Mediaboss Marketing

Tobruk-based House of Representatives on Monday to select a new dialogue team to represent it in the forthcoming Libyan political dialogue meetings.

___________________

Former regime officer Omer Salem Ishkal was in the besieged neighbourhood of Ganfouda, Benghazi on Tuesday, Saraya Media has reported.

___________________

Derna Shura fighters said today that theyhad repelled an attack by Dignity Operation forces in Dahr Al-Homir in south Derna. Two Shura fighters and four Dignity militants were wounded in the clashes whichtook place in the early hours of the day.

___________________

Algerian Minister for Maghreb, African Union and Arab League Affairs Abdelkader Messahel said his country has adopted a roadmap from three points to resolve the Libyan political crisis to be discussed in next months Libya meeting of Algerian,EgyptianandTunisianforeign ministers.

___________________

Qatari Foreign MinisterMohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thanirecived in Doha a delegation of military officers from the western region of Libya, in addition to elders from the city of Misrata. The meeting discussed the Libyan political stalemate and ways of resolvingit.

___________________

2 Dignity Operation militants were killed in clashes against Benghazi Shura Council for the control of the remaining 12 residential buildings in Ganfouda district in western Benghazi.

___________________

Head of UN-installed Presidency Council Fayaz Sirraj told the 34thUnited Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) meeting in Geneva that some illegitimate Libyan parties are trying to militarize the country and bring dictatorship back to the country by banning Libyan nationals from travelling without security permit.

___________________

The head of the Public Services Company in Derna, Talal Al-Hinsher, announced today a full stoppage of the cleaning work in the city due to the lack of fuel for garbage trucks. The so-called Omar Al-Mukhtar Military Operations Room of Dignity Operation has been besieging Derna for months, disallowing cash, cooking gas, fuel, medicines and other basic needs from entering the city.

___________________

The Libyan medical contract workers staged a sit-in in Tripoli's Algeria Square on Monday to demand their unpaid salaries for three years.

___________________

The Commission of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of Benghazi marked yesterday its 63th anniversary by holding a ceremony in Sulaiman Darrat sports compound where it honored some of the most important figures in the history of the commission.

___________________

Tripoli Medical Reference Laboratory said it will stop the performance of viral screening until further notice because of the shortage of the equipment and materials needed for it.

___________________

The Public Company for Land Transport said that it will reopen its oil terminals trips as of tomorrow when it launches the first trip to Ras Lanuf, adding that the resumption of the trips from Tripoli to Benghazi and vice versa will take place very soon.

___________________

The municipality of Tarhuna (90 Km southeast Tripoli) said that the official opening of Sharshara Tourist Park will take place tomorrow, calling on people from all Libyan cities to come to Tarhuna to witness the event.

Link:
News Roundup - Tue, Feb 28, 2017 - The Libya Observer

Tuesday February 28, 2017

Read story transcript

Libya, in the eyes of many, has become a failed state.

Its economy isintatterswithmultiple governments competing for control, militias competing for terrain and its shores ground zero for migrants and traffickers.

While there have been growing calls for Canada to play an immediate role in addressing the dire state of affairs, Libyan-Canadian Ali Hamza has taken matters into his own hands.

His ailing mother and five siblings are trapped in the Ganfouda neighbourhood of Benghazi and he is doing whatever he can to help.

"Life is very difficult. Survival is the question," Hamza tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti about how his family is fairing in Libya.

He says that drinking water is not allowed in and people are relying on puddles and wild grass or leaves as a source of food.

Hamza, his wife and four kids are in Turkey and say they are able to provide water, food and basic medicines to around 30 families.

"We are ready to do that on our own. If we can find permission to go there, we are willing to go there with some aid."

Ali Hamza and his family stand in Toronto's Pearson International airport at the Turkish airlines gate on their way to Turkey. (Courtesy of Ali Hamza)

Hamza tells Tremonti his car is being auctioned to help put money towards the supplies.

As of July 16, Hamza says he's been in contact with the Canadian government.

