Archive for the ‘Libya’ Category

Libyan authorities oppose EU migrant plans – EUobserver

Local authorities in Libya's capital city Tripoli and elsewhere are mounting resistance to EU plans to stem migration flows towards Italy.

The move is likely to further complicate efforts after the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced a 200 million plan to finance migration projects geared towards Libya throughout much of north Africa.

A large bulk of the money is likely to be shuffled into border control and surveillance in the hope of containing people likely to attempt the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing in the upcoming months.

But Mostafa Al-Barooni, the mayor of one of the largest cities in the country, told this website on Wednesday (8 February) that Mogherini's proposals were unacceptable.

"It is not acceptable and it is not logical that we should solve the problem of Europe by keeping the migrants and refugees in Libya," he said.

Al-Barooni presides over Zintan, a city in the north-west of country, which is home to some 20,000 migrants.

His views were echoed by Ibrahim Aribi, a city councillor from Tripoli, the seat of the UN-recognised Government of National Accord, the GNA.

"It is the European Union that is responsible for the illegal migrants," Aribi told EUobserver.

"We don't agree with these plans," he said.

Aribi said the EU's migration proposals risked creating "huge problems for Libya."

"If all these refugees cannot go further and stay in Libya, it will worsen the situation, he said.

The two said EU assistance for Libya should instead aim to create jobs and tackle day-to-day issues such as waste management.

EU leaders, earlier this month in Malta, said they would "stem illegal flows into the EU" and "combat transit and smuggling activities, but made no mention of helping people to find legal ways to seek asylum in Europe.

It means that people hoping to reach the EU will continue to rely on smugglers.

The EU is keen to cooperate with Libyan municipal authorities, which are viewed as being vital to implementing its new African projects, but with local authorities opposing the plans to keep migrants at bay, it is unclear how the European initiatives can proceed.

Al-Barooni and Aribs comments come ahead of a ceremony in Malta where Mogherini is handing over graduation certificates to 89 trainees in the Libyan coast guard and navy.

The trainees are among the first batch in an EU plan to get the Libyans to pluck migrants from within their own territorial waters and return them to Libya.

But once returned, they are likely to end up in detention facilities that were recently described as death-traps by the German government.

Officially, Libya has 34 detention centres but sources on the ground say the real number is between 20 and 27.

"If there is a conflict, migrants are moved to another centre, so it depends," said International Organisation of Migration (IOM) chief of mission to Libya, Othman Belbeisi.

Another part of the EU plan to keep migrants in place is to enlist international aid organisations like the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and IOM for help.

But the UNHCR has no international staff in Libya.

The agency has people working in Somalia and Afghanistan but refuses to send anyone to Libya for extended stays because it is too dangerous.

It instead relies on local hires to carry out services.

The IOM has 81 staff present in Libya and 115 dedicated mission staff but faces similar restrictions.

The IOM's Libya's mission chief Belbeisi, for instance, is based in Tunisia.

"Even for me, I cannot go to Libya and stay for a number of days," he said.

Belbeisi said they are able to work around the problems with different contractual agreements for staffing inside the country.

"We are taking some risks trying to have people on the ground under different contractual modalities," he said.

The IOM works primarily with the Libyan coast guard and a so-called directorate for combating illegal migration.

The organisation wants to set up reception facilities for people rescued at sea where they can receive a meal and quick shower before being released a few hours later.

Belbeisi said that those rescued are often sent immediately to the detention centres.

"This is something that we advocate that authorities should stop but it continues to happen," he said.

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Libyan authorities oppose EU migrant plans - EUobserver

Libya could jump-start Trump-Putin cooperation – Charleston Post Courier

BY LEONID BERSHIDSKY

Those 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 on Trump, who could turn to Putin.

Libya is important for three reasons. Its the starting point of the so-called Central Mediterranean route by which tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants reach Europe. Its also a major oil producer that can affect global prices. Lastly, the chaos in Libya makes it, in U.S. terminology, a terrorist safe haven. Thats why presidents Obama and Trump have tried to limit the entry of Libyan citizens and those who have visited the country.

