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Libyan Civil War Part of the Arab Winter, the Libyan Crisis Date 16 May 2014 present (2years, 6months, 3weeks and 3days) Location Libya Status

Ongoing

Council of Deputies (Tobruk-based)[1][2]

Egypt[6][7]United Arab Emirates[6] Chad[8]Supported by:

General National Congress (Tripoli-based)[15]

Sudan[21]Supported by:

Government of National Accord (since 2016)

Supported by:

Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries[32][33]

Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (since 2015)[37]

Abdullah al-Thani (Prime Minister) [61]

General Officer Khalifa Haftar (Commander of Operation Dignity)

Col. Wanis Abu Khamada (Commander of Libyan Special Forces)

Brig. Gen. Saqr Geroushi (Chief of Staff of the Libyan Air Force)

Chief of Staff Abdel Razek Al-Nazuri (Libyan Ground Forces)

Nouri Abusahmain (former) (President of the GNC)

Khalifa al-Ghawi (Prime Minister, not internationally recognized)[62]

Sadiq Al-Ghariani (Grand Mufti)

Salah Badi (Operation Libya Dawn Commander)

Shaaban Hadia (LROR Commander)

Adel Gharyani (LROR Commander)

Col. Al-Mahdi Al-Barghathi (GNA Minister of Defense)

Rida Issa[27] (Libyan Navy commander)

Abu Khalid al Madani (Ansar al-Sharia Leader)[63]

Mokhtar Belmokhtar (Commander of Al-Mourabitoun,believed dead)[64]

Mohamed al-Zahawi[65] (Former Ansar al-Sharia Leader)

Wissam Ben Hamid (Libya Shield 1 Commander)

Salim Derby (Commander of Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade)[66]

Abu Sufian bin Qumu (Ansar al-Sharia commander in Derna)

Abu Nabil al-Anbari (Top ISIL leader in Libya)[67][68] Abu Hudhayfah al-Muhajir[69] (ISIL governor of Wilayat Tripolitania) Mohammed Abdullah (IS Emir of Derna)[37] Ali Al Qarqaa (Emir of Nofaliya)[45] Ahmed Rouissi (Senior IS commander)[70] Abdullah Al-Libi[71]

The second Libyan Civil War[78][79] is an ongoing conflict among rival groups seeking control of the territory of Libya. The conflict has been mostly between the government of the Council of Deputies (CoD) that was elected democratically in 2014, also known as the "Tobruk government" and internationally recognized as the "Libyan Government"; and the rival General National Congress (GNC) endorsed government, also called the "National Salvation Government", based in the capital Tripoli established after Operation Libya Dawn.

In December 2015 the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) [80] was signed. The LPA was the result of protracted negotiations between rival political camps based in the capital, Tripoli, Tobruk and elsewhere which agreed to unite as the Government of National Accord. Although the Government of National Accord is now functioning, its authority is still unclear as specific details acceptable to both sides have not yet been agreed upon.

The CoD also known as the House of Representatives, strongest in eastern Libya, has the loyalty of the Libyan National Army under the command of General Khalifa Haftar and has been supported by air strikes by Egypt and the UAE.[81] The GNC, based in western Libya and backed by "Libya Dawn", Qatar, Sudan and Turkey,[81][82][83][84] initially accepted the results of the 2014 election, but rejected them after the Supreme Constitutional Court nullified an amendment regarding the roadmap for Libya's transition and HoR elections.[13] Due to controversy about constitutional amendments, the HoR refused to take office from GNC in Tripoli,[85] which was controlled by powerful militias from the western coastal city of Misrata. Instead, the HoR established its parliament in Tobruk.

In addition to these, there are also smaller rival groups: the Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, led by Ansar al-Sharia (Libya), which has had the support of the GNC;[86] the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL's) Libyan provinces;[87] as well as Tuareg militias of Ghat, controlling desert areas in the southwest; and local forces in Misrata District, controlling the towns of Bani Walid and Tawergha. The belligerents are coalitions of armed groups that sometimes change sides.[81]

In recent months there have been many political developments. The United Nations brokered a cease-fire in December 2015, and on 31 March 2016, the leaders of a new UN-supported "unity government" arrived in Tripoli.[49] On 5 April, the rival GNC government announced that it was suspending operations and handing power to the new unity government, officially named the "Government of National Accord", although it was not yet clear whether the new arrangement would succeed.[50] As of 22 August, the unity government still had not received the approval of the House of Representatives with most members of the parliament voting against it in a motion of no confidence.[88][89][90][91]

At the beginning of 2014, Libya was governed by the General National Congress (GNC), which won the popular vote in 2012 elections.The GNC had become the subject of considerable discontent for, among other things. The GNC lost credibility as a result of having overstepped its mandate on the one hand, and accomplished little on the other. The GNC was made of two major political groupings, the National Forces Alliance (NFC) and the Justice and Construction Party (JCP). The two major groups in parliament had failed to reach political compromises on the larger more important issues that the GNC faced.

Division among these parties, the row over the political isolation law, and a continuous unstable security situation greatly impacted the GNC's ability to deliver real progress towards a new constitution for Libya which was a primary task for this body.[92]

The GNC also included members associated with conservative Islamist Groups as well as revolutionary groups (thuwwar). Some members of the GNC had a conflict of interest due to associations with militias and were accused of channeling government funds towards some armed groups and allowing others to conduct assassinations and kidnappings. Parties holding majority of seats and some holding minority of seats began to use boycotts or threats of boycotts which increased division and suppressed relevant debates by removing them from the congressional agenda;[93] voting to declare sharia law and establishing "a special committee" to "review all existing laws to guarantee they comply with Islamic law";[94] imposing gender segregation and compulsory hijab at Libyan universities; and refusing to hold new elections when its electoral mandate expired in January 2014[95] until General Khalifa Haftar launched a large-scale military offensive against the Islamists in May 2014, code-named Operation Dignity (Arabic: ; 'Amaliya al-Karamah).[96][97]

