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BENGHAZI, LIBYA

The head of Libya's committee tasked with writing the constitution called upon the eastern parliament Tuesday to hold a national referendum on a final draft, setting in motion a long-awaited step that it's hoped will end the current political stalemate and terminate power struggles among the country's rival parties.

More than three years overdue, the draft still leaves many of Libya's key questions unanswered. Experts warn that its lack of clarity will pave the way for another phase of instability, which has plagued the country since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The call by Nouh Abdel-Sayyed to "take all necessary measures to enable the Libyan people to practice their constitutional right" came after days of confusion over whether his committee is following proper legal procedures.

On Saturday, disgruntled protesters stormed the committee's session in the eastern town of Bayda, calling for a redo of their vote, which was in favor of putting the final draft up for a nationwide referendum. Opponents included secessionists who wanted greater say over the redistribution of resources in the oil-rich country and those in favor of the country's 1951 constitution, which would mean a return to the monarchy.

The 60-member committee was elected in a direct vote in 2014; it was scheduled to deliver a draft in 120 days. However, unrelenting conflicts forced delays.

Legal expert Sami al-Atrash said articles of the constitution look innocent enough on the surface, but "it's not a homogenous document and this is not an honest attempt to produce an inclusive constitution."

A look at the draft shows efforts to keep most of the articles as vague as possible to avoid conflicts among the country's rival parties. The draft made no mention of the national anthem or the flag, to avoid friction between those who backed the 2011 uprising against Gadhafi and those who continue to support him.

'Legislative trap'

"It was done in a way to just escape from the current situation and crisis," said al-Atrash, who warned this would, "postpone, rather than face, harsh realities."

He added that leaving the articles open to interpretation "could lead to a legislative trap."

The draft failed to live up to the aspirations of many easterners, who long complained of discrimination under Gadhafi. Eastern secessionists call for the return of autonomy to Cyrenaica, saying their lands are the major source of oil. However, for decades, Libya's centralized system has driven oil gains to the capital.

In Article 143, the draft states decentralization is the basis of governance. However, Article 148 defers the issues of local municipalities and their budgeting to future legislation. The draft also removed an earlier mention of the eastern city of Benghazi as the economic capital and seat of the central bank.

As for presidential elections, the draft places several restrictions on candidates; candidates with dual citizenship must revoke their non-Libyan nationality a year before registration for elections begins, and if married it must be to a Libyan national. The article risks isolating some of the most powerful Libyan politicians who under Gadhafi lived in exile and were granted non-Libyan nationalities or married non-Libyans.

The draft also deprived non-Arab minorities like the Amazigh who make up between 5 and 10 percent of Libya's population of having their language recognized alongside Arabic as a state language.

The push for the vote came less than a week after Libya's top rivals the internationally recognized, designated prime minister, Fayez Serraj, and army chief Marshal Khalifa Hifter met in Paris, where they shook hands on a cease-fire and agreed to work toward parliamentary and presidential elections as soon as possible.

Read more here:
Libya Constitutional Committee Pushes for Vote on Draft - Voice of America

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC oil output has risen this month by 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a 2017 high, a Reuters survey found, led by a further recovery in supply from Libya, one of the countries exempt from a production-cutting deal.

A dip in supply from Saudi Arabia and lower Angolan exports helped to boost OPEC's adherence to its supply curbs to 84 percent. While this is up from a revised 77 percent in June, compliance in both months has fallen from levels above 90 percent earlier in the year.

The extra oil from Libya means supply by the 13 OPEC members originally part of the deal has risen far above their implied production target. Libya and Nigeria were exempt from the cuts because conflict had curbed their production.

A gain in Libyan and Nigerian output has added to the challenge the OPEC-led effort is facing to get rid of excess supply on world markets. To address this, ministers at a July 24 meeting moved to cap Nigerian output and officials are holding talks next week on improving compliance.

"There is a need to align all countries to achieve full compliance," a source close to OPEC said of the compliance talks, which will be held on Aug. 7-8 in Abu Dhabi.

As part of a deal with Russia and other non-members, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is reducing output by about 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1, 2017 until March next year.

High compliance with the deal, and much-reduced output in the exempt countries, pushed supply lower earlier in the year. But extra Libya and Nigerian production has prompted output to rise since May, and adherence has slipped in some other countries.

