Mediaboss Marketing

A Libyan court has suspended an agreement struck with Italy aiming to reduce refugee boat crossings across the Mediterranean Sea.

A document released by the justice ministry in Tripoli did not give a reason for the move, which comes as an increasing numbers of migrants are launched by smugglers towards Europe with the arrival of spring.

The justice ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) confirms that the court is still examining the issue in order pending a ruling, and that no final judgement has been issued, it said.

The GNA is not recognised by Libya's Tobruk-based parliament, which backs a rival administration in eastern regions where a powerful Russian-backed warlord holds sway.

The rival parliament declared the agreement struck between Tripoli and Italy null and void in February and declared the GNA had no legal status in the Libyan state.

Continued conflict between warring parties since the Nato-backed removal of Muammar Gaddafi has worsened around crucial oil ports this month, endangering European efforts to replicate the EU-Turkey deal, which dramatically cut refugee crossings to Greece last year.

Rising arrivals to Italy sparked attempts to stem the flow by increasing cooperation with authorities in Libya, where 90 per cent of boats crossing the Central Mediterranean are launched.

Desperate journeys: Rescued at sea, refugees detail abuse in Libya

But the UN-backed GNA is failing to regain territory controlled by factions including Isis, while armed gangs and smugglers have capitalised on widespread lawlessness to detain, extort, enslave and eventually export migrants for profit.

More than 5,000 asylum seekers were killed attempting the treacherous crossing in 2016 and a record of at least 583 more have died so far this year, with fears of another 240 drowning when their dinghies sunk last week.

A deal struck between the Italian and Libyan prime ministers in February said it aimed to tackle people smuggling, with Paolo Gentiloni pledging millions of Euros and equipment to bolster the capacity of Libyan authorities.

The move, backed by fellow EU member states at a summit in Malta, alarmed the UN and humanitarian agencies who have long reported the murder, torture, rape and abuse of migrants in both government and militia-run detention centres.

The Libyan coastguard, being trained by the UK and other European nations, is additionally accused of attacking international rescue ships, shooting refugees and causing hundreds to drown.

Almost 22,000 migrants have been rescued at sea and taken to Italy so far this year, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries and Bangladesh.

EU leaders are aiming to shift some of the responsibility for search and rescue operations to the Libyan government and hope to set up new migrant camps in the country where failed asylum seekers can be returned to their home countries before journeying to Europe.

But the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) cautioned that it could take a long time for facilities to meet international humanitarian standards.

There are a number of vital issues that need to be addressed regarding Libya, Stephane Jaquemet, the UNHCRs regional representative for southern Europe, told The Independent.

Interior ministers from Libya, Tunisia, Italy, Germany, Malta and other nations affected by the crisis released a fresh declaration to tackle the root causes of migration and combat smuggling on Monday, but it was unclear how their aim can be achieved.

Tensions are also increasing over Russias alleged support for General Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army resists the GNA.

Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, leaves the Russia's foreign ministry after a meeting in November 2016 (AFP/Getty)

The 73-year-old veteran, who served under Gaddafi before fighting to oust him in 2011, visited Moscow twice last year and was invited on to Russias Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier as it returned from waters off the coast of Syria in January, for talks with the defence minister.

Sir Michael Fallon criticised the discussions, saying: We dont need the [Russian] bear sticking his paws in.

The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, responded by saying there was no animal in Britains zoo that can tell a bear what to do.

General Haftar has the backing of Egypt and the UAE but was shunned by Barack Obamas administration. Donald Trumps position remains unclear.

The head of US forces in Africa said there was an undeniable link between Russia and General Haftar, saying Russian troops were on the ground and trying to influence the action in the region.

Marine General Thomas Waldhauser said the US would maintain a force in Libya, where it backed local forces in the offensive to drive Isis out of its stronghold of Sirte.

Continued here:
Libyan court suspends deal struck with Italy aiming to reduce refugee boat crossings over Mediterranean Sea - The Independent

Tripoli-A Tripoli court has suspended a deal between Libya and Italy to limit irregular migration to Europe, the unity government's justice ministry said.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his Libyan counterpart Fayez al-Sarraj signed the deal in February to tackle people smuggling through the North African country.

Italy pledged money, coastguard training and equipment to assist the UN-backed government in efforts to address Europe's biggest migrant crisis since World War II.

But an appeals court in Tripoli this week suspended implementation of the deal, the justice ministry said on Thursday.

"The justice ministry of the Government of National Accord confirms that the court is still examining the issue in order pending a ruling, and that no final judgement has been issued," it said.

The GNA is not recognised by Libya's parliament, which backs a rival administration in the country's east.

The Tobruk-based parliament on February 8 declared the Italy deal "null and void".

It argued the GNA had "no legal status in the Libyan state" as it had not been approved by parliament.

European leaders have ramped up efforts to curb migration from Libya amid a sharp rise in the number of people trying to cross.

One year after a controversial deal with Turkey to stop migrants setting out across the Aegean Sea for Greece, they are seeking a similar accord with conflict-hit Libya.