After it was confirmed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that people were eating expired food and medical supplies were gone, Hamza says he asked for aid and a safe exit.

"There has been no single shipment of aid through the UN since July of last year," he insists.

Hamza says it's very painful to watchthe dire situation unfold as a Libyan-Canadian worryingfor his family.

"I'd give them every piece of my body just to have them survive this ... that's my appeal in Turkey," Hamza declares.

"I will give up a kidney. I will give up if the doctors allow part of my liver to a country that delivers water to them, and takes them to safety within Libya."

"Yes I will do that."

Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post including a look at the consequences of Libya's failed state.

This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley, Samira Mohyeddin and StephKampf.

Read the original here:
'I will give up a kidney': Canadian seeks aid for family trapped in Libyan conflict - CBC.ca

People trying to cross the Mediterranean are rescued by a Maltese NGO and the Italian Red Cross off the Libyan coast. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

NGOs who rescue people in the sea off Libya are encouraging the traffickers who profit from dangerous Mediterranean crossings, the head of the EU border agency Frontex has said.

Speaking to Germanys Die Welt newspaper, Fabrice Leggeri called for rescue operations to be re-evaluated and accused NGOs of ineffectively cooperating with security agencies against human traffickers.

Reopening a row with charities and leftwing groups, Leggeri said 40% of recent rescue operations at sea off the north African country were carried out by non-government organisations, making it impossible to check the origins of the migrants or their smuggling routes if the NGOs did not cooperate.

Luise Amstberg, refugee spokeswoman for the Greens in the German parliament, denounced Leggeris comments. The number of dead would be much higher without the tireless commitment of non-governmental organisations so we are indebted to these organisations, she said.

A spokesman for Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) said there was no evidence of a lack of cooperation.

In his interview, Leggeri said that under maritime law everyone at sea had a duty to rescue vessels and people in distress. But we must avoid supporting the business of criminal networks and traffickers in Libya through European vessels picking up migrants ever closer to the Libyan coast.

This leads traffickers to force even more migrants on to unseaworthy boats with insufficient water and fuel than in previous years.

He also claimed some NGOs cooperate poorly with EU security agencies, which makes it more difficult ... to gain information on trafficking networks through interviews with migrants and to open police investigations.

MSF labelled the charges extremely serious and damaging and said its humanitarian action was not the cause but a response to the crisis.

The UN has said nightmarish conditions in Libya are helping to drive a surge in the numbers of migrants attempting to reach Italy in the depths of winter.

European efforts to close the route are also thought to be behind a 30-40% increase in the number of mainly African migrants who have landed at Italian ports in the first two months of this year, compared with the same period in 2015 and 2016.

More than 2,700 people have been rescued in recent days, including a newborn delivered on a Norwegian police vessel, lifting the total arrivals for January and February above 12,000.

Also speaking to Die Welt, the new president of the European parliament, Antonio Tajani, proposed the EU should set up reception centres for asylum seekers in Libya, taking over the role currently played by smugglers and the state.

Tajani warned that unless Europe acts now 20 million African people will come to Europe over the next few years.

The proposed Libyan detention centres should not become concentration camps but should have adequate equipment to ensure refugees live in dignified conditions with access to sufficient medical care, Tajani added.

Conditions in more than 30 existing detention centres, both those run illegally by smugglers and by militias nominally on behalf of the Libyan ministry of justice, violate human rights conditions, the EU has said.

A leaked report from the EU external action service describes Libyan border management as in a state of complete disarray and unable to combat smuggling, adding smuggling is a low risk, high value source of income for organised crime.

Echoing the report, Leggeri added: There is no stable state. At present, we have virtually no contact at the operational level in order to promote effective border protection. We are now helping to train 60 officers of a possibly future Libyan coastguard. But this is at most a beginning.

He said work to train a Libyan coastguard to operate inside Libyan waters had only just begun. Overseas vessels are forbidden from operating in Libyan waters, and cannot send back refugees rescued in international waters.