The 2012 elections, overseen by the Libyan electoral commission with the support of the UN Special Mission In Libya (UNSMIL) and nongovernmental organizations like the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), have been considered "fair and free" by most Libyans. However, the elections did not necessarily create a strong government because the Parliament was fragmented due to the lack of organized political parties in Libya post-revolution. The GNC was made up two major parties, the National Forces Alliance and the Justice and Construction Party, as well as independents in which some where moderates and others conservative Islamists. The GNC became a broad-based congress.[92]

The GNA elected Nouri Abusahmain as president of the GNC in June 2013.[98][99] He was considered an independent Islamist and a compromise candidate acceptable to liberal members of the congress, as he was elected with 96 out of a total of 184 votes by the GNC.[100]

The GNC was challenged due to increasing security concerns in Tripoli. The GNC itself was attacked many times from militias and armed protesters who stormed the GNC assembly hall.[101] Following his appointment, Abusahmain was tasked with providing security. He setup the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) which was initially intended to protect and secure Tripoli in August 2013. But this armed group was responsible for kidnapping Prime Minister Zeidan in October of that year resulting in the GNC dismissing it from its security function and Abusahmain himself as president.[102] During his term, Abusahmain blocked inquiries into the distribution of state funds and it was alleged that Abusahmain was channeling government funding towards the LROR.[100] The LROR was not an Islamist armed group but rather was made of rebels from the city of Gharyan. Its commander was Adel Gharyani.

In October 2013, following the kidnapping of the Prime Minister, Abusahmain used his presidency to change the agenda of the GNC in order to prevent a debate over disestablishing the LROR. At the same time, he cancelled a request to establish a committee to investigate the allocation, by Abusahmain himself, of 900 million Libyan Dinars (US $720 million) to the LROR and various other armed groups.[93] Instead, the LROR had its responsibilities reduced by the GNC but was allowed to continue to operate, and no one was prosecuted for the incident.

The kidnapping of Zeidan was believed to be a coup attempt supported by members of the GNC, who was viewed as too moderate (see: 2013 Libyan coup d'tat attempt).

Most journalists reported that it was the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) (Ghurfat Amaliyat al-Thuwar) created by Abusahmain by decree 143 of 7 July. Yet there is evidence to suggest that this is not the case and that armed groups such as the Duru3 actually conducted the kidnapping.[103]

Many Libyans blamed the GNC and the interim government for a continued lack of security in the country. The interim government struggled to control well-armed militias and armed groups that established during the revolution. Libyans in Benghazi especially began to witness assassinations and kidnapping and perceived the GNC to be turning a blind eye to the deteriorating security situation in the east.

But security concerns increased across the country allowing armed groups to expand in both Tripoli and in the east.

In April 2014, an anti-terrorist training base called "Camp 27", located between Tripoli and the Tunisian border, was taken over by forces fighting under the control of Abd al-Muhsin Al-Libi, also known as Ibrahim Tantoush,[105] a long-serving Al-Qaeda organizer and former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.[106] The Islamist forces at Camp 27 have subsequently been described as part of the Libya Shield Force.[107] The Libya Shield Force was already identified by some observers as linked to al-Qaeda as early as 2012.[108][109]

Although Islamists were outnumbered by Liberals and Centrists in the GNC, in May 2014 they lobbied for a law "banning virtually everyone who had participated in Qaddafi's government from holding public office". While several Islamist political parties and independents supported the law, as they generally had no associations to the Qaddafi regime, the law enjoyed strong public support. Polls demonstrates that a large majority of the Libyan people supported the exclusion of high-ranking Qaddafi-regime officials.[92]

The law particularly impacts elite expatriates and leaders of liberal parties. There existed reservations that such a law would eliminate technocratic expertise needed in Libya at the time.

Armed militiamen stormed government ministries, shut down the GNC itself and demanded the law's passage. This intimidated the GNC into passing the law in which 164 members approved the bill, with only four abstaining and no member opposing it.[92]

GNC opponents argue that it was supporting Islamist actions against women. Sadiq Ghariani, the Grand Mufti of Libya, is perceived to be linked closely to Islamist parties. He has issued fatwas ordering Muslims to obey the GNC,[110] and fatwas ordering Muslims to fight against Haftar's forces[111]

In March 2013, Sadiq Ghariani, the Grand Mufti, issued a fatwa against the UN Report on Violence Against Women and Girls. He condemned the UN report for "advocating immorality and indecency in addition to rebelliousness against religion and clear objections to the laws contained in the Quran and Sunnah".[112][113] Soon after the Grand Mufti issued a clarification op-ed that there should be no discrimination between men and women yet women have a greater role in the family, nevertheless, this does not mean Islam violates the rights of women.[114]

Later in 2013, lawyer Hamida Al-Hadi Al-Asfar, advocate of women's rights, was abducted, tortured and killed. It is alleged she was targeted for criticising the Grand Mufti's declaration.[115] No arrests were made.

In June 2013, two politicians, Ali Tekbali and Fathi Sager, appeared in court for "insulting Islam" for publishing a cartoon promoting women's rights.[116] Under sharia law they were facing a possible death penalty. The case caused widespread concern although they were eventually acquitted in March 2014. After the GNC was forced to accept new elections, Ali Tekbali was elected to the new House of Representatives.

During Nouri Abusahmain's presidency of the GNC and subsequent to GNC's decision to enforce sharia law in December 2013, gender segregation and compulsory hijab were being imposed in Libyan universities from early 2014, provoking strong criticism from Women's Rights groups.