Human rights groups fiercely oppose the plan, saying they are concerned about mistreatment of migrants stranded in Libya.

Smugglers have taken advantage of lawlessness in Libya since the 2011 fall of dictator Moammar Gaddafi to establish the country as a major people trafficking route.

Most migrants set off from the country's west in the direction of Italy's Lampedusa, a 300km trip.

The Spanish group Pro-Activa Open Arms said some 250 African migrants died on Thursday when two inflatable boats sank off Libya.

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

Original post:
Libya court suspends Italy deal on tackling migration - News24

Daily Nation

NATO Official Sounds Alarm on Russia Libya Role Wall Street Journal (subscription) BRUSSELSRussia's role in Libya is causing growing concern at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a senior official said Saturday, with the Kremlin appearing to throw its support behind Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a rival of the United Nations-backed ... US military officer raises worry over Russia's influence in LibyaDaily Nation News Roundup - Sat, Mar 25, 2017The Libya Observer Russian links with Libya general 'undeniable,' US general claimsTelegraph.co.uk Reuters -Antiwar.com -Middle East Monitor all 19 news articles »

Go here to read the rest:
NATO Official Sounds Alarm on Russia Libya Role - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

WASHINGTON The U.S. military will keep an unspecified number of ground troops in Libya to help friendly forces further degrade the Islamic State faction there, and officials are seeking new leeway to target al Qaida loyalists in Somalia, the top commander overseeing operations in Africa said Friday.

"We're going to maintain a force that has the ability to develop intelligence, work with various groups as required, or be able to assist if required ... to take out ISIS targets," saidMarine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command. Speaking to media at the Pentagon, he indicated also the ISIS presence in coastal Libya has fallen below 200 from an estimated 5,000 or 6,000 only a year ago.

The region no longer appears to be a "backup plan" for foreign fighters unable to join the the Islamic State's primary fight in Syria and Iraq, he added.That's due in large part to an intense four-month air campaign led by U.S. Marines operating from Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Between August and December, their attack aircraft flew nearly 700 missions in support of Libyan militias battling ISIS militants in Sirte.

"When you conduct precision airstrike, close-air support operations in an urban environment with the requirements to not have civilian casualties, with the requirements to be careful about infrastructure, destruction and the like, you can't do an operation like that without somebody on the ground to interface," the general added.

Asked about Moscow's potential involvement in Libya, Waldhauser confirmed Russian operatives are "on the ground in the area" but sought to walk back his earlier suggestion they have in fact crossed into Libya from their outpost in Egypt.Regardless, Russia is attempting to influence the security environment there, the general said, and reestablish financial ties Libya is flush with oil and a target market for Russian-made weapons that were lost after Gaddafi's demise.

"We watch what they do with great concern," Waldhauser said.

The general would like more of that authority to rest with his headquarters in Germany, versus the White House or the Pentagon, so targeted attacks can occur quickly."I think the combatant commanders, myself included, are more than capable of making judgments and determinations on some of these targets."

About 50 U.S. troops, all elite special operations personnel, are on the ground in Somalia. The plan that's pending White House approval would boost that number slightly, The Associated Press reported last month.

Ultimately, Waldhauser wants more flexibility to pick apart al Shabaab, both by stepping up efforts to train and assist U.S. allies doing much of the fighting in Somalia, and by making it easier to take out suspected terrorists when they step out of the shadows. But the broader American mission there, he said, would remain focused and deliberate.

"We are not," the general added, "going to turn Somalia into a free-fire zone."

Andrew deGrandpre is Military Times' senior editor and Pentagon bureau chief. On Twitter:@adegrandpre.

Read this article:
The Pentagon wants to keep ground troops in Libya and go on offense in Somalia - Military Times

The new year seems to have brought one piece of bad news after another for Libya, threatening to mark a new phase in the countrys endless slide into chaos. Hopes that last years defeat of the Islamic State in its self-proclaimed emirate in Sirte would usher in a period of relative calm have been dashed, as fighting has escalated recently in four different parts of the country.

The oil crescent east of Sirte, where 60 percent of Libyas oil production transits, in March twice changed hands between the anti-Islamist Libyan National Army (LNA) of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar a former Qaddafi-era officer who turned against the dictator and whose forces currently dominate the east and the U.N.-backed Presidency Council, a collective head of state that sits in the capital of Tripoli, where militias nominally loyal to the council fight against rival groups and increasingly among themselves. In the south, Haftars LNA has repeatedly clashed with armed groups from the coastal city of Misrata. And in the east, since 2014, fighting between the LNA and local Islamist Shura Councils in Benghazi and in Derna has never really ended.

Since 2014, the country has been split between rival governments: one in the east and two in Tripoli. In May of that year, then-Gen. Haftar started Operation Dignity, an anti-Islamist insurgency that initially focused on the eastern city of Benghazi. A month later, a coalition of militias from cities in western Libya formed Libya Dawn and conquered Tripoli. The conflict between the forces that defeated Muammar al-Qaddafi has since devolved into a bitter struggle for power, resources, and control of the countrys sprawling security sector.

