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One Libyan figure may prove to be central to any negotiations: Gen. Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have been fighting Islamists and control a chunk of the country's east. He's already been talking to Russia.

It continues to compete with the Islamist-dominated General National Congress in Tripoli, also known as the Government of National Salvation, and with the previous internationally recognized government, the Council of Deputies, which has set up camp in the east of Libya and backs Haftar.

Haftar, who heads the so-called Libyan National Army, has been working to drive out Islamist forces, with some success, said St John. His forces now control much of the east, including Benghazi and most of the major oil producing and exporting areas -- crucial to Libya's economy, said St John.

In the last six to nine months, Russia has been trying to take advantage of the chaos and instability in Libya to establish itself as a regional player, said St John. After gaining a "major foothold" in Syria, where it has backed the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, influence in Libya could allow it to expand its reach into North Africa, he said.

Anna Walker, associate director for Europe at the business risk consultancy Control Risks, said Russia was seeking to exert its influence in the region to help reinforce its position as a power on the world stage.

Nikolay Kozhanov, an academy associate with UK-based think tank Chatham House, said Moscow is trying to orientate its foreign policy toward non-Western nations.

Russia is also "disappointed" by the results of Western involvement in the Middle East, he said, which it largely blames for the fall of pro-Moscow regimes in Iraq and Libya, and associated political and economic losses.

The Arab Spring and subsequent instability in the region has been a blow to Russia's economy, Kozhanov said. Russia had huge investments in Libya before the Arab Spring -- from military infrastructure to railroad construction to energy.

The Soviet Union was also a major supplier of weapons to Libya's former strongman leader Moammar Gadhafi following his rise to power in 1969, said St John. Russia would like to tap back into that market, he said.

In addition, Libya has oil and gas reserves that could offer future development opportunities, said Walker.

Haftar -- who defected from Gadhafi's military to live in exile in the United States before returning to Libya in 2011 -- will have to be brought on board if a stable Libyan government with popular support is to be formed, said St John.

The general opposes the rule of the UN-backed Tripoli government and has indicated he might try to extend his power base to the Libyan capital, said St John.

Haftar traveled to Moscow last year and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He also met with a high-level Russian delegation on board a Russian warship off eastern Libya last month.

Kozhanov said he doubted Russia had a "clear master plan" in Libya -- but links with Haftar could be useful in a future Libyan government.

Libya is a departure point for hundreds of thousands of migrants who have left poverty and repression in African and Middle Eastern nations.

Europe's migrant crisis is not a real factor in Russia's plans, said Kozhanov. But, he said, "Moscow often offers to cooperate with the West on the anti-terrorist agenda, using it as the way to make the West less interested in confronting Moscow on other topics." That would include Ukraine, where Russian aggression has led to European sanctions.

US President Donald Trump has also spoken of working with Russia to fight Islamist terrorism.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini last week spoke by phone about Ukraine, Syria and Libya with Lavrov. The pair have agreed to meet in the coming weeks, perhaps on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"Both on Libya and Syria, we decided to find ways to join efforts and cooperate," said Mogherini of her call with Lavrov, adding that working with the Russians to help Libyans unite their country "can only be a positive thing."

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano also spoke with Lavrov about Libya, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Support within Europe for sanctions against Russia over Ukraine has been weakening, said Walker. Treating Russia as a credible negotiating partner in Libya will make maintaining unity on sanctions harder, she said.

However, she said, "Europe has so many issues it is grappling with at the moment that refusing Russia's support or actively trying to counter it is probably not in its interests."

She stressed that Russia was talking to various political forces in Libya, not just Haftar, and planned to receive Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the GNA, in Moscow this month.

"We would like Libya to get out of the protracted crisis as soon as possible and once again become a prosperous state relying on strong government institutions, capable army and law enforcement forces restoring its status as a major regional player," she said.

CNN's Antonia Mortensen and Milena Veselinovic contributed to this report.