The GNC failed to stand down at the end of its electoral mandate in January 2014, unilaterally voting on 23 December 2013 to extend its power for at least one year. This caused widespread unease and some protests. Residents of the eastern city of Shahat, along with protesters from Bayda and Sousse, staged a large demonstration, rejecting the GNC's extension plan and demanding the resignation of the congress followed by a peaceful power transition to a legitimate body. They also protested the lack of security, blaming the GNC for failing to build the army and police.[96] Other Libyans rejecting the proposed mandate rallied in Tripoli's Martyrs Square and outside Benghazi's Tibesti Hotel, calling for the freeze of political parties and the re-activation of the country's security system.[117]

On 14 February 2014, General Khalifa Haftar ordered the GNC to dissolve and called for the formation of a caretaker government committee to oversee new elections. However his actions had little effect on the GNC, which called his actions "an attempted coup" and called Haftar himself "ridiculous" and labelled him an aspiring dictator. The GNC continued to operate as before. No arrests were made. Haftar launched Operation Dignity two months later, on 16 May.[citation needed]

On 25 May 2014, about one week after Khalifa Haftar started his Operation Dignity offensive against the General National Congress, that body set 25 June 2014 as the date for new elections.[118] Islamists were defeated, but rejected the results of the election, which saw only an 18% turnout.[119][120][121] They accused the new Council of Deputies parliament of being dominated by supporters of the former dictator, and they continued to support the old GNC after the Council officially replaced it on 4 August 2014.[81][122][123]

The conflict escalated on 13 July 2014, when Tripoli's Islamists and Misratan militias launched Operation Libya Dawn to seize Tripoli International Airport, capturing it from the Zintan militia on 23 August. Shortly thereafter, members of the GNC, whom had rejected the June election, reconvened as a new General National Congress and voted themselves as replacement of the newly elected Council of Deputies, with Tripoli as their political capital, Nouri Abusahmain as president and Omar al-Hasi as prime minister. As a consequence, the majority of the Council of Deputies was forced to relocate to Tobruk, aligning itself with Haftar's forces and eventually nominating him army chief.[124] On 6 November, the supreme court in Tripoli, dominated by the new GNC, declared the Council of Deputies dissolved.[125][126][127] The Council of Deputies rejected this ruling as made "under threat".[128]

On 16 January 2015, the Operation Dignity and Operation Libya Dawn factions agreed on a ceasefire.[47] The country was then led by two separate governments, with Tripoli and Misrata controlled by forces loyal to Libya Dawn and the new GNC in Tripoli, while the international community recognized Abdullah al-Thani's government and its parliament in Tobruk.[129] Benghazi remained contested between pro-Haftar forces and radical Islamists.[130]

The Islamist "Libyan Dawn" has been described as "an uneasy coalition" including "former al-Qaeda jihadists" who fought against Qaddafi in the nineties, Berber ethnic militias, members of Libya's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a "network of conservative merchants" from Misrata, whose fighters make up "the largest block of Libya Dawn's forces".[131] The Islamist forces are identified as "terrorists" by the elected parliament in Tobruk.[132] The city of Zawia and its associated brigades have been waging operations in western Libya in support of the Libya Dawn coalition. The motivations of the Zawia brigades participation in the war have been described as unrelated to religion and instead deriving foremost from tribal conflict with the Warshafana and secondarily as a result of opposition to the Zintani brigades and General Haftar.[133]

The Libya Shield Force supports the Islamists. Its forces are divided geographically into the Western Shield, Central Shield and Eastern Shield. Elements of the Libya Shield Force were identified by some observers as linked to Al-Qaeda as early as 2012.[108][109] The term "Libya Shield 1" is used to refer to the Islamist part of the Libya Shield Force in the east of Libya.[134]

In Eastern Libya, Islamist armed groups have organized themselves into the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries. These are:

In western Libya, the prominent Islamist forces are the Central Shield (of the Libya Shield Force), which consists especially of Misrata units, and the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room. Two smaller organizations operating in western Libya are Ignewa Al-Kikly and the "Lions of Monotheism".

Al-Qaeda leader Abd al-Muhsin Al-Libi, also known as Ibrahim Ali Abu Bakr or Ibrahim Tantoush[106] has been active in western Libya, capturing the special forces base called Camp 27 in April 2014 and losing it to anti-Islamist forces in August 2014.[105] The Islamist forces around Camp 27 have been described as both Al-Qaida[105] and as part of the Libya Shield Force.[107] The relationship between Al-Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is unclear, and their relationship with other Libyan Islamist groups is unclear. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are also active in Fezzan, especially in border areas.

The Zawia[disambiguation needed] tribe has been allied to Libya Dawn since August 2014[135] although in June 2014 at least one Zawia army unit had appeared to side with General Haftar, and reports in December claimed Zawia forces were openly considering breaking away from Libya Dawn.[136] Zawia militia have been heavily fighting the Warshefana tribe. In the current conflict, the Warshefana have been strongly identified with the forces fighting against both Libya Dawn and Al Qaeda. Zawia has been involved in a long-standing tribal conflict with the neighbouring Warshefana tribe since 2011.[137]

The anti-Islamist forces are built around Haftar's faction of the Libyan National Army, including land, sea and air forces.

Since the Battle of Tripoli Airport, armed groups associated with Zintan and the surrounding Nafusa region have become prominent. The Airport Security Battalion is recruited in large part from Zintan.

The "Zintan Brigades" fall under the leadership of the Zintan Revolutionaries' Military Council. They consist of:

The Airport Security Battalion at Tripoli Airport was linked to the Zintan Brigades.

Warshefana tribal armed groups, from the area immediately south and west of Tripoli, have been playing a growing role in the anti-Islamist forces. On 5 August, they were reported to have recaptured Camp 27, a training base west of Tripoli. But it had been captured by forces under Al-Qaeda organizer Ibrahim Ali Abu Bakr Tantoush in April 2014. Warshefana armed groups have also been involved in a long-standing tribal conflict with the neighbouring Zawia city since 2011.[137] Zawia has been allied to Libya Dawn since August 2014[135] although its commitment to Libya Dawn is reportedly wavering.[136]

A minority portion of the Libya Shield Force is reported to have not joined the Islamist forces. It is not clear if this means they have joined the anti-Islamist forces. Although journalists have referred to this group as "Libya Shield 2"[138] to distinguish it from the Islamist faction which calls itself Libya Shield 1, it is not clear that this name is commonly used.