See more here:
NGO rescues off Libya encourage traffickers, says EU borders chief - The Guardian

A Canadian man whose family is trapped in a militant-controlled area in the Libyan city of Benghazi has travelled to Turkey in effort to assemble an aid shipment for civilians in the conflict-ridden neighbourhood.

Ali Hamza, of Mississauga, Ont., says he's made the journey with his wife and four children in a desperate attempt to help his 76-year-old mother and five siblings who are among families he says are going without sufficient food, water and medical supplies in the area of Ganfouda. Libya has been beset by violence and chaos since the ouster and death of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi in a 2011 civil war. The Benghazi neighbourhood of Ganfouda in particular has been besieged for months by Libyan army troops that answer to a powerful militarycommander.

Hamza has been calling on the Canadian government to speak out on what he calls a deteriorating situation, asking Ottawa to make a strong call for basic necessities to be allowed into Ganfouda and for the safe evacuation of besieged families through a neutralparty, in accordance with international law.

He also wants to see Canada express that it cares about the well-being and whereabouts of civilians who were promised safe passage and left Ganfouda in January. He alleges some of those people were mistreated and detained.

Global Affairs Canada says"Canada supports free and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance and for civilians who wish to leave to do so in safety."

Spokesperson Austin Jean says Canada is "deeply concerned" with the ongoing armed conflict in Libya and its humanitarian impact on civilians, including in the district of Ganfouda.

But Hamza says Canada can say and do more.

"I found nothing happening. I said I have to make a move," said the 50-year-old. "I made this journey to Turkey to make myself available with my family to take an action that saves lives."

Hamza said he's heard of civilians in Ganfouda having to resort to eating leaves and drinking rainwater as supplies run out.

He's borrowed money and put the family SUV up for sale in order to have enough funds to provide 30 families with food, water and basic medication for at least 10 days.

Two men walked beside destroyed buildings after clashes between military forces loyal to Libya's eastern government and Islamist fighters, in Benghazi, Libya in this February 2016 file photo. (Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters)

He's already met with a Turkish NGO known as the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation to discuss getting aid to Ganfouda and said theywere trying to work with him.

"They said maybe we can cover your needs," Hamza recounted. "I said 'please, please, please contact Canada, tell them that a Canadian family is with you' and maybe a co-ordinated effort will ease the permission to bring the aid [into Libya]."

Hamza is also seeking a meeting with the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, who recently publicly expressed his concern about Ganfouda.

"Deeply worried by reports of families trapped in line of fire with no food and water in Ganfouda," Martin Kobler said in a tweet on Wednesday, adding that he called for safe passage to be allowed to civilians who wished to leave.

Despite a UN-brokered peace deal reached a year ago, Libya remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and rival factions and militias each side with backing from different foreign countries.

Here is the original post:
Mississauga man sells SUV, travels to Turkey in bid to save family trapped in Libya - CBC.ca

MOSCOW Fayez Seraj, the Libyan Prime Minister of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli is scheduled to arrive in Moscow within days, Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

The visit is seen as a step towards overcoming a deadlock in the country between the Tripoli government and Khalifa Haftar, a military commander who is supported by factions based in the east of the oil-rich country.

"I think (Seraj's) visit may be paid in the upcoming days," Interfax quoted Bogdanov as saying.

On February 19, Seraj told Reuters he hoped Moscow might act as an intermediary between him and Haftar.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

MANILA The Philippines condemned on Monday the "barbaric beheading" of an elderly German captive by Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf militants who posted a video of the killing after a deadline for a $600,000 ransom passed.

GAZA Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes in Gaza on Monday, wounding at least four people, witnesses said, after a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory hit an empty area in southern Israel.

SEOUL South Korean intelligence believes suspects wanted for the murder of the half-brother of North Korea's leader included several officials who worked for the reclusive state's foreign and security ministries, according to lawmakers in Seoul.

Read the original here:
Libya's PM to visit Russia soon: Interfax - Reuters