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Nelson Garcia, KUSA 9:46 PM. MST February 04, 2017

Hanan Isweiriis working on her doctorate at Colorado State University.

FORT COLLINS - The home of Manar Buhalfaya was not complete as long her mother and infant brother remain stranded trying to return from Libya during the travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump.

"It was hard especially like as a teenager girl like finding out it was gonna be awhile till her mom came back," Manar said.

HananIsweiri and her one-year-old son traveledback to Libya to attend her father's funeral and help care for her sick mother in Benghazi. She is a doctoral student at Colorado State University living in Fort Collins since 2010 with her four children and husband Ahmed. Isweiriis studying in CSU's Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

"We've gotten a lot of support from my friends and other families around us, but it's just not the same when your mom is like halfway around the world," Manar said.

PREVIOUS STORY:CSU student affected by travel ban hopes to be back in U.S this weekend

PREVIOUS STORY:CSU Ph.D. student stranded abroad with baby following travel ban

She was stuck in foreign airports from Jordan to Turkey to Germany trying to find any way to return to Colorado. Friday afternoon, the family got the news it was waiting for when a federal judge issued a temporary halt to the travel ban.

"Yesterday, when they like halted it, I was like, oh my gosh, it happened," Manar said.

The court's actions created a window for Isweirito come back to the United States. She flew to Boston on Saturday where she was detained by immigration officials and no guarantee that she could come home.

"I kinda really got scared that she wasn't gonna come back," Manar said.

Saturday night, Manar and her family receive word that Isweiriis leaving the Boston airport to stay in a hotel. She is clear to return to Colorado Sunday morning.

"I am happy now. I am very happy," Ahmed Buhalfaya, husband, said.

Ahmed Buhalfaya shows his emotions upon hearing the news that his wife is cleared to return to Colorado from Libya. (Photo: Chris Cheline)

Instead of more waiting, Manar started celebrating. Her mother is almost home.

"The fact that my mom is now in the U.S. and is able to move from Boston, Massachusetts to Denver, Colorado in a matter of a plane ride is extravagantly amazing," Manar said.

( 2017 KUSA)

See the article here:
CSU student returns from Libya during travel ban stoppage - 9NEWS.com

Libya's coast guard intercepted at least 1131 migrants near the western city of Sabratha over the course of a week, a spokesman says.

Ayoub Qassem said 431 migrants had been intercepted on four inflatable boats off Sabratha's coast on Thursday and some 700 had been picked up on January 27 from three wooden vessels in the same area.

"The illegal migrants are from various sub-Saharan countries and include a big number of women and children," Qassem said of those intercepted on Thursday.

Those intercepted on January 27 also included migrants from Syria, Tunisia, Libya and the Palestinian territories, he said, and smugglers had attempted to block the coast guards from taking those migrants from their boats.

"Smugglers had tried to foil the process of arrest by opening fire on our coast guards but the coast guards fired back and that forced the smugglers to withdraw."

Libya has become the main point of departure for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean by boat to Europe since a route between Turkey and Greece was largely closed off last year.

People smugglers generally operate with impunity, launching migrants in flimsy vessels that sometimes break down or sink before they are spotted by rescue boats operated by an EU naval mission and by non-government organisations. More than 4500 died attempting the crossing last year.

Libya's coastguard sends migrants back to detention centres that rights groups have criticised for their inhumane conditions and widespread abuses.

On Friday, European leaders offered Libya money and other assistance to try to curb record migrant flows from the North African country.

Aid groups criticised the move, saying such plans exposed migrants to further risks and abuses.

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Libya pulls 1131 from sea in one week - NEWS.com.au

Those who are waiting for the first signs of cooperation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin should keep an eye on Libya. The scene of an open rivalry between the European Union and Russia could suddenly turn onTrump, who could turn toPutin.

QuickTake Libyas Breakdown

Libya is important for three reasons.It's the starting point of the so-called Central Mediterranean route by which tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants reach the European Union . It'salso a major oil producerthat can affect global prices. Lastly, the chaos in Libya makes it, in the U.S. State department's terminology, "a terrorist safe haven." That's why presidents Obama and Trump have sought to limit the entry of Libyan citizens and those who have visited the country.