On 19 May 2014, a number of Libyan military officers announced their support for Gen. Haftar, including officers in an air force base in Tobruk, and others who have occupied a significant portion of the country's oil infrastructure, as well as members of an important militia group in Benghazi. On the other hand, several fighters from Misrata moved to Tripoli to counter Haftar's offensive, but this happened after the general managed to gather allies from Bayda, 125 miles east of Benghazi.[139]

Additional supporters of the movement include Libya's former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, ousted by General National Congress (GNC) Islamist parties, and Libya's ambassador to the United Nations who had announced his backing of Haftar's offensive against Islamist lawmakers and extremist militias, just hours after the country's air force commander had made a similar move, further building support for a campaign. The current Prime Minister has described Operation Dignity as a coup d'tat.[3][140] The commander of the army's special forces also said he had allied with Haftar.[4] However, the show of support for the general appears to have triggered a heavy backlash, as Libya's navy chief Brig. Gen. Hassan Abu-Shanaq, who also announced his support for Haftar's revolt, was wounded in an assassination attempt in the capital Tripoli along with his driver and a guard. On 20 May, the air forces headquarters in Tripoli came under a rocket attack but no casualties were reported.[3][141]

On 21 May, the uprising was described by the Washington Post as the most serious challenge to the Libyan authorities since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.[139]

The Islamist forces have attempted to secure some support by focusing on a tribal theme, arguing that the elected government is not adequately opposed to the idea of military units led by Zintanis.[142] As a Berber/Amazigh, Nouri Abusahmain's prominence has also secured the Islamists some Berber/Amazigh support. One unnamed pro-Dawn Amazigh commander has apparently claimed "The majority of Dawn are not Islamist..." and "We all have different reasons for wanting less Zintani influence in western Libya."[142]

In the Benghazi region, a salafist group calling itself "the Awakening" (sahwa), the "Islamic Awakening", or "the Awakening of Islam", co-operates with the Tobruk government specifically in the conflict against the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries. It is not clear what stance the group would take between the Tobruk government and Libya Dawn. The Awakening group appears to be a proxy of the Saudi Islamic Awakening movement, which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the largest group in the Libya Dawn government.

As of February 2015, damage and disorder from the war has been considerable.[143] There are frequent electric outages, little business activity, and a loss in revenues from oil by 90%.[143] Over 4,000 people have died from the fighting,[77] and some sources claim nearly a third of the country's population has fled to Tunisia as refugees.[143]

During the first half of 2015, the United Nations facilitated a series of different negotiating tracks seeking to bring together the rival governments of Libya and warring militias tearing Libya apart.[144] The U.N. representative to Libya reconvened delegations from Libya's rival governments on 8 June 2015 to present the latest draft proposal for a unity government for the war-torn country.[144] After a warning one week earlier that the country had been running out of money and had risked ceasing to be a functional state, Bernardino Leon urged the Libyans to approve the fourth version of the draft proposal in a ceremony in Morocco.[144] On 8 October 2015, Bernardino Leon held a press conference in which the names of several potential members of a unified government were announced.[145]

A meeting between the rival governments was held at Auberge de Castille in Valletta, Malta on 16 December 2015. The meeting was delayed for a few days after the representatives from the Tobruk government initially failed to show up.[146] The leader of the Tripoli government, Nouri Abusahmain, announced that they "will not accept foreign intervention against the will of the Libyan people," while the leader of the Tobruk government Aguila Saleh Issa called on the international community to "allow [them] time to form an effective unity government." Representatives from both governments also met officials from the United Nations, Italy, the United States and Russia in a conference in Rome.[147]

On 17 December, delegates from both rival governments signed a peace deal backed by the UN in Skhirat, Morocco, although there was opposition to this within both factions.[1][2] The Government of National Accord was formed as a result of this agreement, and its first meeting took place in Tunis on 2 January 2016.[148]

Haftar and his supporters describe Operation Dignity as a "correction to the path of the revolution" and a "war on terrorism".[149][150][151] The elected parliament has declared that Haftar's enemies are "terrorists", .[132] Opponents of Haftar and the coup d'tat government in Tripoli claim he is attempting a coup. Omar al-Hasi, the internationally unrecognized Prime Minister of the Libya Dawn-backed Tripoli government, speaking of his allies' actions, has stated that: "This is a correction of the revolution." He has also contended: "Our revolution had fallen into a trap."[152] Dawn commanders claim to be fighting for a "revolutionary" cause rather than for religious or partisan objectives.[153] Islamist militia group Ansar al-Sharia (linked to the 2012 Benghazi attack) has denounced Haftar's campaign as a Western-backed "war on Islam"[154] and has declared the establishment of the "Islamic Emirate of Benghazi".

