The European Union said it was concerned about the recent surge in declarations on Libya as they work against the de-escalation of the conflict, the bloc’s chief spokesman for the foreign policy said on Monday, commenting on the Egyptian president’s threat of military intervention.
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution Monday ordering a “fact-finding mission” to Libya in order to document violations and abuses committed in the country since 2016.
The east-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has introduced a no-fly zone around the city of Sirte on Sunday, LNA spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mismari said, also welcoming Cairo’s announcement of being prepared to send in its forces.
Russia has denied US claims that it has new aircraft active in Libyan airspace. The denial came in the form of a short tweet by the Russian embassy in Greece last Thursday (18 June) quoting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday said his country has a legitimate right to intervene in neighbouring Libya and ordered his army to be ready to carry out any mission outside the country, if necessary, Reuters reports.
The fast-paced advance of the Turkish-backed Tripoli forces in Libya has stalled at the key coastal city of Sirte as Russia’s role in the conflict has grown more assertive, heralding a tough bargaining between Ankara and Moscow.
The Libyan army said Saturday 190 corpses have been found in mass graves south of Tripoli and the city of Tarhuna since June 5, reports Anadolu Agency.
Speaking at the 44th Session of the Human Rights Council yesterday, Acting SRSG and UNSMIL head Stephanie Williams said that since former SRSG Salame’s briefing in September of last year, serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law have continued to be committed with complete and total impunity in Libya. …
Turkey on Friday criticised the EU’s Operation Irini aimed at halting arms shipments to Libya as “not objective”, a day after NATO said it would probe a naval incident with a French ship.
“The ongoing negotiations between Turkey and Russia on the Libyan file are based on the principles recognised by the High Council of State and the Government of National Accord (GNA),” the Chairman of the High Council of State, Khalid Al-Mishri, said on Wednesday.
