Top diplomats urge Security Council to lift arms embargo on Libya
Egypt and Libya #39;s top diplomats have appealed to the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo on Libya to allow the legitimate government and its army to fight violent political Islam in...
By: SABC Digital News
Follow this link:
Top diplomats urge Security Council to lift arms embargo on Libya - Video
To the many existential threats facing Libya, it is now possible to add another: the oil-rich nation may be going broke.
Four years after its uprising against dictator Moammar Gaddafi, the North African country is buffeted from all sides: two competing governments vie for power and resources; militias and armed gangs impose their own capricious justice; targeted attacks have driven away investors and diplomats.
The countrys slow-motion collapse came to a head this week, when Islamic State militants were shown executing 21 Egyptian Christians on a Mediterranean beach. The next day, Egyptian warplanes pounded militant targets in retribution.
But Libya faces another, less visible, hazard, one that has not yet focused attention in Western capitals but that threatens to cause further and possibly far deeper turmoil.
Economists and Libyan and U.S. officials say Libya is burning through its international reserves at an alarming rate as the country scrambles to pay a huge bill for wages and subsidies without the benefit of normally ample oil revenues, virtually the countrys only source of income.
Last year, Libya depleted $27billion of its reserves, which now stand around $81 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Unless fighting lets up this year, allowing wider oil exports to resume, the country could use the same amount this year.
Libya is running out of money, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss another countrys finances. What happens when Libya is bankrupt? ... When they have no hard currency, they cant buy food, so you have a massive humanitarian crisis.
The situation is startling for an OPEC member country perfectly situated to export its light sweet oil to nearby Europe. The countrys economic lifeblood, oil accounts for almost 100 percent of Libyan exports. Prior to 2011, oil output stood around 1.6 million barrels per day.
Now, as confrontations continue between an array of armed factions seeking to secure their share of oil revenues, production hovers around 200,000 to 300,000 barrels per day. Much of the oil still flowing comes from offshore sites.
At the same time, global oil prices have fallen by roughly half since June, reducing Libyas revenues even further.
Go here to read the rest:
Oil-rich Libya, torn by conflict, may be going broke
Islamic State Egypt urges international intervention in Libya
Egypt has called on the international community to intervene against Islamic State (IS) militants in Libya. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that what was happening in Libya was a threat...
By: 24Hrs BreakingNews
Original post:
Islamic State Egypt urges international intervention in Libya - Video
Egypt #39;s bombing of ISIL in Libya shows militant threat spreading
Western concern is growing that the radical group ISIL (Islamic State) is exploiting the discord of two separate Libyan governments struggling for control of the country. The attack on the...
By: euronews (in English)
View post:
Egypt's bombing of ISIL in Libya shows militant threat spreading - Video
Egypt Bombs ISIS Targets In Libya
After the IS group (aka ISIS or ISIL) distributed a video purportedly showing the beheading of Egyptian hostages, Eqyptian jets bombed targets inside Libya. ...
By: AJ+
More here:
Egypt Bombs ISIS Targets In Libya - Video