Early in May 2014, the Algerian military said it was engaged in an operation aimed at tracking down militants who infiltrated the country's territory in Tamanrasset near the Libyan border, during which it announced that it managed to kill 10 "terrorists" and seized a large cache of weapons near the town of Janet consisting of automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition boxes.[155]The Times reported on 30 May that Algerian forces were strongly present in Libya and it was claimed shortly after by an Algerian journalist from El Watan that a full regiment of 3,500 paratroopers logistically supported by 1,500 other men crossed into Libya and occupied a zone in the west of the country. They were later shown to be operating alongside French special forces in the region. However, all of these claims were later denied by the Algerian government through Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal who told the senate that "Algeria has always shown its willingness to assist [our] sister countries, but things are clear: the Algerian army will not undertake any operation outside Algerian territory".[156]

On 16 May 2014, the Algerian government responded to a threat on its embassy in Libya by sending a team of special forces to Tripoli to escort its diplomatic staff in a military plane out of the country. "Due to a real and imminent threat targeting our diplomats the decision was taken in coordination with Libyan authorities to urgently close our embassy and consulate general temporarily in Tripoli," the Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.[157] Three days later, the Algerian government shut down all of its border crossings with Libya and the army command raised its security alert status by tightening its presence along the border, especially on the Tinalkoum and Debdab border crossings. This also came as the state-owned energy firm, Sonatrach, evacuated all of its workers from Libya and halted production in the country.[158] In mid-August, Algeria opened its border for Egyptian refugees stranded in Libya and said it would grant them exceptional visas to facilitate their return to Egypt.[159]

Egyptian authorities have long expressed concern over the instability in eastern Libya spilling over into Egypt due to the rise of jihadist movements in the region, which the government believes to have developed into a safe transit for wanted Islamists following the 2013 coup d'tat in Egypt that ousted Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi. There have been numerous attacks on Egypt's trade interests in Libya which were rampant prior to Haftar's offensive, especially with the kidnapping of truck drivers and sometimes workers were murdered.[160] Due to this, the military-backed government in Egypt had many reasons to support Haftar's rebellion and the Islamist February 17th Martyrs Brigade operating in Libya has accused the Egyptian government of supplying Haftar with weapons and ammunition, a claim denied by both Cairo and the rebel leader.[161] Furthermore, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has become increasingly popular among many Libyans wishing for stability,[162] has called on the United States to intervene militarily in Libya during his presidential candidacy, warning that Libya was becoming a major security challenge and vowed not to allow the turmoil there to threaten Egypt's national security.[163]

On 21 July, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry urged its nationals residing in Libya to adopt measures of extreme caution as it was preparing to send consular staff in order to facilitate their return their country following an attack in Egypt's western desert region near the border with Libya that left 22 Egyptian border guards killed.[164] A week later, the ministry announced that it would double its diplomatic officials on the Libyan-Tunisian border and reiterated its call on Egyptian nationals to find shelter in safer places in Libya.[165] On 3 August, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia agreed to cooperate by establishing an airbridge between Cairo and Tunis that would facilitate the transfer of 2,000 to 2,500 Egyptians from Libya daily.[166]

On 31 July, two Egyptians were shot dead during a clash at the Libyan-Tunisian border where hundreds of Egyptians were staging a protest at the Ras Jdeir border crossing. As they tried to cross into Tunisia, Libyan authorities opened fire to disperse them.[167] A similar incident occurred once again on 15 August, when Libyan security forces shot dead an Egyptian who attempted to force his way through the border along with hundreds of stranded Egyptians and almost 1,200 Egyptians made it into Tunisia that day.[159] This came a few days after Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation, Hossam Kamal, announced that the emergency airlift consisting of 46 flights aimed at evacuating the country's nationals from Libya came to a conclusion, adding that 11,500 Egyptians in total had returned from the war-torn country as of 9 August.[168] A week later, all Egyptians on the Libyan-Tunisian border were evacuated and the consulate's staff, who were reassigned to work at the border area, withdrew from Libya following the operation's success.[169] Meanwhile, an estimated 50,000 Egyptians (4,000 per day) arrived at the Salloum border crossing on the Libyan-Egyptian border as of early August.[170]

Along with most of the international community, Malta continues to recognize the Council of Deputies as the legitimate government of Libya. Libyan charg d'affaires Hussin Musrati insisted that by doing so, Malta was "interfering in Libyan affairs".[171] Due to the conflict, there are currently two Libyan embassies in Malta. The unrecognized General National Congress now controls the official Libyan Embassy in Balzan, while the internationally recognized Council of Deputies has opened a consulate in Ta' Xbiex. Each of the two embassies say that visas issued by the other entity are not valid.[172]

Following the expansion of ISIL in Libya, particularly the fall of Nawfaliya, the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil called for the United Nations and European Union to intervene in Libya to prevent the country from becoming a failed state.[173][174]

Post-revolutionary Tunisia also had its share of instability due to the violence in Libya as it witnessed an unprecedented rise in radical Islamism with increased militant activity and weapons' smuggling through the border.[175]

In response to the initial clashes in May, the Tunisian National Council for Security held an emergency meeting and decided to deploy 5,000 soldiers to the LibyanTunisian border in anticipation of potential consequences from the fighting.[176] On 30 July, Tunisian Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi said that the country cannot cope with the high number of refugees coming from Libya due to the renewed fighting. "Our country's economic situation is precarious, and we cannot cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees," Hamdi said in a statement. He also added that Tunisia will close its borders if necessary.[177]

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Libyan Civil War (2014present) - Wikipedia

CAIRO Libyan militias backed by American airstrikes said they have cleared the stronghold of the Islamic State in Libya, a defeat that would set back the groups ambitions in North Africa. The country, however, remains very unstable amid battles between rival militias, and the remaining militants could still undermine a fragile U.S.-backed unity government, analysts say.

Libyan fighters erupted in celebration in the coastal city of Sirte on Tuesday after a nearly seven-month struggle to oust the Islamic State, as the mostly pro-government forces were searching for any remaining militants.

The Islamic States hopes of extending its self-proclaimed caliphate beyond Syria and Iraq into Libya have been dashed, at least for now. But while their propaganda war and recruiting efforts have also been weakened, analysts said, the group remains active in other parts of the country.

Libya faces the specter of clandestine cells staging terrorist attacks, much like theyve done recently in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan after battlefield reverses in those countries.

The retaking of Sirte is certainly a negative blow to Islamic State affiliates in Libya because they will no longer have a territorial stronghold in the country, said Claudia Gazzini, senior Libya analyst for the International Crisis Group. This is significant because it no longer gives them the possibility to operate in the open or to recruit and levy taxes directly.

