foreign backing for rival armed camps is widely seen as having exacerbated conflict.

Fridays report said there had been a general increase in direct foreign support to armed factions in Libya, breaching a U.N. arms embargo imposed during the countrys 2011 uprising and tightened in 2014. Much of the section on recent transfers of materiel or other assistance was taken up by the development of the LNA air force and reports of UAE assistance, explained Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates have been providing both material support and direct support to the LNA, which have significantly increased the air support available to the LNA, it said, according to Reuters.

The panel said its requests for information from the UAE had received no response.

Reuters also said that the U.N. report included satellite imagery of Al Khadim air base, about 105 km (65 miles) east of Benghazi, between July 2014 and March 2017, showing a gradual build-up of infrastructure and aircraft, including drones most probably operated by the UAE.

The U.N. panel said it received information that attack helicopters were delivered to the LNA in April 2015. One Mi-24p helicopter was traced back to Belarus, which confirmed it had delivered four of the aircraft to the UAE in 2014, Reuters wrote.

It also published a photo of an AT-802i single engine plane which it said was based in eastern Libya. The plane, originally designed for agricultural or firefighting use, was repurposed in the United States for counter-insurgency and sold to the UAE, the report said, according to Reuters.

The panel said it had confirmed a delivery of 93 armored personnel carriers and 549 armored and non-armored vehicles to the LNA in the eastern city of Tobruk in April 2016. The personnel carriers likely included Panther T6 and Tygra models, both made by companies based in the UAE, the report said, and were delivered by ship from Saudi Arabia, Reuters added.

It said it had received information on further large deliveries of Toyota pick-up trucks and armored 44 cars to Tobruk in January and April 2017, on a ship that had passed through Port Said in Egypt, Reuters concluded.

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UAE violates UN arms embargo on Libya by providing air power aids for Haftar's forces in east Libya - Libyan Express

The process of harvesting apricot fruit began at agricultural lands belonging to the investment projects of the Man Made River Water Investment Authority in Tarhuna. The director of the project said that the project management team had begun to contract with dealers to sell the production of the project a few days ago and the process of harvesting apricot fruit is continuing successfully. The total area of the apricot fruit orchards are 15 hectares, while the total area of the agricultural land is estimated at 1200 hectares, of which 400 hectares are for growing grain, 421 hectares are olive trees, and 100 hectares are peaches, grapes, almonds and pears.

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The Italian news agency AKI reported that the head of the Sabratha Military Council, AlTahir AlGharabli confirmed the monitoring of ISIS movements in the south and west of Libya. AlGharabli explained, "The force that was monitored was comprised of 15 armed vehicles attempting to assemble," Stressing that the monitoring process "Came from citizens and through patrols of the Sabratha Military Council". AlGharabli concluded that the tracked forces were moving between the city of Nesma in the west of the country and the city of Mizda in the south, stressing, "His forces are ready in the event of attack."

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A powerful explosion rocked the residential area surrounding a garment factory in the eastern city of Derna. Sources from the city said that the explosion occurred inside the factory resulting in material loss and no casualties. There were no reports so far as to the cause of the explosion, whether it was deliberate or accidental.

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A member of the Board of Directors of the General Company for Desalination and the director of the desalination plant in Tobruk, Fathallah Naas, warned that desalination plants in Libya would cease to operate after two months. Naas added that the lack of second choices would result in the company having no choice but to shut down all plants having a major effect on approximately one and a half million citizens dependent on desalinated water. Naas clarified that the desalination plants had entered this dangerous stage because a lack of the availability of necessary and essential chemicals that are added in the process of desalination, the amount of chemicals would only cover another two months.

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The deputy Foreign Minister of the eastern government in Libya discussed with Philippine Charge d'Affaires Mardomil Silomilikor options to open a Philippine consulate in Benghazi. The two sides discussed the importance of Filipino employment in Libya, especially in the medical field as most of the Filipino workforce in Libya works in the health sector.

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The deputy Transport Minister of the UN proposed government, Hisham AbuShkiwat, stated that the Ministry is in the process of resuming the process of building a passenger terminal for domestic flights covering nine thousand square meters, and another for international flights that will span twenty two thousand square meters at the airport by contracting specialized Italian companies. Abushkiwat added that the Ministry envisions the return of air traffic to the airport when construction of the internal and external passenger terminal and other facilities is completed.

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The Education Minister Othman AbdulJalil met with the Director of the British Council, Tony Calderbank, and afterwards the Ministry announced on its Facebook page that the meeting discussed the development of the curricula and the training of teachers to improve their efficiency. The post added that other points discussed was the evaluation of educational projects that are still under implementation by the Council as well as future cooperation, noting that these discussions come within a series of meetings by the Ministry of Education in an effort to raise the level and quality of education in Libya.

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The Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade announced that they have released more than thirty prisoners on Friday. According to a statement posted on their official Facebook page on Friday, the Public Prosecutor decided the inmates release after six years of detention. The Brigade included in its statement the names of six prominent military and security personnel during the reign of the former regime; they included Brigadier Naji Hareer who is one of the most prominent security leaders in the late Gaddafis era and also his relative. The prisoners were released after being arrested on various criminal charges.