In December 2015, the mediation of the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) led to the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement, which aimed to form a national unity government, by rival members of parliament from eastern and western Libya. But while UNSMIL is tasked with negotiating the implementation of the agreement, it is now effectively headless. The mandate of the current U.N. special representative for Libya, Martin Kobler, came to an end this month, and he lost the trust of key players in Libya long ago. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterress attempts to appoint former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as his special representative came up against an 11th-hour veto from U.S. President Donald Trumps administration.

Rival negotiating tracks by regional powers, particularly Egypt and Algeria, have also failed to produce any breakthrough. As a result, most channels of communication between eastern and western Libya have collapsed.

Russia is becoming increasingly involved, trying to fill the void left by the collapse of the U.N. track and the disinterest of both the Trump administration and the Europeans. It is unclear what Moscow really wants in Libya, but it seems to be pursuing a strategy that acknowledges the de facto partition of the country, promising both political and military support for Haftars battle in the east while signing contracts for oil and discussing business opportunities in commodities trading and future construction projects with the institutions in Tripoli. While there are reports that Russian special forces may be helping Haftar, there is still no evidence of decisive Russian military support for the LNA, and it is fair to say that the Kremlin is diversifying its political investment in the country by talking to all sides.

Russias increasing political backing and the anti-Islamist winds blowing in Washington have strengthened Haftars belief that there is no point in negotiating a political solution with the forces in western Libya. Despite heavy pressure from his Egyptian patrons, he refused to even meet the head of the Presidency Council, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, in Cairo on Feb. 14 to discuss a road map for negotiations. He has instead rededicated himself to his main goal of fighting extremism by stepping up pressure on Misratan forces in the south and the district of Jufra and by announcing an imminent albeit unlikely liberation of Tripoli.

Western Libya, meanwhile, is at risk of ever greater fragmentation. The Presidency Council has effectively been reduced to two of its originally nine members Sarraj and his deputy, Ahmed Maiteeq and lacks any real control of dynamics on the ground. The capital is dominated by a syndicate of militias that are now fighting against armed groups loyal to a rival government. Outside of Tripoli, a similar archipelago of local armed groups controls events on the ground.

Given the lack of desire to compromise in the east and lack of credible interlocutors in the west, a political settlement reuniting the country will likely prove elusive. If Libya and the international community hope to avoid a bloody new chapter in the civil war, they should focus on three tracks to be pursued in the short term, in parallel to the bigger-picture negotiations.

First, Libya needs a de-conflicting mechanism to avoid escalation. If the U.N. envoy cannot do it, someone else in the West should. What better opportunity for Britain to show its continued relevance after Brexit than this? Or why not the French foreign minister, who could beef up his legacy just weeks before leaving office? This should only be a temporary replacement for a fully functioning U.N. mission capable of working on reconciliation, local cease-fires, and monitoring human rights violations. Both a temporary negotiator and the U.N. could work on a number of confidence-building measures, such as establishing permanent channels of communication, liberating prisoners, reopening roads, and sharing humanitarian aid.

Second, the country needs what economist Hala Bugaighis calls a Libyan Economic Agreement on how to peacefully share its oil wealth. Libya sits on Africas biggest hydrocarbon reserves: In the run-up to the 2011 war, it produced 1.6 million barrels per day and accumulated more than $100 billion in reserves a considerable amount for a population of 6 million. Much of the fighting in the last few years has revolved around oil installations or smuggling hubs. Negotiating a new social contract may take some time, but in the meantime, two measures would represent a good start: The government in Tripoli should strengthen financial support for all of Libyas municipalities, including areas controlled by Haftar, and oil installations should be placed under the control of the independent National Oil Corporation in Tripoli, with attempts to establish parallel economic institutions punished by international sanctions.

Finally, Tripoli must be the heart of international efforts. The most pressing need is a plan to free the city of all heavy weapons, pushing militias to stock them outside of civilian-populated areas. This is an important condition to allow the Libyan government to operate and to facilitate international assistance.

These tasks are very difficult. The alternative, however, is a new escalation that would destroy what little is left of Libyas institutions and create the conditions for the re-emergence of jihadi groups.

It will take a heavyweight like the United States to push Libya toward peace. Washington, with its enormous soft and hard power, could pressure all sides into an agreement while at the same time dissuading external actors from intervening in the country. The big question is whether the will exists in the Trump administration to get involved in Libya. The National Security Council, in reviewing U.S. policy in different areas, should consider the levers that the United States has in Libya and the importance of the country in countering terrorism and instability.

During the most recent Republican administration, under President George W. Bush, the United States pursued a pragmatic policy in Libya that succeeded in peacefully eliminating the countrys stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. It is hard to believe that Trump will be able to duplicate that model. Without swift international action, however, Libya appears poised for another round of violence. It may well be that we will look back at this moment in Libya and say that the medicine was there but no doctor had the courage to use it.

Photo credit: John Moore/Getty Images

Twitter Facebook Google + Reddit

Read the original here:
Libya Can't Save Itself - Foreign Policy (blog)