Libyan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes finish clearing the last Islamic State holdout in Sirte after a six-month battle for the militant groups former North African stronghold. (Reuters)

Yet despite its demise, Gazzini said, we cannot rule out that the group will carry out attacks in other parts of the country.

[Why its taking so long for the U.S. and its allies to defeat ISIS in Libya]

Libya descended into turmoil following the killing of dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011 in the aftermath of the countrys Arab Spring uprising. The oil-producing nation fractured into fiefdoms controlled by competing groups of former rebels. Rival governments were established in the capital, Tripoli, and in the east, with each claiming authority.

In the vacuum, the Islamic State and other extremist groups emerged in Libya. In early 2015, in alliance with other radical factions, the Islamic States affiliate seized parts of Sirte, situated in the heart of Libyas oil crescent. Within months, the militants had tightened their grip on the city and sought to create their own government.

The militants viewed Sirte as a possible fallback capital if their headquarters in the Syrian city of Raqqa fell. Recruits from other parts of Africa and the Middle East as well as within Libya streamed to Sirte, which was where Gaddafi was born.

Operationally, it was an important base and logistics hub for other ISIS fronts in Libya, said Frederic Wehrey, a Middle East analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The fall of Sirte arrives at a tense moment for Libya. Rival militias have been battling for territory and economic gain in recent days in the worst eruption of fighting in the capital in more than a year. Clashes are also underway in Benghazi, Libyas second-largest city, pitting Islamists against forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a powerful commander who recently seized control of key oil terminals, while his rivals were focused on besieging Sirte.

The violence has further challenged the authority of the unity government, which has struggled to exert control since it arrived in Tripoli in March. Those challenges are poised to become even more complicated as the Islamic State plots its next moves and a possible revival.

[Migrant boat traffic from Libya to Europe is surging and turning deadlier]

For it to find a place to govern and rule, it would need to find a locale suffering from marginalization and some sort of tribal or social constituency that would welcome it as well as a preexisting jihadist infrastructure, Wehrey said.

Today, some Islamic State militants are fighting in Benghazi. Analysts say that others who fled Sirte may have relocated to southern Libya, including the city of Sebha. The south offers a haven to regroup, but its remoteness in the Libyan Desert makes it more difficult for it to attract recruits and stage attacks.

There have also been reports of Islamic State activity in western Libya, including in the town of Bani Walid, where sympathetic tribes have provided the militants with safe houses, and in the coastal town of Sabratha, where the Islamic State has strong links to smuggling and other criminal networks.

Its hard to predict whether they still have a leadership capable of thinking up next steps, said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya analyst and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. The real question is whether the single jihadists will find a new home in other jihadist groups.

Tripoli could become the militants next target. Violence in the capital would further undermine the governments authority and dissuade foreigners from returning. Tensions are also growing between Islamist militias in the city, and any eruption of fighting could aid Islamic State cells.

Any outright conflict between these groups would certainly throw in disarray what little security there is in Tripoli, and this could open space for radical groups like IS, said Gazzini, referring to the Islamic State.

Even as the unity government seeks to capitalize on the liberation of Sirte and bolster its international legitimacy, many of its supporters are increasingly dissatisfied.

The militias that ousted the Islamic State are mostly from the city of Misurata. Many Misuratans say the recent clashes in Tripoli are an attempt by their rivals to claim the capital.

The Misuratans are not happy with this and might try to mobilize forces to Tripoli in the upcoming weeks, Gazzini said.

Or they could end up fighting Hifters forces, Toaldo said.

The more the instability, the greater the possibility that the Islamic State will regroup and that other extremist groups will form in Libya.

The important thing to underscore is that jihadism and the radical threat in Libya is still very much present, especially given the institutional breakdown of the state, the alienation of vast swaths of youths, marginalized towns and tribes, Wehrey said.

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As oil output falls, Libya is on the verge of economic collapse

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Islamic State loses its stronghold in Libya, but more chaos ...

BRUSSELS Migrants heading to Italy from Libya in leaky boats and inflatable dinghies have broken an annual arrivals record, Italian authorities said this week, underscoring the rising popularity of an increasinglydeadly journey that nowadays aims not for land, but for a frigid mid-sea rescue.

The number of boat migrants reaching Italy from North Africa this year surpassed 171,000, topping the previous record of 170,100, set in 2014, the Italian Interior Ministry said Monday. But 2016 is also the most lethal year for those trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. So far, 4,690 people have died en route, compared with 3,777 deaths for all of last year, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

[At least 239 migrants believed drowned in Mediterranean, U.N. says]

The surge in fatalities reflects the ever greater numbers of people attempting the journey deep into autumn, even as the sea turns colder and choppier by the day. More than three times as many reached Italy this November as did so in the same month last year, the U.N. says. On Monday alone, Italian and international rescuers reportedly pulled 1,400 people from the water.

People-smugglers in Libya are spreading rumors that the route is about to close, migration groups say, pushing people to undertake the risky journey now rather than wait for better weather.

Last week, at least eight corpses were recovered during rescues that also saved about 1,400 people,and morewere thought to be missing. Many of the rescued migrants said smugglers had told them thatthe Libyan coast guard is about to take over rescue operations and will turn boats back to Libya rather than take them to Italy,as is now usually the case.

The rumors point to a developmentat the core of the worsening crisis: The rescuers have become a crucial part of the smugglingprocess. None of the dilapidated smugglers boats now actually complete the journey to Italy. Instead, smugglers launch the overcrowded dinghies often little more than rubber rafts into the sea, then have the migrants radio or call for help when they are still close to the Libyan coast.

Smugglers no longer need large and robust boats. They need small boats that can make it a short distance and then have search-and-rescue pick them up, said Elizabeth Collett, director of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute Europe. How do you break that cycle? You cant stop search-and-rescue.