At an informal summit on Maltaon Friday the leaders of European Union states affirmed their support for theUN-backed government, run from Tripoli by Prime Minister FayezMustafa al-Serraj. They also backed a deal Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni signed on Thursday with Serraj. Italy is taking the lead in funding the construction of refugee camps in Libya, and the EU as a whole recently earmarked an additional 200 million euros ($215 million) for its efforts to keep potential migrants in Libya, Tunisia and Niger.

Butrefugeesare not Putin's priority in Libya. He's far more interested in restoring Russian influence there, and establishing a military presenceif he can.

Under Muammar Qaddafi, Libya was a Russian ally, a playground for Russian energy companies, and a buyer of Russian weapons. When he fell in 2011, the Russian state railroad monopoly losta lucrative contract to build a rail line along the Mediterranean coast, one of many voided Russianinvestments.

Putin watched the Arab Spring with dismay -- not just because it dispatched kleptocrats like himself, but also because those secular authoritarian rulers wereoften replaced with Islamists. To Putin, these strongmenwere a bulwark against jihadism. He drew a clear red line at Syrians' Western-backed attempt to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, forged a cordialrelationship with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and restored ties with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His alliance withIslamist Iran fits that line of behavior because Shia Iranians are hostile to the Sunni strains of extremism that Putin considers especially dangerous since they emerged as a forcein separatist Chechnya in the 1990's.

In Libya, Putin'saxis of secular authoritarians cannot include Serraj since he holds ontopower with support from some Islamist groups and Putin's Western adversaries. Khalifa Haftar, a powerful military commander who controls eastern Libya and resists the Serraj government, fits the bill much better.

Haftarchased Islamist fighters out of Benghazi and the surrounding area and took over Libya's key oil terminals from pro-government forces last September, boosting the country's output. The Kremlin has been cultivating a relationship with Haftar, inviting him for a visit to Moscow last November and then hosting him on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in January, where he held a teleconference with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Russia is obliged to follow the UN arms embargo against any Libyan forces except the al-Serraj government, so it cannot provide official military aid to Haftar. There have been unconfirmed reports, however, that the Kremlin has struck an unofficial deal to supply Haftar via Algeria, a long-time Moscow arms client.

That'spotentially scary for the EU. If a Putin ally takes over Libya, any deal on their primary issue -- refugees -- could be threatened. If Haftar allowed Russian military bases in Libya, Putin's strength in Middle East politics would continue to grow as well.

This sets the scene for a potential clash between the EU on one side and Putin and Trump on the other. There are major reasons for Trump to support Haftar over Serraj.Haftar spent 20 years in the U.S., living not far from the Central Intelligence Agency's Langley headquarters and working to undermine Qaddafi, his one-timefriend and ally. Trump is also highly skeptical of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's actions in Libya as the Qaddafi regime disintegrated, and, like Putin, he doesn't believe in imposing democracy on Middle Eastern nations where Islamist groups enjoy popular support.

Haftar and his supporters celebrated Trump's victory last November, seeing the new U.S. president as a potential ally against jihadists.

Moscow likelywouldn't mind testing the opportunities for cooperation with Trump in Libya. On Thursday, the state propaganda agency RIA Novosti published a column by Avigdor Eskin, an Israeli political consultant close to the Russian nationalist right, asserting that the Trump administration -- namely National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- had a plan on Libya that might involve Russian cooperation via Haftar. The supposed plan involves building new "micro-cities" rather than refugee camps in Libya, with factories and oil facilities to put them to work.

Although that sounds like wishful thinking, theKremlin is highly likely to approach theTrump administration with offers of pacifying Libya and thus weakening the Islamic State. The U.S. wouldn't even need to do anything except turn a blind eye to Russian support of Haftar. As in Syria, Putin's unique selling proposition is that he is not squeamish when it comes to dealing with strongmen and that, unlike any Western leader, he is unconstrained by the need to seek political support at home: He knows by now how to create it through a powerful propaganda machine.

If Trump's isolationist team is willing tocut its risks and outsource at least part of its promised fight against Islamist terrorism to Russia, an understanding on Libya is a possible first step down that road.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Nizza at mnizza3@bloomberg.net

Link:
Watch Libya for the First Sign of Trump-Putin Collaboration - Bloomberg

The White House

A conference planned to take place this mid-February in Washington DC to discuss Libyan political issues was delayed over the Donald Trumps travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, including Libya.