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Libya: Why the EU is looking to Russia - CNN

By Aidan Lewis | MISRATA, Libya

MISRATA, Libya Islamic State militants have shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya's political divisions after defeat in their former stronghold of Sirte, security officials say.

The militants, believed to number several hundred and described as "remnants" of Islamic State's Libya operation, are trying to foment chaos by cutting power and water supplies and to identify receptive local communities, the officials said.

They are being monitored through aerial surveillance and on-the-ground intelligence, but Libyan officials said they cannot easily be targeted without advanced air power of the kind used by the United States on Jan. 19, when B-2 bombers killed more than 80 militants in a strike southwest of Sirte.

For more than a year, Islamic State exercised total control over Sirte, building its primary North African base in the coastal city. But it struggled to keep a footing elsewhere in Libya and by December was forced out of Sirte after a six-month campaign led by brigades from the western city of Misrata and backed by U.S. air strikes.

The jihadist group lost many of its fighters in the battle and now has no territory in Libya, but fugitive militants and sleeper cells are seen to pose a threat in a country that has been deeply fractured and largely lawless since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The threat is focused south of the coastal strip between Misrata and Tripoli, arcing to the southeast around the town of Bani Walid and into the desert south of Sirte, said Ismail Shukri, head of military intelligence in Misrata.

One group of 60-80 militants is operating around Girza, 170 km (105 miles) west of Sirte, another group of about 100 is based around Zalla and Mabrouk oil field, about 300 km southeast of Sirte, and there are reports of a third group present in Al-Uwaynat, close the Algerian border, he said.

Some fighters were based outside Sirte before last year's campaign, some fled during the battle and some have arrived from eastern Libya where they have been largely defeated by rival armed factions.

"They work and move around in small groups. They only use two or three vehicles at a time and they move at night to avoid detection," said Mohamed Gnaidy, an intelligence official with forces that conducted the campaign in Sirte.

Those forces published pictures in the wake of last month's U.S. strike showing hideouts dug into the sand, temporary shelters camouflaged with plastic sheeting and branches, stocks of weapons and satellite phones.

"This area is very difficult so it's hard for our forces to deal with them," said Shukri, pointing to satellite images of steep rocky banks and tracks in the sand southwest of Sirte. "The only solution to eliminate them in this area is through air strikes."

ATTACKS ON INFRASTRUCTURE

Mohamed Gnounou, a Misrata-based air force spokesman, said the militants had been monitored for 45 days ahead of the U.S. strike. "It confirmed a large number of individuals who were preparing something new in this place, as well as developing a strategy to head to new areas." The areas included rural districts near the coastal cities of Al Khoms and Zliten, between Misrata and Tripoli, and the region around the southern city of Sabha, he said.

Islamic State fighters had received logistical help from civilians and had paid some of them to help cut off power and water supplies, including by sabotaging a water link to Tripoli in the Great Man-made River system built by Gaddafi, and attacking electricity infrastructure near the southern city of Sabha, where there have been long blackouts in recent weeks, said Gnounou.

"Daesh (Islamic State) destroyed more than 150km of electricity pylons in the south between Jufra and Sabha. These acts fuel crisis and frustration in Libya, as well as giving an opportunity for gold diggers who smuggle through the open borders and make easy money from Daesh," he said.

Sirte suffered extensive damage during the battle against Islamic State. Military officials from Misrata say they have the city secured and some residents have begun to return to central neighborhoods.

But they also complain about a lack of support from the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and are nervous about military advances by forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar to the east and south of Sirte.

Haftar, who has rejected the GNA, was on the opposite side to Misrata's brigades in a conflict that flared up across Libya in 2014, just as Islamic State was gaining strength.

Both sides accuse the other of using Islamic State to their advantage, while waging separate campaigns against jihadists.

"The support we are getting is not equivalent to the risk we face or the sacrifice we have made," said Shukri. "We need the political authorities, the (GNA) to continue the next step."