July's biggest rise came from Libya, where output, curbed by years of conflict and unrest, rose to an average of more than 1 million bpd. Production remains short of the 1.6 million bpd Libya pumped before its 2011 civil war.

Iraqi supply was revised up for June and in July output has edged higher, the survey found. Supply also increased slightly in the United Arab Emirates, Gabon and Ecuador - which said it planned to pump more, citing its lack of funds.

Among countries with lower output, the biggest decline was in Angola, which exported 50 cargoes, two less than in June. August volumes are expected to increase.

Nigeria pumped slightly less in July after an increase in June, partly due to a force majeure on Bonny crude exports. Growth could resume next month if exports reach the planned rate of at least 2 million bpd.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia pumped 50,000 bpd less, the survey found, although output in June was revised higher to just above its OPEC target. The reduction achieved by OPEC's biggest producer in July is back above the target cut of 486,000 bpd.

OPEC announced a production target of 32.50 million bpd last year, which was based on low figures for Libya and Nigeria. The target includes Indonesia, which has since left OPEC, and does not include Equatorial Guinea, the latest country to join OPEC.

The Libyan and Nigerian increases mean OPEC output in July averaged 32.85 million bpd, about 1.1 million bpd above its supply target, adjusted to remove Indonesia and not including Equatorial Guinea.

With Equatorial Guinea added, total OPEC production in July has reached 33.0 million bpd.

The Reuters survey is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Thomson Reuters flows data, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consulting firms.

Reporting by Alex Lawler, with additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Jane Merriman

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OPEC oil output jumps to 2017 high on further Libya recovery - Reuters

The Italian government recently authorized a navy patrol boat to begin reconnaissance in response to a Libyan request for help in dealing with its persistent migrant smuggling issue. While Italy is undoubtedly enthusiastic to help curb migrants arriving on Italian shores, the circumstances surrounding Libya's request may indicate deeper domestic sovereignty issues as the country deals with immigrant smuggling by sea.

The Italian government will present to its parliamentary Commission on Foreign and Defense Policy a plan on Aug. 1 to send Italian navy ships to Libya, in cooperation with local forces there to protect against migrant smuggling. The Italian government approved the plan during a July 28 meeting, with plans for the mission to start within a week. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the plan was based on a July 23 request by letter from U.N.-recognized Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj asking for technical support from Italy by sending ships into Libyan territorial waters.

Only days later, on July 28, al-Sarraj denied that he had requested Italian ships enter Libyan waters, saying that Libyan sovereignty was a red line that could not be crossed. But later that same day, al-Sarraj and the Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti discussed possible Italian assistance and managed to overcome domestic resistance in Libya.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala confirmed that al-Sarraj did invite Italy to send warships into Libyan waters with the permission of the Presidency Council (PC), a group of nine people that represent the U.N.-recognized government's executive branch. Siala said in an official statement that Libya asked for "logistical, technical and operational support to the Libyan coast guard," which will require "the presence of some elements of the Italian Navy at the port of Tripoli, but only for this purpose and only if necessary." The discrepancy in accounts of what request was actually made may indicate a deeper issue for al-Sarraj: Libyan sovereignty remains a central issue and is likely to bring further controversy and complications as he negotiates with other rival Libyan figures.

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Italy: Answering a Libyan Call for Help - STRATFOR

Benghazi - A committee tasked with writing a constitution for Libya voted in favour of a draft, paving the way for parliament to approve a referendum and causing uproar among opponents.

Critics, including secessionists and people in favour of the country's 1951 constitution, called for a redo of Saturday's vote.

Protesters broke into the committee's building in the eastern town of Bayda, according to two committee members, who said they called on the committee to reconvene Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether the committee met again.

Committee members opposing the decision issued a signed statement saying that voters failed to consider amendments proposed by opponents to articles in the draft.

Amraja Noah, a committee member from the eastern city of Tobruk, said protesters stormed the building to stop the session, forcing the members to rush the vote.

Chaos

He said 44 members attended the session and 42 voted in favor of passing the draft.

An opponent of the decision, Abdelkader Kadura, a committee member from Benghazi, expressed skepticism about the legitimacy of the voting.

"This serves a small minority and a certain geographical area," he said, referring to members who voted in favour.

