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Covid-19: Rush to vaccinate in Libya as pandemic continues to spread
Libyan authorities on Saturday stepped up their vaccination campaign around the capital Tripoli, as coronavirus cases rise across the country. The health ministry has set up temporary centres in six districts of the capital, and AFP journalists saw long queues outside...
Libyans facing an expansive Eid El-Adha holiday
Muslims in war-scarred Libya mark Eid al-Adha from Tuesday, but few will be able to afford the sheep or goat traditionally slaughtered during the festival. The guns may have fallen silent in the North African country, but its people are now fighting a deep economic...
Libya’s normalization efforts at an impasse
The UN envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis, on Thursday warned of an impasse in the political, security and budgetary plans for the country, which is supposed to hold general elections on December 24 but which are looking increasingly in doubt."I am deeply concerned about the...
Libya: Migrants returned to Libya by Europe suffer “horrific violations’
Amnesty International on Thursday condemned the "horrific violations" being committed against migrants returned to Libya with the cooperation of European states after trying to cross the Mediterranean. It said new evidence had emerged of "harrowing violations,...
Covid-19: Covid cases in Libya hit new high, country faces critical situation
Libya on Sunday imposed sweeping restrictions to stem the spread of coronavirus as recorded cases hit a new high, with experts warning of a "critical" situation. For the next two weeks, cafes must close, weddings and organised funerals with mourners are barred, and...
Migrants: Rescue ship Ocean Viking docks in Sicily with almost 600 migrants
Italy on Thursday authorised the Ocean Viking migrant rescue ship to dock in Sicily after the group urged EU members to allow 572 people picked up in the Mediterranean Sea over three days to be brought ashore. "The Ocean Viking this evening received from the Italian...
Libya: Russia and Turkey signaling willingness to pull tiny number of their mercenaries from Libya
By Hui Min Neo and Shaun Tandon Hopes grew Wednesday for Libya's stability following a decade of bloodshed as Russia and Turkey reached a tentative plan in talks in Berlin to start withdrawing foreign mercenaries, officials said. The UN-sponsored conference -- the...
Tunisia: With a destabilized Libya, Tunisia grapples with migrant crisis
Tunisia authorities on Thursday rescued 267 migrants, most of them Bangladeshis, who tried to sail from neighbouring Libya to Europe across the Mediterranean, the International Organization for Migration said. Tunisia's coastguard said the migrants, who also included...
Libya: Sexual slavery in Libya’s 21st century
By Caroline Nelly Perrot For Aisha, sexual slavery was something you only heard about happening to others in television reports, until she found herself locked in a living "hell" in Libya. "I had left a nightmare only to fall into hell," said the migrant from Guinea,...
Libya: Efforts to stabilize Libya stymied by persistent violence
Two members of Libya's security forces were killed and five others wounded Sunday evening in a car bomb blast at a checkpoint in the country's south, a police source said. "A car bomb exploded as it was crossing a roadblock set up by the security forces" in the city...
Libya: Red Crescent official kidnapped in Ajdabiya
The Libyan Red Crescent said Sunday that unidentified assailants abducted one of its local officials several days ago in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, while a security source said a search was underway. Mansour Ati al-Maghrabi, head of the Red Crescent's Ajdabiya...
Libya: In sign of reconciliation, Tripoli and Tobruk resume air link
Flights have resumed between Libya's capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Tobruk after a break of several years, as the division-plagued country takes a further step towards normalcy. A flight from Tripoli of Libya's Buraq Air landed late Wednesday in Tobruk, a...
Tunisia: Two migrants drown, others missing
At least 23 migrants were missing and two bodies recovered from the sea off Tunisia, the Red Crescent reported Wednesday, after the military said more than 100 migrants were intercepted. The Tunisian navy said a boat headed for Europe from Zuwara in Libya was...
Libya: Warlord Haftar wants to stay relevant, but no one cares anymore
By Jihad Dorgham and Hamza Mekouar Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar is polishing his political image ahead of elections, after a crippling rout on the battlefield and with his support waning at home and abroad, analysts say. Haftar's eastern-based forces...
Libya: With Libya struggling to expel mercenaries, Germany wants another conference to help out
By Hui Min Neo Germany will host a new set of Libyan peace talks on June 23 in Berlin, with Libya's transitional government due to attend, the foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The conference follows a first edition in January 2020, and will take stock of...
Libya: Pressure on Libya and Europe to review their rescue operations in the Med Sea
By Robin Millard The United Nations urged Libya and the EU to overhaul their search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, saying current practices robbed migrants of their lives, rights and dignity. A UN Human Rights Office report on SAR operations and the...
Libya: UN decries lack of progress in withdrawal of mercenaries from Libya
Libya has seen "no reduction of foreign fighters or of their activities" in the center of the country, says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a report submitted this week to the Security Council. "While the ceasefire agreement continued to hold, UNSMIL (the UN...
Libya’s latest unity government faces uphill battle
(Photo: Libya's interim PM Dbeibah) - By Hamza Mekouar - A new unity government in Libya had raised hopes the war-ravaged North African nation had turned a corner towards peace -- but analysts warn that major stumbling blocks remain. Thousands of foreign mercenaries...
Libya: 78 jailed pro-Haftar insurgents released in reconciliation move
Seventy-eight prisoners who fought on the side of eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar in his year-long offensive against the capital Tripoli were released late Wednesday, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene. The detained fighters were released at the...
Libya warns Italy over illegal fishing after incident with Italian trawlers
Libya's coastguard on Sunday warned against "illegal" fishing in its waters, denying Italian claims it had wounded a fisherman as it fired shots during an operation against four boats from Sicily. Citing "repeated, documented violations", the coastguard said that on...
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