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The core of the Islamic State may not wield the strength it did in 2014 and 2015, but its powerful network persists. ISIS branches operate independently worldwide, yet they devoutly follow their recently named global leader. Straight Arrow News contributor Katherine Zimmerman outlines the changes at the top and the current state of the organization.

TheIslamic State lost its leader in early February.The organization took 42 days to name a successor and when it did, it hid his identity. That gap, though the longest, is not completely unprecedented. It had taken 28 days to name the new leader before. Nor is the mystery surrounding the new caliph.

The last one, Abu Ibrahim, never once spoke to his followers or showed his face, yet they followed him devoutly.The global branches rallied behind the new leader, Abu al Hassan, as they had with his late predecessor. Such loyalty was expected. They had all stayed as part of the Islamic State after the death of their first leader,Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

One after the other, they pledged allegiance and posted images of their support.The declarations came in from Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, East Asia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, the Sahel, Pakistan and India, Egypt, the Congo, and Mozambique.

Masked men in military fatigues,heavily armed, andcarrying the signature black banner of the Islamic State filled these photos.These Islamic State branches have flourished even as the group withered in Iraq and Syria.

The rapid expansion of the Islamic State in Africa has been particularly concerning.The groups largest branch in Africa has taken control of much of northeastern Nigeria and has started taxing and policing locals.

Another branch in the Sahel is embedding itself into smuggling networks that crisscross theSahara desert, moving goods from the Gulf of Guinea to the Mediterranean Sea.And the Islamic State has entered and stoked local insurgencies in Mozambiqueand the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In Afghanistan, the Islamic State has nearly doubled in size since the Taliban takeoverin part fromfighters released when the Taliban opened Afghanistans prisons.

The group is expected to ramp up attacks over the summer as fighting season resumes, and the Taliban will struggle to maintain pressure on the Islamic State.

As the Islamic State branches have developed, they have maintained much of their autonomy from the core group.

The weak regional structures that do exist have protected the groups from developing any dependencies on the core for their operations and has also limited the global network from benefiting strategically from its actual expanse.

But, what all of this means is that the Islamic State remains strong globally. Its branches are thriving. Easing counterterrorism pressure as the world focuses elsewhere will only favor further growth, regardless of what happens in Iraq and Syria.

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Is The Islamic State In Crisis? - Critical Threats Project

TRIPOLI, April 13 (Reuters) - (This April 13 story corrects headline and first paragraph to make clear delegates are from parliamentary chambers, not governments)

Representatives of Libya's two rival parliamentary chambers began talks in Egypt on Wednesday aimed at reaching agreement on holding national elections, the United Nations Mission in Libya said.

Libya has had two competing governments since March when the eastern-based parliament appointed Fathi Bashagha to replace the Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, renewing a standoff between the east and west of the country.

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The other legislative body, the High Council of State, still recognises Dbeibah as prime minister.

Dbeibah, who was chosen as interim prime minister a year ago in U.N.-backed talks, has refused to cede power to Bashagha.

"The ultimate solution to the issues that continue to plague Libya is through elections, held on a solid constitutional basis and electoral framework that provides the guard rails for an electoral process," U.N. Libya adviser Stephanie Williams told the opening session of the talks in Cairo.

Williams, supported by Western countries, has been seeking to resolve a political impasse since a scheduled election collapsed days before the vote was due to take place in December, amid arguments over the rules.

Delegates from the eastern-based parliament and the Tripoli-based High State Council named 12 members of each chamber to participate in the talks, which parliament spokesman Abdullah Belhaiq said will continue until April 20.

The parliament, elected in 2014, is recognised internationally through a 2015 political agreement that also recognised the High State Council as a legislative chamber formed from members of a previous parliament elected in 2012.

The planned election is part of a U.N.-endorsed peace process aimed at ending a decade of chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and reunifying the country.

"You have a critical role to play in making your voice heard in support of your 2.8 million fellow Libyan citizens who have registered to vote," Williams said.

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Reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; additional reporting by Ayman al-Werfalli in Benghazi; editing by Dominic Evans and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Originally posted here:
Libya's rival lawmakers start U.N.-backed talks in Egypt - Reuters.com

It seems that the repercussions of the Russian military invasion in Ukraine are beginning to affect Libya, which is facing sharp tensions influenced by external powers. The parties involved in the first conflict (Libya) are the same in the second crisis (Ukraine); Moscow, Washington, and the European Union.

Signs of conflict appeared when Russia renewed its endeavor to end the tasks of the UN mission in Tripoli, a few weeks before the start of the discussion about extending its term and appointing a new head for it. Russia also stressed its refusal to empower veteran American diplomat Stephanie Williams and prevent her from obtaining international legitimacy beyond her mission as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Libya.

