Libya began 2020 with a full-blown war, as a result of the now failed military offensive by Khalifa Haftar, eastern commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which he launched on 4 April 2019.

Turkey’s Armed Forces are providing the Libyan Navy with five weeks of training in underwater warfare, Anadolu Agency reported Turkish defence officials saying on Sunday.

After languishing in Libyan prisons, the crews of two Italian fishing boats seized by the Libyan coast guard in September were released just before Christmas. Back home, they tell DW’s Jacopo Lentini of their ordeal.

The General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) signed Sunday an agreement with Algeria’s Sonelgaz to expand cooperation in gas and electricity production and distribution.

The Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias expressed his country’s concern with the Turkish plans to establish a base on the coast of Libya close to the Greek Island of Crete.

UNSMIL welcomed what it called the ‘‘remarkable success’’ on 25 December of the exchange of prisoners from both the contesting Libyan sides under the supervision of the Joint Military Commission (5+5), and thanks to the good offices of the tribal sheikhs and elders.

Senior Egyptian security officials have visited the Libyan capital Tripoli for the first time in years and held talks with officials from the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), the Libyan interior ministry said.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar warned on Sunday that the forces of Khalifa Haftar and their supporters based in eastern Libya would be viewed as “legitimate targets” if they attempted to attack Turkish forces in the region, reports Reuters.

The Spokeswoman for the Russian Ministery of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova denied US allegations that Moscow supported the offensive led by Khalifa Haftar on Tripoli in 2019.

A Libyan commander who launched an offensive last year to capture the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised rival government threatened Thursday to use force against Turkish troops if Ankara doesn’t stop interfering in the war-stricken North African country.