The 60-member committee has been assigned to work on a draft constitution since 2014.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 civil war that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The oil-rich nation is now split between rival governments and militias.

Libya's internationally-recognised parliament is based in the east and allied with the powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter.

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Libya committee votes in favour of constitutional draft | News24 - News24

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Since the revolution in 2011, which was supported militarily by the United States, Libya has been ruled by divided governments. Today there are actually three governments attempting to govern simultaneously, one of which the Government of National Salvation I serve as prime minister. The lack of political unity has made our fight for stability and security against extremists that much harder.

Indeed, whatever hopes we have for democracy are at risk; representative government is a new concept here and it will not be legitimate in the eyes of our exhausted country unless we have functional institutions and can protect our people. To that end, it is crucial that America not forget us, but help us toward a political solution that reconciles our differences.

My first priority as prime minister has been to rid Libya of extremist elements, be it ISIS, Daesh, al Qaeda, Ansar al Sharia or whatever is the name of the day. As I have said on many occasions, fundamentalism and terrorism should be fought, as they betray the principles of Islam and the promise of a free and peaceful Libya. President Trump has recently said that he is prepared to support Libya in its fight against extremism and we welcome that and are ready to partner in that fight.

We have created and trained special teams at the Misrata air base who report directly to me and have been deployed on countless missions against the terrorists and fought bravely in the successful purge of Daesh from Sirte. We have also established the Counterterrorsim Service (CTS) which has exchanged important and crucial information and data with the U.S. and European intelligence agencies.

But as we fight, we must also renew our efforts to bring together a national unity government. Here, the international community has failed us. Immediately following the revolution, the U.S. and our European friends were cheered in the public squares of our towns and villages. But the task of building a functioning pluralistic government for people who suffered under a brutal dictatorship for generations was gravely underestimated.

The international community at that time faced its own problems of slow growth and political uncertainty and didnt engage Libya with the strong financial, political, and military support we needed.

The chaos that ensued has implications beyond our borders, best illustrated by the immigration crisis of thousands from other countries beset by conflict and poverty transiting through Libya to Europe. Our inability to prevent this transit is simply due to our lack of a single unified and strong central government. The internal Libyan problem has become an international nightmare for Europe.

For these reasons, I am prepared to support international efforts to help us bring together a national unity government that takes into consideration the principles behind the revolution and brings fairness and opportunities for all regions and societal segments of our great country.

While this is no easy task, it must be done for the alternative of further chaos and fighting can no longer be tolerated or allowed. I do not desire or seek a role in this unity government, but rather to encourage it and to be a part of a new generation of Libyan leadership that is drawn from and returns to ordinary citizen life.

My caution to the U.S. and our other friends is that the unity solution cannot be perceived as a government imposed on us by the outside. Libya needs the support of indigenous and impartial broad-based groups such as the Libyan Political Agreement Committee that brings together leaders from all aspects of our society.

The LPA supports no political party or candidate but seeks to bring people together in common cause. We must be reminded that democracy is not simply an election; it needs to be nurtured by non-governmental organizations that work on behalf of Libya as well as by an independent press, an independent judiciary and civilian control over a national military.

Indeed, these features are the building blocks of a stable, functional, self-sufficient democracy. Unity will allow us at last to develop a national economic strategy that touches all segments of the population. One of my first tasks as prime minister was to establish the Strategic Projects Committee. This consisted of leaders from many industry sectors though out the whole of Libya.

This committee is charged with outlining and describing the immediate and necessary commercial opportunities needed to be exploited on urgent basis such as power generation, road and bridge repair, health and education infrastructure rebuilds and more. But we cannot encourage it, oversee it, finance it with a fragmented government. Whats more we need a single sovereign nation to repatriate much of our frozen and stolen financial resources and to attract capital investments, especially from the U.S.

Mr. Trump was right to focus on security as his top priority in Libya; terrorism and the ideas that inspire it are a transnational phenomenon. But we cant merely kill our way through the problem. We need to present a credible alternative to the nihilism of extremists, namely, a successful experiment in governance that can bring more and more people into the fold and eliminate the grievances that terrorists prey on. Keeping Libya on the U.S. dashboard has the potential to give democracy a beachhead in a crucial region.

Khalifa Ghwell is the prime minister of Libya.

Read more from the original source:
Keeping Libya on the US dashboard - Washington Times