The Feb. 16 conference titled Libya-U.S. Relations 2017: New Vision, Hope and Opportunities, and co-hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Libya Relations, had listed Libyan speakers, including two former prime ministers and the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC). Reuters reported Friday.

The organisers said it wont be possible to get the Libyan guests into the US just because of the ban of the Trump executive order.

We have been working for visa waivers for speakers and key sponsors and based on our conversations with the various institutions involved in making the decision, there was consensus this was an important event and there is political will to facilitate the conference but its just a question of timing and we understand that humanitarian exceptions are a priority, Rihab El Haj, a member of the National Council on U.S.-Libya relations, told Reuters.

She said that maybe they could assign a later date for the conference, but for now, the whole thing is hindered.

See the rest here:
Trump's travel ban puts off Washington conference on Libya - Libyan Express

Prime Minister describes the past week as a historic one in which European leaders sought to address the concerns of the people

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat hailed the Libya agreement as a historic first step in tackling migration to Europe

We did what they used to say was impossible. We facilitated an agreement between Italy and Libya that wont solve everything;but it will help our neighbour to no longer act asa sieve for people who have risked their life in crossing a desert, only to then have to risk their lives to cross the sea and come to Europe, to Malta, to Safi, where they are forgotten, he continued.

Muscat said that he understood the concerns of those opposed to the agreement but insisted that doing nothing was not an option.

People were concerned that nobody was listening to them. These are good families, families that want to help but who cannot do so if the numbers are too big.

While Europe had an obligation to help those who are being bombed and who are suffering persecution, Muscat said that anyonecoming in search a better job needed to pass through official channels. The European Union is coming to its senses and working to solve this problem, he said, adding that the agreement will also see help being given to third countries.

Now that we have started making progress we must work on the second part. We must now set up humanitarian corridors for these people. If you deserve to be given refuge, you should be able to get on a plan to start a new life.

Onthe newly-announceddevelopment of a new 315-room luxury hotel to be built on the former Institute of Tourism Studies site at St Georges Bay, Muscat emphasised that this is further proof of the governments commitment to creating employment and driving economic growth.

In the week where everyone thought we were only thinking of international affairs, we got the largest local investment ever seen in Malta. Even better than that, it will be creating 1,500 new jobs.

According to Muscat, such a project will be bringingtourists that paymore, and this means that employers will have to pay employees more for their services. In addition to this, he said that the project will also contribute to developing a better service industry, with better quality jobs.

Turning to criticism over the governments valuation of the land the hotel will be developed on, Muscat said that the government had not estimated the value itself. For the first time, we got one of the best auditing agencies to estimate the value of the land. They gave a professional estimate, the likes of which the country has never seen.

Furthermore, he said that a clause had been introduced to ensure that if the value of the land changes in the future, the government will beentitled to more money. If today, you can build 100 flats that is the price, but if that changes and you can build 120 flats in the future, you must pay more. This is how we protect the nations assets, he stressed.

Briefly addressing criticism levelled against him by the opposition some over his visit to a pastizzi shop with four European heads of state, Muscat said that the government had no problem having tea in a small shop, with the people.

We dont mind this, we are proud to be the children of workers, we are proud to be rising from humble beginnings and to be lifting the country with us.

On the announcement this week, that the US fantasy sports giant DraftKings will be basing a part of its operation in Malta, Muscat said that this was part of the governments vision for a truly cosmopolitan country. This country is capable of obtaining even better results. It can lift itself from mediocracy, this is a country that is capable of being top of the league.

Finally, the Prime Minister said that the government would continue to rise above divisive and negative political rhetoric. Those who have no arguments to make must rely on dividing and provoking their opposition. People understand this, and can see through it, he said indirectly referring to allegations against minister Chris Cardona that have dominated this weeks news cycles.

People are capable of deciding in their own homes, that which is right and that which is wrong. They can also feel that some people are genuine and sometimes make mistakes, as well as see that some people are bitter and intentionally being divisive. My promise is that over the coming months the government will not descend to this level. We speak on the level of those who have aspirations and who are fed up with the politics of division. We want to speak to those who want to work towards solutions.

Read more:
Libya migration deal is for you, Muscat tells party faithful in Safi - MaltaToday