At an informal summit on Malta on Friday European states affirmed their support for the U.N.-backed government, run from Tripoli by Prime Minister Fayez Mustafa al-Serraj. They also backed a deal Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni signed on with Serraj. Italy is taking the lead in funding the construction of refugee camps in Libya, and the E.U. as a whole recently earmarked an additional 200 million euros for its efforts to keep potential migrants in Libya, Tunisia and Niger. But refugees are not Putins priority in Libya. Hes more interested in restoring Russian influence there, and establishing a military presence if he can.

Under Moamar Gaddafi, 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 lost a contract to build a line along the Mediterranean.

Putin watched the Arab Spring with dismay not just because it dispatched kleptocrats like himself, but also because those secular authoritarian rulers were often replaced with Islamists. To Putin, these strongmen were a bulwark against jihadism. He drew a line at the attempt to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, forged a relationship with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and restored ties with Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His alliance with Iran fits that line of behavior because Shia Iranians are hostile to Sunni extremists that Putin considers especially dangerous since they emerged as a force in separatist Chechnya in the 1990s.

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

Haftar chased Islamist fighters out of Benghazi and took over Libyas key oil terminals from pro-government forces last September, boosting the countrys output. The Kremlin has been cultivating a relationship with Haftar, inviting him for a visit to Moscow last November, 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 U.N. 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 a deal to supply Haftar via Algeria, a long-time Moscow arms client.

Thats potentially scary for the E.U. 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, Putins strength in Middle East politics would to grow as well.

This sets the scene for a potential clash between the E.U. 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., not far from the Central Intelligence Agencys Langley headquarters, working to undermine Gaddafi, his one-time friend and ally. Trump is also highly skeptical of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintons actions in Libya as the Qaddafi regime disintegrated, and, like Putin, he doesnt believe in imposing democracy on Middle Eastern nations where Islamist groups enjoy popular support.

Moscow likely wouldnt 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 had a Libyan plan that might involve Russian cooperation via Haftar. The supposed plan involves building micro-cities rather than refugee camps in Libya, with factories and oil facilities to put them to work.

Though that sounds like wishful thinking, the Kremlin is likely to approach Trump with offers of pacifying Libya and thus weakening the Islamic State. The U.S. wouldnt need to do anything except turn a blind eye to Russian support of Haftar. As in Syria, Putins 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 Trumps isolationist team is willing to cut its risks and outsource part of its promised fight against terrorism to Russia, an understanding on Libya is a possible first step down that road.

Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist

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Libya could jump-start Trump-Putin cooperation - Charleston Post Courier

Sudan brings home baby of ISIS fighters slain in Libya – News24

Khartoum - Sudanese security agents on Monday brought home a four-month-old baby girl whose parents were killed in Libya while fighting for the jihadist Islamic State group, a security official said.

The infant, born to Sudanese parents, was brought to Khartoum after the Libyan Red Crescent alerted Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

"The mother and father of the baby were IS fighters who were killed in Sirte during the fighting to liberate" the city from the group, the Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) reported Brigadier Tijani Ibrahim of NISS as saying.

The baby's mother had travelled to Libya in August 2015 along with four other Sudanese girls, the media outlet close to NISS reported Ibrahim as saying.

"There they joined IS and also married Sudanese men who were members of ISIS," he said.

The baby's grandfather said the child was brought to Sudan from the Libyan city of Misrata.

Libyan authorities who found the baby handed her over to the Libyan Red Crescent, who then contacted NISS to return the infant to Sudan, the SMC report said.

Last major bastion

"I had heard that my daughter had left behind a baby she had from a Sudanese member of ISIS," Alithi Yousef told SMC.

"After what was a complicated operation conducted in co-ordination with NISS and Libyan officials, we were able to bring back the baby," he said.

Sudanese officials say dozens of young Sudanese have joined ISIS.

Several groups of students from Sudan - some holding Western passports - are said to have travelled to Syria, Iraq and Libya to join the group.

Sudanese media has reported the deaths of some of the students while fighting for the group in the three countries.

Libya's unity government in December officially announced the end of military operations in Sirte, after its forces retook what was the group's last major bastion in the country.

Libya descended into chaos following the Nato-backed ouster of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with rival administrations and militias vying for control of its vast oil wealth.