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

BEIJING/WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the "one China" policy during a phone call with China's leader Xi Jinping, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.

MOSCOW Slovenia would be a good place for a first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Friday, but he said the choice of venue would not be Moscow's alone.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico's home-grown populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tapped into wide discontent with the ruling party and resentment toward Donald Trump to make a bid for the center ground, raising his chances of winning the presidency next year.

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Islamic State shifts to Libya's desert valleys after Sirte defeat - Reuters

A military helicopter that was part of the eastern Libya army force commanded by strongman Khalifa Hifter was shot down Friday and contact has been lost with the crew members, an army spokesman said.

Faisal Ahbale told The Associated Press that the helicopter was struck in central Libya, where the air forces waged at least nine airstrikes throughout the day targeting militias known as Benghazi Defense Brigades.

The militias are a mixture of Islamic militants and former rebels who were recently defeated by Hifter's forces in Benghazi, Libya' second largest city. Two months ago, suspected militias struck a military helicopter in Benghazi, but its crew members survived.

Ahbale said that it's not clear yet what kind of weapon was used to down the helicopter.

In a statement carried by al-Nabaa TV network, the militias said that it shot down a helicopter and described the attack as "significant" but declined to give more details on the site of the helicopter. It also said that one of the crew members were killed while the other is still missing.

Ahbale said the militias were advancing toward a key oil field in the hands of the army and called al-Mabrouk, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the so-called Oil Crescent a geographical region along the central part of Libya's Mediterranean Sea coast where most oil terminals are located.

He said five militiamen were killed and 20 wounded.

Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 civil war, which ended with the killing of the longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country has been split into two competing parliaments and governments, and each is back by a set of militias, tribes and political factions.

In 2015, the United Nations in an attempt to seal the rift brokered a peace deal aimed at creating a national unity government. Members arrived in the capital last year but since then have failed to win a crucial vote of confidence from the internationally recognized parliament seated in eastern Libya.

Hifter's army is allied with the parliament and has been engaged in a years-long campaign against Islamic militants, mainly in Benghazi but recently across the eastern region, where the forces have taken control over the oil crescent.

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Army Helicopter Downed in Fighting Near Libyan Oil Field - ABC News

By Ahmed Elumami | TRIPOLI

TRIPOLI Mayors from Libya's desert south to its northern shores fear a deal between Tripoli and Rome to fund migrant holding centers in this north African country will simply shift Europe's migration crisis onto Libyan soil.

The Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy has become the main crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Last year, Italy recorded its record number of arrivals and many migrants drowned at sea.

The deal foresees European Union money for holding centers in towns and cities along the main human trafficking routes criss-crossing Libya, as well as training and equipment to fight the smugglers.

Reuters contacted Libyan mayors to hear their reactions to the deal, and they were not positive.

"Our priority is to support our own sons instead of allowing for illegal migrants in centers," said Hamed Al-Khyali, mayor of the southern city of Sabha, a migrant smuggling hub.

"If the Europeans want to allow them to stay, they can have them in their own lands, which are larger, but not in Libya, because we have our own problems to take care of."

Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 toppling of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, enabling smuggling gangs to develop entrenched networks.

Smugglers typically demand thousands of dollars from migrants for a risky journey across the desert before cramming them onto ill-equipped boats for a perilous crossing of the Mediterranean. An estimated 4,500 migrants drowned in 2016.

The agreement will depend heavily on the cooperation of local authorities along the smuggling routes because the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli exerts little effective control over much of the country.

Several mayors said they were not notified of the accord before it was struck.

The agreement, which has the backing of EU leaders, pledges support for "reception camps" where migrants can be held "until their deportation or their voluntary return to their countries of origin".

Some migrant detention centers already exist in Libya. A U.N. report in December said migrants in Libya were exposed to widespread abuse in the centers, which are generally controlled by armed groups, although some have official status.

The report also said some local officials were collaborating with the smugglers.

