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 intercepted on Tuesday near Miskar oil platform, some 67 kilometres (52 […]
Libya
TunisAir first foreign carrier to resume Libya flights
TunisAir announced on Tuesday it has resumed flights to Libya, becoming the first foreign carrier to fly the route for seven years in the wake of UN-sponsored peace efforts. Its planes landed Monday in both the capital Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya’s second city, the company said, adding that the event was celebrated with hoses firing […]
Armed men stage show of force at Libya presidential council HQ
Libya Dozens of armed men staged a show of force late Friday at a hotel used as a headquarters by Libya’s presidential council as the nation’s deep divisions resurface. The country was plunged into chaos after longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, and over the years the […]
SOS Mediterranee relaunch migrant rescue missions off Libya
PARIS: Humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee said Sunday it has relaunched migrant rescue operations off Libya, seven months after it was forced to abandon efforts using its ship Aquarius. SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) “are back at sea with a new vessel, the Ocean Viking, to conduct search and rescue activities in the central […]
Migrants detained in Libya, caught in crossfire, seek aid
CAIRO: Eritrean migrants say the facility where they are detained in western Libya was caught in the crossfire between rival militias. The two migrants told The Associated Press on Monday that guards fled the Gharyan detention center, which houses nearly 30 migrants, including 10 suffering from tuberculosis. Militiamen stormed the center on Wednesday, holding one […]
Egypt militant returned from Libya back on trial: media
An Egyptian militant captured in Libya and returned to Cairo was put on trial again Tuesday over five terror attacks, including one for which he has already received a death sentence in absentia, according to local media. Hisham Al-Ashmawy — one of the country’s most-wanted militants — “is accused of carrying out terror operations against […]
Fighting in southern Tripoli kills 187, more than 1,000 wounded — spokesman
Recent fighting in southern Tripoli in Libya has killed 187 people and wounded 1,157, a spokesman for the ministry of health said on Saturday. The government has also transferred a number of wounded to Tunisia, Turkey, Italy and Ukraine for medical treatment, said Tarek al-Hamshiri, the head of the government forces’ Field Medical Centre. The […]
The Arab world in disarray
Recently President Donald Trump, pandering to the influential Jewish lobby and ultra conservatives, has made diplomatic moves which constitute provocative snubs to the Arab countries and complete denigration of the Palestinian issue and the UN resolutions on occupation of Arab lands. His moves have evoked prototype criticism from the Muslim countries and some European Union […]
Which way will Turkey go?
The Treaty of Lausanne is due to expire in 2023. This has triggered a debate on how Turkey sees the opportunity and how it would choose to act. Will it seek to resurrect the Ottoman Empire or something resembling it in Europe? Will the geopolitical maps be redrawn? Will Turkey project hard power leading to […]
Italy’s Salvini claims terrorist presence on migrants boats from Libya ‘now a certainty’
Chaos in Libya following General Khalifa Haftar’s offensive has increased the risk of terrorist presence on migrant boats headed for Italy, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, adding that the country’s ports would remain closed. “Islamic terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk, it has become a certainty: it is therefore my duty to reiterate that […]