Although the Libyan coast guard and navy are, indeed,stepping up efforts to halt smuggling and return people to shore, they are hampered by Libyas chaotic civil war and lack of centralized authority.Few Western officials expect the countrys military forces to be able to mount a large-scale effort to intercept the traffic. And even when migrants are turned back, poor conditions in Libya often spur them to make another attempt. For now, the smugglers seem to be feeding migrants fears to drum up business.

[A Libyan militia confronts the worlds migrant crisis]

Migrants often say that they expected better boats for the voyage but that by the time they seethe rubber dinghies waiting onshore, the smugglers give them no opportunities to reconsider.

The tactics appear to be more reckless, said Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, referring to the smugglers.

Many smugglers launch several dinghies in the same area at once, migration groups say, creating a bigger challenge for rescuers when the vessels capsize.

Migrants drawings of their journeys show stick figures lined up 20 across, with more people sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the edges of the boats. One drawing that was given to the U.N. refugee agency shows a boat with a special section for women, with the rear reserved for jerrycans of fuel.The person who did thatdrawing said the boat was about 45 feet long.

It is really the image of the slave boats, all packed in rows, said Carlotta Sami, a Rome-based spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency. The vessels collapse after traveling just a few miles, she added, because they are of such a poor quality.

The people who use the Libyan route are largely from Sub-Saharan Africa, mostly from Eritrea, Nigeria andGambia, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Most of those who use the route via Turkey are fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Flows from Turkey to Greece surged last year to almost 1million people, then nearly stopped this year. In a deal with the European Union that went into effect in April, Turkey agreed to stem the flow in return for more E.U. support for refugees and visa-free travel in Europe for Turkish citizens. Since then, about 20,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in Greece, compared with 735,000 during the same period last year.

However, relations between Ankara and the European Union have taken a turn for the worse since a failed coup attempt in July in Turkey led to a political crackdown. Just last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganthreatened to unleash a new migration crisis on Europes borders by canceling the deal.

The warning came after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to advise mothballing talks with Turkey about the countrys potential E.U. membership. Although the vote was largely symbolic, it reflected growing concern among European leaders about Turkeys direction and a willingness to let the refugee deal lapse despite deep fears about the political strain of taking in more asylum seekers.

Annabell Van den Berghe contributed to this report.

Read more

In Libya, United States lays plans to hunt down escaped Islamic State fighters

The shifting sea routes of Europes refugee crisis, in charts and maps

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Migrant boat traffic from Libya to Europe is surging and ...

In the intervening years, Gadhafi systematically stripped the country of its ability to self govern, installing a cult of personality where his mercurial political predilections prevailed.

In short, he was creating a state ready to fail as soon as he did.

He told me this without rancor, without grimace or smile. He spoke as someone who knows what they're talking about because they've done it. He had the precise certainty that comes from spending years experiencing Libya's equally mercurial and endlessly scheming tribes.

Libya has more than a 100 tribes -- with some spreading across the country's borders with Egypt and Tunisia -- but only a few of them hold sway politically.

Today his words haunt me. If there was ever a vision shared by former British Prime Minster Cameron and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as they rushed NATO towards airstrikes over Libya, then it evaporated long ago.

Libya is in a mess. Three governments vie for power, multiple tribes compete for influence and a slice of the country's dwindling oil wealth, and ISIS managed to take a foothold in the city of Sirte -- Gadhafi's home town.

Like the Roman emperor Septimius Severus who diverted the treasure of his empire to build up his home town -- the splendid coastal city of Leptis Magna -- Gadhafi did the same in his own home hamlet, lavishing it with hospitals, homes, highways, and even conference centers. His fall bred a lot of resentment there, which ISIS perhaps exploited.

ISIS saw the chaos in Libya as ripe for exploitation and ideal for an expansion of their barbaric cult. Al Qaeda tried to seize the same opportunity several years earlier.

Their leader Ayman al Zawahiri sent trusted lieutenants there to establish a base.

These are roots Libya and the West can ill afford to see grow.

From an urgency to see stability and stop ISIS' growth in Libya, the United Nations hastened in a Government of National Accord (GNA) earlier this year.

The idea being that once established, the GNA as a sovereign government could call on allies to help it tackle ISIS. But from the moment the GNA's leadership arrived in Tripoli in March by boat from Tunisia, they have struggled to gain legitimacy.

They compete with the Islamist-dominated General National Congress (GNC) -- also known as the Government of National Salvation -- under Prime Minister Khalifa Ghwell.

In 2014, the GNC ousted the previous internationally recognized government -- the Council of Deputies -- that has since set up camp in the east of Libya, adding weight to fears the country could split along old regional lines -- east, west and south.

The chaos after Gadhafi's fall has also had implications for US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, who served as Secretary of State during this time. In 2012, a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi was attacked, killing US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The incident also showed how difficult the situation on the ground was for foreign powers to navigate -- not least because of the clashing factions and difficulty in knowing who to trust.

In any analysis of Libya, the killing of Stephens and Clinton's subsequent emails has its biggest impact in making the world's super power more cautious and less likely to engage where it's heft in finding a solution is critical.

Libya's ultimate salvation lies in its oil. This could fund the rebuilding of the country and spread the wealth wide enough so that enough competing factions can come together to impose a peace.

In recent weeks, oil output has doubled from 250,000 barrels per day to 500,000 thousand -- far short of the Gadhafi-era production levels in excess of 1 million barrels.

But while this may look the kind of forward momentum many in the West wish to see, it masks significant complications in Libya's spiraling conflict.

The boost in oil sales came off the back of a military offensive by the de facto defense chief of the former internationally recognized government, General Khalifa Haftar.

The move makes a mockery of the UN-backed GNA's ability to lead the country, put it under their control and own the oil. Haftar had refused to back the GNA and in this development has outmaneuvered them and put further question marks against their legitimacy.

