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LIBYA
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Libya: Despite series of talks to bring peace in Libya, warlord Haftar threatens more violence
Turkey tells Haftar to back off Turkey's defence minister said that any attack by eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on its personnel in the North African country would be met with force. "A war criminal, murderer Haftar and his supporters must know that they...
Despite their divisions, Libyans hope for a return to stability
The Tawergha People: By AlJazeera When Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled, people took revenge on those they saw as his supporters -- including the entire town of Tawergha, whose 40,000 residents were forced to flee. Now, almost a decade after militia forces...
Divided Maghreb countries celebrate one common thing: the Couscous
Couscous, the Berber dish beloved across northern Africa's Maghreb region and beyond, Wednesday joined the UN list of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The countries that submitted the listing to UNESCO -- Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania -- may have...
Libya: 18 foreign fishermen released from warlord Haftar’s prisons
Eighteen fishermen including eight Sicilians who were held in Libya for more than three months have been freed, Italy's prime minister and foreign minister said Thursday after visiting Benghazi to secure their release. "Our fishermen are free," Foreign Minister Luigi...
Libyan politician Omar Garmil dies from the Coronavirus
Libyan Member of Parliament (MP) Omar Garmil has died in Morocco weeks after being infected with Covid-19, multiple sources said Monday. The UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the UN mission in Libya offered their condolences without...
Libya releases Russian operatives after serving 18 months in prison for vote meddling
An ally of President Vladimir Putin has shelled out nearly $500,000 to two Russian political operatives recently freed by Libya after 18 months in captivity, his company said Monday. Russian media last week reported that Maxim Shugaley and his interpreter Samir...
Libya: Forces of warlord Haftar seize Turkish commercial ship, hold 17 crewmen
Turkey on Tuesday denounced the seizure of a commercial ship by the forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, warning of "serious consequences" if its 17 crewmen are not freed. Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) had announced late Monday that it intercepted on...
Libya: How many foreign mercenaries in Libya? 20,000 is the number
Twenty thousand foreign forces and mercenaries are in Libya despite a ceasefire and long-standing arms embargo, the UN envoy said Wednesday, calling the situation a "shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty". Libya has been wracked by violence and chaos since the...
Minorities: The Amazigh people remain abused by North African regimes
The Berbers of Egypt: By Hager Harabech Siwa Oasis, Egypt, Dec 2, 2020 - Youssef Diab drives his truck through the Egyptian oasis of Siwa, singing catchy songs in a local Berber dialect that clings to life despite the dominance of Arabic. The UN has classified Siwi,...
Libya: Terror group tied to warlord Haftar blacklisted by US
The US Treasury announced sanctions Wednesday on a Libyan rebel militia loyal to eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar which is allegedly behind multiple murders, kidnapping and torture. The Treasury said Mohamed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia "is responsible for the...
Libya: Europe and Turkey at odds about Libya, threaten and intimidate each other
German navy searches Turkish ship headed for Libya Turkey on Monday said the German navy had conducted an "unauthorised" search on a Turkish-flagged vessel in a bid to enforce an arms embargo on Libya but only found humanitarian aid. The European Union's Operation...
Libya: Despite ceasefire deal, militias and foreign meddlers refuse to withdraw their mercenaries
Rival forces in Libya have failed to begin withdrawing as required under an October ceasefire agreement aimed at ending years of conflict following Moamer Kadhafi's 2011 killing, a UN envoy said Thursday. Last month's ceasefire formally ended fighting between forces...
Libya: The civil war’s human tragedy
Tarhuna, Libya: A year ago armed men took Mohamed al-Magri's son for questioning as fighting raged around the Libyan capital, and now he fears Haitham was killed and buried in a mass grave. Magri believes the masked men took his son at gunpoint in revenge, because his...
Libya: Death toll from recent migrant shipwrecks reaches 100
Italian coastguard rescues migrant boats near Lampedusa Italy's coastguard rescued about 170 migrants on two separate rubber oats in Mediterranean waters, news agency AGI reported Friday, hours after a crisis hotline signalled they were in distress. Some 79 migrants...
Podcast: Covid-19 in the Maghreb region as of mid-November 2020
In this brief podcast recorded on 12 November 2020, MEA Risk's Arezki Daoud provides an update on the Coronavirus in the Maghreb region. The state of the Covid-19 epidemic in the Maghreb looks rather bleak as we are reaching the mid-point of November 2020. As in...
Libya crisis: Talks in Tunisia show some progress
Libyans agreed in UN-led talks on Wednesday a plan to hold elections within 18 months, as diplomatic efforts grow to end a decade of violence in the North African country. Delegates from across Libya "reached a preliminary roadmap for ending the transitional period...
The Mediterranean Sea’s fishing wars
Domenico Asaro recalls the day in 1996 when Libyan forces began firing on his Italian fishing boat "Osiride" (Osiris), triggering a four-hour chase during which a bullet grazed his skull. The deep-sea trawler, which had been fishing for prized giant red shrimp in...
Libyan lawyer and media figure Hanan Al-Barasi murdered in Benghazi
A Libyan lawyer was shot dead in her car in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday, a security source told AFP, confirming local media reports. The lawyer, Hanan al-Barassi, "was shot dead in Road 20, one of the main commercial streets in Benghazi," said the security...
Immigration: Interceptions of migrants off the coast of Libya on the rise
A total of 575 migrants have been intercepted off Libya's western coast in just a week, the UN's migration agency said Tuesday. "In the period of 27 October to 2 November, 443 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the International...
Libya: New meeting in Ghadames to set up the basis of a ceasefire
Rival Libyan military officers arrived Monday for talks held for the first time on home soil following a ceasefire deal last month, an AFP reporter said. Formal talks will begin later on Monday evening, said the AFP reporter present, with discussions tackling the...
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