The infighting and lawlessness allowed extremist groups such as ISIS to seize several coastal regions, giving the jihadists a toehold on Europe's doorstep.

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Sudan brings home baby of ISIS fighters slain in Libya - News24

EU defends Libya deal – euronews

The EUs foreign policy chief has defended a deal to finance migrants camps in Libya.

Leaders agreed to send some 200 million euros to the Libyan government during a summit in Malta last week as part of strategy to to stem immigration from Africa.

When the UNHCR manages to operate in a centre and then identifies someone as someone in needs and having the right to international protection, said Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief.

The UNHCR starts a resettlement program and those persons are resettled being it in Europe, being it in Canada or in the US, that I dont know or elsewhere in the world.

The EU wants to help Libyas coast guard to stop migrants leaving in the first place. Leaders also pledged to help with protecting its southern border.

But Libya has been ravaged by conflict since the fall of Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.

The UN-backed government doesnt control all of the country; theres a rival administration in the east. And the so-Called Islamic State also operates there.

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EU defends Libya deal - euronews

USAFWS officers employ total force training during Libya B-2 strike … – Air Force Link

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- Two B-2 Spirit bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri for a transatlantic flight to Libya on Jan. 18 in what would become the B-2s first combat mission since Operation Odyssey Dawn in 2011.

The demanding 30-plus-hour mission against two Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant camps required personnel with advanced expertise in the B-2s capabilities. It also required a firm grasp of total force integration. In essence, it required graduates of the 57th Wings U.S. Air Force Weapons School.

There was a deliberate effort to fill all of the (B-2 strike) seats with weapons officers because of the niche skill set we train to on our (special operations force integration) ride, said Col. Michael Drowley, the weapons school commandant.

The success of the B-2 strike demonstrated the total force integration training inherent in a weapons school education. This training made B-2 graduates of the 325th Weapons Squadron the natural go-to experts for the North Africa mission.

(It is) a testament to the awesome job the 325th instructor corps does to prepare graduates to lead in combat, Drowley said.

The weapons schools 26 weapons instructor courses employ a building-block approach to produce weapons officers who are not only doctorate-level experts in a platform or specialty, but also trailblazers in total force and joint integration planning and execution.

The final month of each class consists of the weapons school integration phase, a series of complex missions enacted in a highly contested operational environment.

The immediate applicability of WSINT to a real-world situation was highlighted during the B-2 strike.

Prior to the Libya mission, the most recent sortie flown by Capt. Nathan Mueller, the 13th Bomb Squadron B-2 flight lead, was the WSINT offensive counter-air mission he flew in December as a student.

It was a very humbling experience when my squadron commander told me that I would be flight lead for what would become the B-2's participation in Operation Odyssey Lightning, Mueller said. The dynamic targeting and inherent integration that took place en route to Libya is not something that B-2 pilots train for on a regular basis. It was, however, very much a part of the weapons school syllabus, particularly during WSINT.

The weapons school instructors do not often have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the WSINT training so quickly.

We're obviously extremely proud of the work our graduates did in combat, said Lt. Col. Daniel Hoadley, the 325th WPS commander. It's especially gratifying to see one of our graduates lead this mission on his first B-2 sortie after weapons school. I would equate it to practicing football plays with your kid in the back yard for six months and then watching them score the winning touchdown on their first game!

The true value of any integration training, however, lies in its ability to forge weapons officers who can lead and work with diverse forces.

During the strike in Libya, for example, the B-2 personnel collaborated with multiple KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender and MQ-9 Reaper crews to achieve the mission. The 325th WPS reflected the weapons schools humble, approachable, credible motto when discussing the strike.

We recognize we are a very small piece of the big team that led to success on this mission, Hoadley said.

The weapons school plans to multiply the value of its integration training, from 2017 forward, with more syllabus opportunities earlier in the class and joint partnerships.

This expansion will ensure weapons school graduates continue to provide top-notch leadership to any mission they are called to do.

I lost count of the number of times we did something in our formation because of a lesson learned during weapons school, Mueller said. I can't think of any higher praise for a program than when combat feels like the training scenarios.

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USAFWS officers employ total force training during Libya B-2 strike ... - Air Force Link