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Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website reported Egyptian sources tackling the situation in Libya as saying that there are positive signs that could lead to progress despite delayed elections, saying the Egyptian decision-making officials are conducting positive movements toward Libya.

The sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the biggest obstacle for Egypt in the Libyan crisis is the Turkish role that has always bothered Cairo.

The website said that another source said there are Egyptian efforts to infiltrate western Libya with large numbers of workers in coordination with the Government of National Unity, saying that the Ministry of Manpower started to announce a number of jobs in the Libyan government agencies in western Libya, which have been blocked to official Egyptian coordination for a long time since the outbreak of the revolution due to Egypts support for "eastern Libyan camp.

The source indicated that the Egyptian endeavor aims to prepare for the arrival of Egyptian companies to implement projects in western Libya, while Ankara is rushing to infiltrate "the eastern Libyan camp", on the political and economic levels, after high-level representatives of the parties in eastern Libya visited Turkey and met prominent officials in there.

The website pointed out that Cairo is carefully monitoring Turkish moves to strengthen its presence in eastern Libya, adding that the recent meetings that took place in Ankara between high-ranking figures from eastern Libya and Turkish officials touched upon the return of Turkish companies to the eastern region, in addition to ensuring maritime security for Turkish ships.

The source said that the Egyptian movements on the ground in western Libya aim to expedite the employment of Egyptian nationals in Libyan government agencies, in a way that paves the way for the return of Egyptian influence to those areas, noting that the committee concerned with following up on the Libyan file headed by the Undersecretary of the General Intelligence Service, Major General Ayman Badie, prepared a recent assessment of the status quo in the capital for the possibility of the official opening of the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli.

The source unveiled that the Egyptian efforts included recent communications at the security level between Egyptian officials and leaders of armed groups in western Libya, especially in the capital Tripoli, in addition to opening channels of communication with those leaders because, to the Egyptians, official communication with the interim Government of National Unity wasn't sufficient to secure the expected Egyptian presence in west Libya.

The Libyan Minister of Labor Ali Al-Abed announced last year the recruitment of more than one million Egyptian workers, who are set to arrive in the country in successive groups to work in the construction and bridges sector, with salaries that value at least 1500 dinars.

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Egyptian source: There's security communication with leaders of Tripoli armed factions - The Libya Observer

Libya's oil and sovereign revenues totaled 105.7 billion dinars in 2021, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) says.

The total expenditure came to 86.1 billion dinars; 85.8 billion dinars were actual spending, the CBL explained on its Facebook Wednesday, noting that the figures were allocated based on 1/12 for the five expenditure sections.

According to the CBL data, the bank received 22.9 billion dollars last year. 24.5 billion dollars were used for foreign exchange, while the value of the deficit estimated at 1.6 billion dollars was covered by the bank's reserves in order to maintain the stability of the exchange rate.

The bank also outlined that the fees imposed on foreign exchange sales had not been used for any purpose during 2021.

It further disclosed that development spending represented 27% in 2021 compared with 4% during the past years.

In conclusion, the CBL revealed that some oil revenues owed by oil companies, estimated at billions of dollars, have not been reported to the Ministry of Finance's accounts at the bank.

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Libya's revenues over 105 billion LYD in 2021 - The Libya Observer

Have you heard the one about the Chicago street gang and the hostile foreign nation? It would be nice if this question were just a fun riddle, but it refers to an almost forgotten terrorism conspiracy investigation from 1986.

The case was a strange but true saga of international intrigue and treason involving two wildly different organizations that no one could have ever imagined would join forces against their common enemy, the United States government.

Retired agent Bill Dyson, who served 31 years with the FBI, provides a review of the case on the true crime and history podcastFBI Retired Case File Review. During the episode, he explains how the FBI disrupted a terrorist attack planned by a Chicago street gang known as the El Rukns. According to Dyson, the group was more than a gang. It was a well-organized crime syndicate.

Dyson, who at the time led the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), was contacted by colleagues assigned to the Chicago Divisions Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. During a court-ordered Title III wiretap used while investigating members of the El Rukns for drug trafficking, they had overheard tidbits of conversations. The gangs discussions seemed to indicate the El Rukns were communicating with Libyan terrorists.

Dyson and members of the Chicago JTTF developed this information and learned that, indeed, members of the El Rukns were meeting with representatives of the then-hostile government of Libya led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi to discuss a conspiracy to perpetrate a terrorist attack inside the United States. Libya did not have the capability to attack the U.S. on its soil. However, for the right amount of money to finance their own agenda, an intermediary proposed that the El Rukns might be willing to do the Libyans dirty work.

The Chicago JTTF developed enough intelligence to stand up their own undercover operation and Title III. They soon discovered that the El Rukns leader, Jeff Fort, although serving a federal sentence for narcotic violations, continued to run the organization from his prison cell. The electronic monitoring also revealed to Dyson and his team that an associate of the El Rukns had traveled to Libya and that members of the organization had met with Libyan representatives in Panama to formulate the conspiracy. In exchange for cash and cocaine, the El Rukns agreed to obtain military-type weapons and explosives and to perpetrate a terrorist attack in the U.S. on the behalf of the Libyans. The JTTF introduced an FBI undercover operative to obtain additional intelligence and evidence and to thwart the attack.