'DANGEROUS STEP'

Hussein Thwadi, mayor of the western coastal city of Sabratha, the departure point most frequently used for Mediterranean crossings by smugglers in Libya right now, said keeping migrants in Libya would be a "dangerous step".

"The idea of allowing illegal migrants to stay in Libya and providing good conditions for their livelihood is rejected by Libyans and by the authorities too," Thwadi said.

The migrant crisis was too great for Libyan authorities to handle, the mayor said. "The problem of illegal migration must be solved internationally."

Most migrant-smuggling boats launch from western Libya.

Mayors in the southern towns of Kufra, Murzuq and Ghat also told Reuters by telephone that they were against the agreement for similar reasons.

Authorities in eastern Libya, who oppose the U.N.-backed government and hold sway over swathes of the south used by the human traffickers, this week rejected the Italian-Libyan deal.

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Thursday said this came as no surprise.

"We got ourselves a good deal, but it's not a magic wand, it doesn't mean that tomorrow morning all the problems will be resolved," Alfano told reporters in Rome.

This week the EU said it would try to protect migrants in Libya and increase voluntary repatriations through closer cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

Both agencies have said that Libya should not be considered a safe country to hold migrants and process asylum requests.

The two agencies' heads, together with the U.N. human rights chief and the U.N. Libya envoy, called on Friday for a "comprehensive approach" to tackling migrant and refugee flows in Libya, stressing the need to look at driving factors behind the crisis while "improving regular pathways" for migrants.

(Additional reporting by Antonella Cinelli and Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

BEIJING/WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the "one China" policy during a phone call with China's leader Xi Jinping, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.

MOSCOW Slovenia would be a good place for a first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Friday, but he said the choice of venue would not be Moscow's alone.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico's home-grown populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tapped into wide discontent with the ruling party and resentment toward Donald Trump to make a bid for the center ground, raising his chances of winning the presidency next year.

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Libya mayors say Europe's migration crisis should not be dumped on them - Reuters

ByStephen Beard

February 09, 2017 | 8:33 AM

Alongside its debt crisis, the European Union has been grappling with another major problem: unwanted migration. Last year, more than a million men, women and children refugees and irregular, economic migrants poured into the bloc, putting a big strain on public services and leading to the re-imposition of border controls between some of the member states. A deal between the EU and Turkey eventually reduced to a trickle the flow of incomers from the east, but the influx from North Africa is increasing, and with tragic consequences. Of the tens of thousands of migrants who reached Europe from the south after paying smugglers to get them across the Mediterranean, 4,500 perished in the attempt.

In a bid to stop this human traffic and save lives, the EU has now offered a second deal, this time with Libya.

The deal emerged from a recent summit of EU leaders in Malta and represents a new and controversial way of curbing migration. British Prime Minister Theresa May, who took part in the summit, described the initiative as a comprehensive and coordinated approach to tackling one of the biggest challenges facing Europe.

The leaders agreed to pour millions of euros into beefing up the Libyan coast guard to stop people smugglers and to step up search and rescue operations. But far more controversially, the EU also offered to set up and fund refugee camps in southern Libya where people who are trying to reach Europe could be held and have their asylum claims processed. Human rights groups are aghast.

If Europe is admitting that it will struggle to meet the needs of refugees, how on earth can it expect a country, which barely has a functioning government, to do it?" asked Nick Dearden of the Global Justice campaign group.

This is not about saving migrant lives. This is simply about giving some money probably a lot of it will be taken from the aid budget to keep people where they are and push that burden onto other countries, he said.

The United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur has also entered the fray over the EUs new deal. Professor Francois Crepeau accused the European Council of pandering to anti-immigrant feeling for political reasons in order to stave off any populist backlash in the upcoming general elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year.

No one at the European Council headquarters in Brussels was prepared to comment.

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EU pins hopes on migrant deal with Libya - Marketplace - Marketplace.org