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Oil corruption in Libya is costing the government millions, the Business Insider reports, where it also said that oil is being smuggled by ship from Sabratha, Libya, to Malta and Sicily, en route to the Italian mainland.

This was said to Italian investigative journalist Frecesca Mannocchi by police.

The report outlines the difficulties between rival armies and rival factions, and also sheds light on the difficulties of those controlling refineries, distribution and collection of revenue.

This smuggled oil is making its way into Europe, and Libya authorities say it has cost the state US$360 millionso far, at a time when the country is producing only 715,000 barrels per day,down from its Ghaddafi heydays of 1.6 million bpd, Business Insider reports.

It continues to say that the issues go far beyond what the mainstream media tends to report on Libya, in terms of Tripoli or Benghazi forces trying to secure control of the entire country. It states that a number of clan-based militias are in fact running their own smuggling operations, and their mafia reach is said to extend as far as the Coast Guard- and even into Europe.

In the investigative report penned by Ms Mannocchi, it was found that the western coastal strip of Libya, which runs from Zawya to Sabratha, is a smugglers paradise.

It was also found, as reported by the Business Insider, that the local police and coast guard are also involved in the lucrative oil smuggling activities.

The full story may be found here: http://www.businessinsider.com/an-oil-heist-in-libya-cost-the-government-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-2017-2

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Police tell Italian journalist Libyan oil smuggled from Sabratha to Malta, en route to Italy - Malta Independent Online

The facility was damaged during the summer of 2014 in fierce fighting between rival militias for control of the

Khalifa al-Ghweil, the leader of the self-proclaimed "Government of National Salvation", which refuses to recognise the legitimacy of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), arrives at Tripoli International Airport. AFP PHOTO

The head of a former government announced plans Thursday to reopen Tripoli's airport that was heavily damaged in fighting in 2014, in a fresh blow to Libya's unity administration.

Khalifa Ghweil, who refuses to recognise the legitimacy of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), made the announcement during a visit to the airport, south of Tripoli.

The facility was damaged during the summer of 2014 in fierce fighting between rival militias for control of the capital.

Ghweil, who arrived in a convoy of four-wheel-drive vehicles, told reporters that the airport, where construction work is already underway, would reopen "soon".

"We have finalised the airport project in record time, despite a parallel authority, and flights will resume soon," said Ghweil, referring to the GNA.

A local firm, Al-Sarih, has been tasked with the reconstruction work and has already restored the VIP lounge at the airport.

According to Al-Sarih, work to rebuild a new terminal, control tower and the airport parking lot has already begun.

It was not immediately clear who is funding the project.

Flights in and out of Tripoli have been operating through Mitiga airport, formerly a military base east of the capital, that is under the control of the GNA.

Ghweil is backed by a number of Tripoli militias and powerful armed groups from his hometown, the western city of Misrata.

The former premier has taken several steps in defiance of the GNA, including seizing control briefly in January of several government buildings in Tripoli that housed ministries.

Last week, several militias who back him announced the creation in Tripoli of a "Libyan National Guard".

The United States said it noted with "serious concern reports that numerous tactical vehicles from an organisation claiming to be the 'Libyan National Guard' have entered Tripoli".

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival militias and administrations vying for control of the oil-rich country.

A rival authority based in the country's east has also refused to recognise the GNA since it started working in Tripoli in March last year.

The rest is here:
Rival of Libya unity gvt says to rebuild Tripoli airport - New Vision

On this day six years ago, a popular uprising erupted in Libya against the 42-year-old regime of Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi. Nato famously stepped in, ostensibly to protect civilians, with the backing of France and the US. Eight months later, Gaddafi was dead and the Libyan regime was history.

So too, it appears, was the entire country.

Libya has descended into uncontrollable chaos. Power cuts are routine, topped with water shortages, hyperinflation, a liquidity crisis, and rule by militia. The capital itself is very unsafe, especially at night, manned by men with guns who are far more influential than the UN-backed National Accord Government that is struggling to assert full control of the country since assuming power last March.