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The Director of Bayda oil field, Fayez Furjani stated that oil production is gradually increasing after a complete halt for over three years. Furjani explained in a press statement that the production is expected to return to its previous output by the beginning of May next year 2018, and he felt that there is an ambition by the workers to reach the maximum production rates recorded. The oil field had been suspended for a long period of time due to security conditions that prompted the National Oil Corporation to impose the case of force majeure on twenty two fields, including the Bayda oil field.

Originally posted here:
News Roundup - Sat, Jun 10, 2017 - The Libya Observer

Escalating armed conflict, civil unrest, and political instability in Libya have adversely affected civilians and displaced populations since 2011. As of March 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had identified approximately 257,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)more than two-thirds of whom were displaced in 2015 or laterand 228,000 IDP returnees across 100 municipalities. IOM estimated 35,000 IDP returns to areas of origin in Sirte District since February despite tensions.

The UN reports that persistent insecurity has weakened Libyas health system since 2011, as a substantial number of health facilities are either partially operational or closed. In addition, health facilities face critical staffing shortages, particularly for specialized care.

To date in FY 2017, the U.S. Government (USG) has committed nearly $7.7 million, including nearly $2.5 million from USAID/OFDA and $5.2 million from State/PRM, to support humanitarian response activities in Libya. The USG contribution supports nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, and UN agencies addressing the health, protection, shelter, and other emergency relief needs of conflictaffected people, in addition to supporting humanitarian coordination.

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Libya - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #1, Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 - ReliefWeb

More than 900 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya during the past 48 hours while trying to reach Italy, the Italian coastguard said Friday.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that it saved 716 of the migrants, and had found one body.

Around 800 people were rescued today (Friday) during eight separate operations in the Mediterranean, said a spokesman for the coastguard, which is coordinating the operations.

The migrants were on eight boats, including two inflatables, he said.

Some 130 others were rescued on Thursday.

MSF tweeted that it had completed the 5th rescue (operation) and now have 716 people onboard. Unfortunately, for one person we arrived too late.

The UN refugee agency has said around 61,250 migrants have reached Italy since the start of the year after crossing the Mediterranean, while 1,778 more are dead or missing.

Conflict-ravaged Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

It has urged Europe, and particularly Italy, to supply it with the equipment it needs to monitor its southern borders, through which migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, enter the country.

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More than 900 migrants rescued off Libya - Vanguard

Archaeologists have unearthed a cache of ancient Roman silver and bronze coins as well as other treasures in the ruins of a 1,700-year-old villa on the coast of Libya.

The team discovered the haul of 553 silver and bronze coins known as sterercii in the remarkably well-preserved 3rd century building in the ancient city of Ptolemais, Haaretz reported.

The settlement on the North African coast was a key trading port in the Ptolemaic Empire and lies in the eastern corner of modern day Libya just over 60 miles from the city of Benghazi.

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Jerzy Zelazoski, an archaeologist from Warsaw University, said the coins were discovered inside a room alongside terracotta lamps, indicating they may have been the profits of local craftsmen.

They also discovered detailed mosaics built around a classical Roman courtyard inside the expansive building complex, which is roughly 600 square meters in size.

They included one depiction of the Greek god Dionysus sleeping with Ariadne, the mythical daughter of King Minos, the ruler of Crete, and another illustrating the adventures of the Greek hero Achilles.

A part of the ancient city of Ptolemais is pictured near the town of Ad Dirsiyah, about 100 km (62 miles) east of Benghazi January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori

The villa shows signs of centuries of inhabitation in its inscriptions and different frescoes and renovations. The house was most likely destroyed by earthquakes that rocked the region relentlessly between the mid 3rd century up until 356. The horde of coins lay undiscovered for so long because they lay beneath fallen layers of the house.

While the house fell into disrepair, Ptolemais remained the capital of the Roman province of Cyrenaica which succeeded the Ptolemaic Empire, until the year 428.

Ptolemais was sacked by the Vandals as they swept across North Africa and the razed to the ground once again in the 7th century during the Arab conquest of the region.

Libya retains some of the best preserved Greek and Roman ruins because of its dry climate and low population density. However, international antiquities bodies have expressed concern over the future of the sites because of the countrys fractious civil war.

Libya holds five UNESCO world heritage sites covering thousands of years of history. They include: Cyrene, a Greek colony founded in 631 B.C.; Leptis Magna, the Roman seat of power in North Africa; Tadrart Acacus, with prehistoric rock art sites dating from 12,000 B.C. to 100 A.D.; and Ghadames, one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities still in existence.

The greatest fears of possible destruction concern the town of Sabratha, home to an almost perfectly preserved 3rd century Roman theater where the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) made inroads in 2015.

In response to the threat, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), a U.N. body backed by the U.S. state department, issued an emergency catalogue of Libyan cultural items that could fall victim to ISISs brand of destructive iconoclasm or be sold on the black market.

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Archaeologists Find Ancient Treasure in Beautifully Preserved Roman Ruins in Libya - Newsweek