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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS)

At 18-months-old, Varghese Alexander, with his father leading the way, immigrated from Libya to the United States. It was 1983. Libya is now one of seven countries making up the list of Muslim-majority countries banned from sending immigrants to the United States for three months.

When Trump signed that executive order and banned so many countries in the Middle East, it hit home in a way that made me want to get out there on twitter and made me want to say things in a classroom that I typically dont," Alexander, a math teacher at Asheville School, said.

Alexander pulled the passport he had as a child when he came to the United States. The picture of him with huge brown eyes looking up at the camera is one that reminds him of the children now, the ones who may be coming with their parents to the United States, hoping for new lives only to be denied entry.

This is what's happening to my family, my friends of my family. If we were in 1983, we wouldnt have been allowed to come. I would have have been one of those kids that was stopped at the airport and sent back home.

Mohammad Iqbal, a senior at Asheville School, was born in Saudi Arabia but is a U.S. citizen. He and his good friend and fellow high school senior Umit Muradi are Muslim. Muradi was born in Queens, New York, and is a U.S. citizen, as well.

I have a couple of friends that are from areas such as Libya and Syria that have family members impacted by all this, Muradi said,

Iqbal plans to fly home for spring break and wonders if the country he was born in could be added to the list of banned countries.

Im kind of scared about that, Iqbal said. I dont think he (Trump) would because of the oil.

Despite what is happening, Muradi, who is on a scholarship at the school, said he's proud to be an American. He said his father works day and night as an Uber driver in New York to support his family.

Despite all that is going on, this is one of the greatest countries in the world," Muradi said. "The amount of opportunities given here makes it worth it."

Read more from the original source:
Muslim students, Asheville teacher from Libya react to ban - WLOS

The sinister possible reason why Trump's Muslim ban targeted seven particular countries Quartz US president Donald Trump sparked worldwide protests after signing an executive order that temporarily stops refugee admissions to the US for several months and blocks new visas for anyone from seven majority-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya ... and more »

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The sinister possible reason why Trump's Muslim ban targeted seven particular countries - Quartz

Yet again Malta is being mentioned in connection with oil smuggling from Libya as the North African country has just launched the biggest anti-corruption probe since the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011.

The Libya Herald reported yesterday that warrants for the arrest of a number of government ministers have been issued as part of the huge investigation. The report says fuel smuggling from Libya to Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece has cost the country half a billion dollars.

The anti-corruption efforts, which also includes travel bans against petrol company executives, was announced by Attorney General Sadiq Al-Sour, who is working with the Presidency Council and its Government of National Accord in Tripoli.

The Libya Herald reported that travel bans have been issued against the chief executives of four fuel distribution companies working with the Tripoli-based Brega Petroleum Marketing Company. They are also under formal investigation.

Mr Al-Sour did not mention which ministers suspected of involvement in corruption have had arrest warrants issued.

Earlier this week the Libyan Attorney General spoke of cooperation with Greek and French police, which had led evidence from previous smuggling cases. It is likely he will ask Malta, Italy and Cyprus for similar help in what he called mafias receiving the smuggled fuel, the Herald reported.

The smuggling is typically carried out with small boats or tankers which take refined product some produced in Libya, some imported to Europe. Smuggling of crude oil itself is more difficult as it requires refining before it can be sold, the newspaper said.

The Libyan AGs action appears to be in cooperation with the chairman of the National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, who has called for legal action against smugglers, the Herald reported.

Sanalla has labelled fuel smuggling gangs as terrorists and complained about thousands of tragic cases that the ordinary desperate Libyan citizen suffers from because of the criminal practices by the gangs who smuggle the subsidised fuel across the borders.

Oil production in Libya suffered a huge blow as a result of the 2011 revolution and the raging conflict that followed. But since the capture in September of central oil ports by the Libya National Army, loyal to the Tobruk-based parliament, oil production has tripled to about 700,000 barrels per day.

More here:
Libya launches huge investigation into oil smuggling to Malta, Italy ... - Malta Independent Online

fox6now.com

Pres. Trump's immigration executive order: Why Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen? fox6now.com The circular issued by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could not be clearer. For the next 90 days, nearly all travelers, except US citizens, traveling from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen will be temporarily suspended ... Six of the seven countries on Trump's list also ban visitors based on nationalityTelegraph.co.uk Trump's executive order: Who does travel ban affect?BBC News US travel ban: Why these seven countries?BBC News CNN all 5,502 news articles »

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Pres. Trump's immigration executive order: Why Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen? - fox6now.com

A Libyan coastguard vessel was reportedly shot at from the shore by people-smugglers, as it intercepted 700 migrants off Sabratha, in western Libya, near the Tunisian border.

Naval spokesperson Colonel Ayoub Qassem told AFP that as the coastguard vessel closed in on the two wooden vessels on to which the migrants had been crammed, it came under fire from people-smugglers on the beach, it was reported on Monday.

The coastguard returned fire causing the smugglers to flee. There were no reports of casualties among either the coastguards or the sub-Saharan migrants aboard the smuggling vessels.

Libya has been the point of departure for most of the tens of thousands of African refugees who flee to Europe, Italy being the arrival point for those desperately seeking a better life.

The Italian coast guard has rescued thousands of refugees over the last few years as the notoriously overcrowded vessels, often in poor condition, used by the smugglers regularly capsize and sink.

Hundreds more refugees have lost their lives during the sea voyage. The situation has become so desperate that the Italians have travelled to Libya to try and work out with the Libyan authorities ways to stem the flow from the north African country before the migrants even attempt to reach Italy.

Furthermore, the Libya Herald reported that the relationship between the Libyan coastguard and the smugglers has at times appeared ambiguous.

Last October a vessel with coastguard markings was filmed from a rescue ship attacking a raft with migrants and apparently trying to seize its outboard motor.

Panicking migrants capsized their craft and as many as 20 may have drowned. However, the navy denied that one of their vessels had been involved.

Further collusion between the people smugglers and the coastguard included one incident last May when the smugglers alerted the coastguard to a migrant vessel sinking.

Meanwhile, as vulnerable refugees continue to lose their lives off Libyas coast, some of the countrys most vulnerable battle to receive basic medical care on the main land.

Tripolis Al Jalaa Hospital, the largest state maternity hospital in western Libya, is so broke it has only managed to keep its emergency power generators working thanks to an anonymous donation of fuel, the Herald reported.

Two thousand patients, mostly low-income earners, are treated by the hospital every month. Wealthier Libyans avoid the hospital due to its plummeting standards of health care amid reports of unhygienic practices.

Due to the funding shortages, the hospital has been unable to pay all of its nurses and is desperately in need of a new post-natal unit, and laboratory and dialysis equipment. The possibility of it being forced to close remains a reality.

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Human traffickers fire at Libyan coastguard report - Citizen