In a surprising move, Gen. Khalifa Hifter, Libya’s eastern military strongman, announced his acceptance of elections in Libya as a way out of the political deadlock in the war-ravaged country. Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Mesmari announced the decision in a news conference Dec. 27.
In recent weeks, the unfolding tragedy of refugees stuck in the Libyan migration system has caught the eye of the European public. The conditions they face are terrible: beatings, torture, systematic rape, slave trade and killings.
About 10000 people stranded in refugee camps and detention centres in Libya could be relocated to Europe in 2018, the Italian government said on Sunday.
There are 700.000 illegal immigrants in Libya, 30.000 of whom are in detention centers across Libya, revealed Milad Al-Saadi; the media advisor of Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Authority (AIIA).
The meeting of the neighbouring countries of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, started in Tunis, on Sunday. The meeting was attended by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukri and his Tunisian and Algerian counterparts, Khamis Al-Jhenawi and Abdul-Qader Messahel.
Italy wants Libya’s coastguard to take responsibility within three years for intercepting migrants across about a tenth of the Mediterranean even as Libyan crews struggle to patrol their own coast and are accused of making deadly mistakes at sea.
Arabs do not play a leading role in the Libyan peace process as a result of the Arab countries’ conflicting positions, Arab League envoy to Libya, Salaheddine Jamali, has said.
The Arab League has come out in support of the action plan put forward by UN envoy Ghassan Salamé to solve the Libyan crisis by focusing on the amendments based on the Libyan Political Agreement as the only way forward.
The position of Emhemed Shouaib, the first deputy president of the House of Representatives (HoR), is seen as under threat as a result of discussions in today’s session of the parliament in Tobruk.
Since the 1990s, the European Union (EU) has pursued a policy of ‘externalising’ its border controls. In exchange for aid and financial support, it requires North African states to implement measures to suppress irregular migration. Two facts about this policy are widely known, and have been for many years now. …