Based on the successful intercepts, a search warrant was executed and multiple weapons, to include hand grenades, were seized. In August 1987, a 50-count indictment was filed against five members of the El Rukn organization. All were convicted at trial and four received sentences ranging from 51 to 80 years of incarceration.

The El Rukn-Libyan conspiracy investigation marked the first convictions of American citizens for conspiring to commit terrorist acts in their country for money on behalf of a foreign government.

After retiring from the bureau, Bill Dyson was hired by the University of Illinois and authored a college textbook titledTerrorism: An Investigators Handbook. He also worked for the Institute of Inter-Governmental Research, a nonprofit serving under a grant from the Department of Justice where he provided antiterrorism training to state and local police officers throughout the United States. Bill is now enjoying a much-earned retirement and spending time with his adult children and four grandchildren in sunny Florida.

Follow this link to listen to the full case review Episode 054: Bill Dyson El Rukn Libyan Terrorist Conspiracy

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Trafficking Terrorism: How a Street Gang Connected with Libyan Terrorists - HS Today - HSToday

A Libyan diplomatic source familiar with the course of the Libyan meetings going on in Morocco has revealed that Khaled Al-Mishri, head of the High Council of State, and Aqila Saleh, Speaker of Parliament, had agreed to push the constitutional path to the forefront of the scene, on the grounds that it would guarantee that the reasons, which led to the failure of the December 24 elections will not occur again.

Last week, a Moroccan news outlet confirmed that Aqila Saleh and Khaled Al-Mishri arrived in Rabat on Saturday, January 1, for talks that would focus on the postponed elections.

The diplomatic source anticipated that the agreement would be made public soon. "The two parties will declare their agreement to resolve the legal differences that led to the postponement of the elections by conducting them according to a permanent constitution," he explained in a press statement.

Al-Mishri and Saleh had managed to mobilize great support for the new map, especially from a number of candidates, with the aim to impose it on the scene as a fait accompli, the diplomat says, who also confirmed that the government structure remains an obstacle hindering the announcement of the agreement.

According to the source, Al-Mishri and Saleh met face to face, while key players including Khalifa Haftar, Fathi Bashagha, the Libyan Consul in Morocco Abdel Majid Saif Al-Nasr, and the former Libyan ambassador to the UAE, Al-Aref Al-Nayed, were kept abreast of the developments.

"The main constraint remains that the major powers considered the interim government as the legitimate authority until going to elections."

He indicated that there is concern about the possibility of repeating the previous scenario of Fayez Al-Sarraj's government if Dbeibah refuses to hand over power to another authority that is to be formed by consensus between the Parliament and the HCS.

The HCS head has expressed on several occasions his readiness to meet with Saleh in order to "reach a genuine solution" to the crisis, including discussing the constitutional basis for the elections, but what went on behind the closed doors in Morocco remains ambiguous.

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The constitution is the new framework for negotiations between HCS and Parliament - The Libya Observer

BENGHAZI, Libya

Libyas top electoral body said Wednesday that the son and onetime heir apparent of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi is disqualified from running in presidential elections that are to take place next month.

According to a list of barred candidates issued by the countrys High National Elections Committee, Seif Islam Kadafi is barred because of previous convictions against him. He can appeal the committees decision in court within the coming days.

Seif Islam was sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in 2015 for use of violence against protesters who were calling for his father to step down, but that ruling has since been called into question by Libyas rival authorities. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the 2011 uprising against his father.

Libya is set to hold the first round of its presidential vote on Dec. 24, after years of United Nations-led attempts to usher in a more democratic future and bring the countrys war to an end. After the overthrow and killing of Kadafi, oil-rich Libya spent most of the last decade split between rival governments one based in the capital, Tripoli, and the other in the eastern part of the country. Each side in the civil war has also had the support of mercenaries and forces from Turkey, Russia and Syria and other regional powers.

The son of Libyas former dictator submitted his candidacy papers in the southern town of Sabha, 400 miles south of Tripoli, on Nov. 14. It was the first time the 49-year-old, who earned a doctorate at the London School of Economics, had appeared in public in years.

He was captured by fighters in the town of Zintan late in 2011, the year when the popular uprising, backed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, toppled his father after more than 40 years in power. Moammar Kadafi was killed that same year in October amid the ensuing fighting that would turn into a civil war. The dictators son was released in June 2017.

The announcement of his possible candidacy has stirred controversy across the divided country, where a number of other high-profile candidates have also emerged in recent weeks.

Several controversial candidates came forward this month, including powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar and the countrys interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

The long-awaited vote still faces challenges, including unresolved issues over laws governing the elections and occasional infighting among armed groups. Other obstacles include the deep rift that remains between the countrys east and west, split for years by the war, and the presence of thousands of foreign fighters and troops.

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Kadafi's son disqualified from running for president of Libya