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Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar controls the entire east of Libya, where a quarter of the population lives, and enjoys the backing of Egypt and Russia.

Then Secretary of State Clinton stands alongside Libyan fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council after a flying visit to Tripoli in 2011. Photo: AFP

Worse still, Libya is becoming a magnet for African jihadis, lured into its wilderness by the collapse of central authority and the rise of the Islamic State. The terror group swiftly ventured into Libya to set up Salafi rule and to use the war-torn country to reach not only the shores of Europe but to Libyas neighbors: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Niger and Sudan.

ISIS already enjoys an affiliate in sub-Saharan Africa, with the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram pledging allegiance to the ISIS caliphate in March 2015. ISIS smuggles Nato arms from the Libyan battlefield to another ISIS-affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has also pledged loyalty to the self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In Libya itself, ISIS goes by the name Majlis Shura Shabab al-Islam (MSSI) or the Shura Council of Muslim Youth. Established in western Libya back April 2014, it took the oath to al-Baghdadi in June, and one year later boasted of 800 fighters. Of that number 300 are Libyan militants who fought with ISIS, first in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zour and then in Mosul, and returned home to pay service to the jihadi project in their own country.

Videos appeared online of machine-gun toting Libyan jihadis dressed in beige fatigues taking mannequins from shop windows and shutting hairdressers

In November 2014, MSSI took over the Libyan city of Darna, 240 kilometers east of Benghazi, officially annexing it to ISISs Islamic State and renaming it the Vilayet of Darna Vilayet being an old term describing one of the Ottoman Caliphates major administrative regions.

Videos appeared online of machine-gun toting Libyan jihadis dressed in beige fatigues taking mannequins from shop windows and shutting hairdressers, forcing women to wear the niqab from head to toe. MSSI now controls schools, mosque pulpits and the citys local radio. A police force was created and charged with monitoring public vice.

Al-Baghdadi refused to send any weapons or money to his Libyan proxies, advising them to make money from trafficking, kidnapping and other illegal means, just as they did in Syria. Instead he sent them two of his top aides to advise on how to run the state the Iraqi, Abu Nabil al-Anbari, and Abu Baraa al-Azdi, a Saudi. Both were long-time ISIS members who had spent time with the caliph at a US jail in Camp Bucca in Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border.

Many of the jihadis operating in Libya today are Yemeni and Tunisian veterans of the wars in Iraq and Syria. Foreign fighters in Libya now number around 400 although ISIS claims that it is much higher. Some are former Gaddafi supporters who went underground after their leaders death in October 2011, similar to the way ex-officers in Saddams army sided with the jihadis after their presidents fall in 2003.

As it does in Syria and Iraq, ISIS feeds off the chaos and rules by striking fear into the hearts of locals. In August 2014, they executed an Egyptian citizen at a Libyan football stadium beneath the black flag of ISIS. In January 2015, they attacked the luxury Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, killing four foreigners including an American contractor and four Libyans. The following month, they killed nine Libyan guards in an attack on an oil field, and a month later laid claim to a car bomb that went off near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tripoli. They also seized nine foreigners at the al-Ghani Oilfield, and by May 2015 had taken control of Sirte International Airport.

The gunmen who attacked the Corinthia Hotel blew themselves up after killing 9 people, including four foreigners. Photo: AFP

The epitome of ISIS atrocities in Libya was the abduction and execution of 21 Egyptian Copts, all working as laborers in Sirte, the birthplace of Gaddafi on the south coast of the Gulf of Sidra halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi. They were beheaded, kneeling in their orange jumpsuits along the Sirte shoreline. The backdrop was no accident ISIS wanted the world to see that this wasnt the deserts of Iraq and Syria but the shores of the Mediterranean facing Europe; ISIS was inching closer to new territory. The video of the mass execution was posted on the groups media channels. In it, one terrorist pointed to the ocean to nearby Italy threatening the now famous: We will conquer Rome!