So while the oil news looks good for now, the country has many more hurdles to clear, not least the need to address the competing regional interests. Haftar's explosive territorial expansion in the east did not come out of a vacuum.

Yes, those words uttered to me by Gadhafi's envoy in the Rixos five years ago still resonate deeply.

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Where is Libya five years after Gadhafi's death? - CNN.com

EXCLUSIVE: American arms dealer Marc Turi, in his first television interview since criminal charges against him were dropped, told Fox News that the Obama administration -- with the cooperation of Hillary Clintons State Department -- tried and failed to make him the scapegoat for a 2011 covert weapons program to arm Libyan rebels that spun out of control.

I would say, 100 percent, I was victimizedto somehow discredit me, to throw me under the bus, to do whatever it took to protect their next presidential candidate, he told Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge.

The 48-year-old Arizona resident has been at the epicenter of a failed federal investigation led by the Justice Department spanning five years and costing the government an estimated $10 million or more, Turi says.

Turi says the Justice Department abruptly dropped the case to avoid public disclosure of the weapons program, that was designed to force the ouster of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi during the 2011 Arab Spring.

"Those transcripts from current as well as former CIA officers were classified," Turi said of the evidence. "If any of these relationships [had] been revealed it would have opened up a can of worms. There wouldn't have been any good answer for the U.S. government especially in this election year." The Justice Department faced a deadline last week to produce records to the defense.

Turi says he was specifically targeted by the Obama administration and lost everything--my family, my friends, my business, my reputation.

As Fox News has reported extensively, in 2011, the Obama administration with support from some Republican and Democratic lawmakers explored options to arm the so-called Libyan rebels during the chaotic Arab Spring but United Nations sanctions prohibited direct sales.

Turi's plan was to have the U.S. government supply conventional weapons to the Gulf nations Qatar and UAE, which would then in turn supply them to Libya. But Turi says he never sold any weapons, and he was cut out of the plan. Working with CIA, Turi said Clinton's State Department had the lead and used its own people, with weapons flowing to Libya and Syria.

"Some (weapons) may have went out under control that we had with our personnel over there and the others went to these militia. That's how they lost control over it," Turi said. "I can assure you that these operations did take place and those weapons did go in different directions."

Asked by Fox News who got the weapons -- Al Qaeda, Ansar al-Sharia, or ISIS -- Turi said: "All of them, all of them, all of them."

Turi exchanged emails in 2011 with then U.S. envoy to the Libyan opposition Chris Stevens. A day after the exchange about Turi's State Department application to sell weapons, Clinton wrote on April 8, 2011 to aide Jake Sullivan, "fyi. the idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered."

Asked if the email exchanges are connected or a coincidence, Turi said, "When you look at this timeline, none of it was a coincidence. It was all strategically managed and it had to come from her own internal circle."

Turi also told Fox News that he believes emails sent about the weapons programs were deleted by Hillary Clinton and her team because that it would have gone to an organization within the Bureau of Political Military affairs within the State Department known as PM/RSAT (Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers.) Thats where you would find Jake Sullivan, Andrew Shapiro and a number of political operatives that would have been intimately involved with this foreign policy."

The four felony counts -- which included two of arms dealing in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and two of lying on his State Department weapons application -- were dismissed last week against Turi with prejudice, meaning the government cannot come after him again on this matter.

The Justice Department decision, weeks before the election, coupled with the now public emails, cast a new light on Clinton's 2013 Benghazi testimony where she was asked about the movement of weapons by Sen. Rand Paul.

Paul: Were any of these weapons transferred to other countries. Any countries. Turkey included?

Clinton: Well, senator you'll have to direct that question to the agency that ran the annex and I will see what information is available.

Paul: You're saying you don't know?

Clinton: I don't know.

Turi first told his story to Fox News senior executive producer Pamela Browne in 2014, and since, Turi says he's lost everything to fight the Justice Department, which had no further comment beyond the publicly available court records.

"With all the resources that they were throwing at me, I knew there would have to be some type of explanation of the operation that was going terribly wrong in Libya," Turi said. "It is completely un-American...I was a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency."

Turi said he is grateful the case is over. "It really is ungodly, and unjust and unconscionable, that the entire force of the United States government came after me for a simple application. I was working for the U.S. government."

Turi added, "I never shipped anything. I never even received the contract. So all I received was an approval for $534 million to support our interests overseas. And it would have been the United States government that facilitated that operation from Qatar and UAE by way of allowing those countries to land their planes and land their ships in Libya."

Close friend and Turi adviser Robert Stryk described Turi this way to Fox News in a statement:

Marc Turi is a true patriot who served his country in the fight against Islamofascist terrorists in the Middle East. His fraudulent prosecution by Hillary Clintons associates in the Justice Department is deplorable as is the fate of the American heroes murdered in Benghazi. Our most loyal citizens deserve better."

And Turi hinted there is more to emerge on the 2012 Benghazi attacks which killed four Americans including Stevens.

"Now theres a flip side to this. Some of the operations that I was involved in, in another country for the agency has a linkage and theres a backstory to the actual buy-back program of the surface to air missiles that were shipped and mysteriously disappeared out of Benghazi," Turi said. "So we can save that for another time, but the reality is a lot of this could have exposed a number of covert operations that I dont think the American public would really want to know at this point in time.

Fox News asked the State Department about Turis allegations, and whether no weapons reached extremists groups on Clintons watch. A spokesperson said they would check.

Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent.

Pamela K. Browne is Senior Executive Producer at the FOX News Channel (FNC) and is Director of Long-Form Series and Specials. Her journalism has been recognized with several awards. Browne first joined FOX in 1997 to launch the news magazine Fox Files and later, War Stories.

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Arms dealer says administration made him scapegoat on Libya ...