Moscow rejects the hegemony of the American and British sides on the UN mission. Russia also prevented the appointment of the American diplomat, Richard Wilcox, who was working on the National Security Council at the White House, which has further complicated the situation for Washington and its allies who seek to consolidate their influence in Libya.

Actually, the crisis between the three parties in Libya was born since the first spark of the Libyan revolution, which led to the assassination of President Muammar Gaddafi. It reached its maximum extent last November and December when Moscow sought to allow supporters of the former regime to run in the elections, including the presidential elections, and forces loyal to it secured the exit of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi from his hiding place to present his candidacy file in front of television cameras in the city of Sabha, the capital of the southern region. The thing that angered Washington, which pressed for the postponement of the elections so as not to see Muammar Gaddafi return in the image of his son to power.

With the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, it was clear that there was a fierce confrontation between Moscow and Western countries over the situation in Libya, especially with Dabaibas quest to gain the satisfaction of the United States. Therefore, when the Libyan House of Representatives, on the first of last March, granted confidence to the stable government headed by Fathi Bashagha, Russia was the only country that welcomed it and confirmed that it was ready to cooperate with it, to move forward with a comprehensive political settlement in Libya.

The recent war of rumors was aimed at shuffling the cards in Libya and dividing it again according to foreign alliances by presenting the West as Washingtons ally and the East as Russias ally. And what is described as political Islam that dominates the western region knows how to exploit the Russian-Ukrainian conflict within the contexts of historical and ideological revenge with Moscow, dating back to the first war in Afghanistan and the Chechen wars, to the war in Syria and the Russians relations with the House of Representatives and the Libyan army forces, passing through Moscows positions on political Islam. All of these wars confirm that the Islamists consider themselves part of the Western alliance, and they believe that Moscow was against their project, contrary to what Washington and London have shown in terms of broad support for them.

Because of the seriousness of the energy file in the Ukrainian crisis and its negative repercussions on the European side, Washington has tried for weeks to calm the atmosphere between the Dabaiba government and the National Oil Corporation. This is where the relations between the two parties are going through an unprecedented crisis, which made the Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Aoun, call on Dabaiba to restructure the current board of directors of the National Oil Corporation, because the current board was formed in violation of the laws and legislation established for the corporation and regulating its work, according to his estimation. Of course, Washington hoped that this step would contribute to reducing Europes dependence on Russian gas and shift to Libyan gas.

Thus, the Libyans will have to have a share in the flames of the elders conflict, and until there is calm there, the situation in Ukraine will cast a shadow over the Libyan crisis, and its continuation will lead to a further deepening of the gap between the parties to the conflict inside Libya.

Dr. Hatem Sadek: Professor at Helwan University

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Opinion| The repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on Libya - Daily News Egypt

The Libyan national team has refused to face Israeli opponents at the World Fencing Championships in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

The national team was to face Israel according to the official draw, however, the athletes and staff decided to pull out on Sunday from the final competition rather than face the Israeli team.

Libya is currently ranked second in Africa and 19 globally in the classification of the game.

"The national team was to face Israel according to the official draw. However, the athletes and staff decided to pull out of the games rather than face the Israeli opponent,"Libya Observerwrote on its website.

The move comes afterEyas Al-Zamer,a Jordanian fencer, was set to take part in the junior men's foil contests of the international professional championship for young competitors in the UAE but decided to withdraw, one week after another Kuwaiti fencing player pulled out of the competition for the same reason.

Kuwaiti fencing playerMohammad Al-Fadlirefused to face an Israeli opponent in the group stage of the World Fencing Championships. This is not the first time Al-Fadli had withdrawn from an international tournament in support of Palestine. In September 2019, he withdrew from games in the Dutch capital Amsterdam, after the lottery had placed him in a group competing with an Israeli player.

READ: Jordan player refuses to face Israeli opponent fencing contest

Link:
Libya national team pulls out of fencing championship to avoid Israel team - Middle East Monitor

The resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Libya, Marc-Andre Franche, said that the program aims to expand its activities in Libya and open branches in many districts and municipalities to implement its tasks and projects that will address several economic, social and environmental issues, adding that the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) and its partner foreign companies are the ideal partner to achieve these goals.

These remarks came during Franches meeting with the Chairman of NOC, Mustafa Sanallah, in order to discuss opportunities for cooperation between the two parties, according to an NOC statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

Sanallah reaffirmed that the NOC appreciates the role of the UN program, saying that together with its partners "Repsol, Total, OMV, Econor", it had a distinguished partnership and great cooperation with the UNDP during the past years, during which it implemented many projects in the areas of Acacus Company's operations, including the sectors of water, health, training, maintenance of educational facilities, youth support, and other programs that covered the regions of Al Jabal Al Gharbi, Al Zawiya, Ubari and the surrounding areas.

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UNDP calls on Libyan NOC to assist it in expanding activities nationwide - The Libya Observer