Although supportive of the Libyan intervention back in 2011, Donald Trump now says he considers it one of the worst foreign policy failures of Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. General Haftar has welcomed Trumps election, hoping to do business with the new US president. For his part, Trump has promised to strike at ISIS across the world and might find a natural ally in the 75-year-old Libyan strongman.

The Libyan Army retook Sirte from ISIS last December, and hopes to repeat the task elsewhere, with aid from the United States. Until that happens, the country will remain a failed state on every single level of governance, giving Libyans little reason to celebrate the sixth anniversary of what was supposed to be a glorious revolution against Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Original post:
ISIS thriving in Libya 6 years after revolt against Gaddafi - Asia Times

Libyas crude production exceeded 700,000 barrels a day and is due to keep rising as working conditions in the conflict-ridden country improve for international companies like Eni SpA and Total SA, an official from the state oil company said.

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Eni and Total are working in Libya without difficulty and Schlumberger Ltd. resumed operations in the country about three months ago, he said. Eni is due to start production from an offshore area in five years, he said.

Eni and Total are working there with no problems, so the situation is improving every day in Libya and Id like to take this opportunity as an introduction for those who have interest to work in Libya, Alaokali said. More than 45 percent of the land is still virgin, hasnt been explored, so we still have large areas that havent been discovered, so the opportunity is there.

Libya, with Africas largest crude reserves, is trying to revive its oil production and exports in spite of continuing political uncertainty. Additional production may create a challenge for OPEC and other major suppliers that agreed to pump less crude for six month starting Jan. 1 in an effort to end a global glut.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries exempted Libya from cutting output as the nation works to restore its oil industry. The country pumped 1.6 million barrels a day before a 2011 revolt set off years of fighting between rival governments and militias.

Libyas biggest oil field, Sharara, operated by Repsol SA, re-opened in December. The Eni-run El-Feel deposit was also due to re-open then but guards demanding benefits prevented that, NOC said last month. The two fields in western Libya have a combined capacity of 450,000 barrels a day.

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Libya Crude Output Rises as Work Conditions for Big Oil Improve ... - Bloomberg

Tripoli - Libyan unity government chief Fayez al-Sarraj said on Thursday a "precious opportunity" had been missed when his rival, military strongman Khalifa Haftar, refused to meet him for Egypt-backed talks this week.

Sarraj said Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control much of eastern Libya, had refused to meet him on Tuesday in Cairo "without justification or reason".

The parties had missed "another precious opportunity that we hoped would be the beginning of a solution to the state of division and suffering" in Libya, he said in a statement.

"Intransigent political stances and oversized egos" were preventing a resolution to the conflict, he said.

Libya has been submerged in chaos since the fall of longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011.

A UN-backed deal signed in Morocco in late 2015 gave birth to Sarraj's fragile unity government based in Tripoli, but gave Haftar no role in Libya's future.

The Government of National Accord has since struggled to impose its authority across the country, particularly in the east where a rival administration holds sway, backed by Haftar's forces.

The controversial head of the self-styled Libyan National Army has established himself as a key player, especially after seizing the country's key oil terminals in September.

Last week, UN envoy Martin Kobler said that negotiations on "possible amendments" to the 2015 accord had been underway for two months.

The Egyptian army hosted Sarraj and Haftar in Cairo this week for talks. They were set to meet but Sarraj said they did not meet face to face.

The army announced on Wednesday that the two sides had agreed to form "a joint committee" to come up with amendments to the deal that set up the unity government.

But Sarraj said the talks had "failed".

Haftar's rivals accuse him of wanting to establish a military dictatorship in Libya.

The foreign ministry in Tunis said on Wednesday that the chief diplomats of Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt would meet on March 1 in the Tunisian capital to discuss the Libyan crisis.

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

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Libya PM regret 'missed opportunity' to meet rival - News24