First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Italian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that four of its citizens still in Libya have been kidnapped in the western city of Mellitah on an industrial sites owned by the Italian oil company Eni. The four victims are according to the Ministry statement working for Bonatti Construction Company. They were abducted on Sunday evening […]
The European Union (EU) is planning to impose sanctions on any of the warring parties in Libya that refuses to agree to the U.N-brokered peace deal propelled by Special Envoy Bernardino Leon. E.U foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has already discussed the matter with European foreign ministers and Leon. Details of the possible sanctions have […]
Abdul Magid Breish, once the undisputed leader of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), has warned that the country’s $67 billion sovereign wealth fund should continue to be frozen “until we have total stability.” Four chairmen are claiming to be representing LIA for the past two years but Breish stressed that the two rival governments and armed […]
Libya held the United Nations Security Council Libya Sanctions Committee responsible for the growing threat of the Islamic State in the country but U.N’s special envoy to Libya claimed that the failure to reach a national unity government has limited U.N’s role. Libya’s Ambassador to the U.N Ibrahim Dabbashi told the Security Council that the […]
The political agreement signed by several Libyan negotiators in Morocco this weekend is a breakthrough towards a lasting peace in the North African country, although the Tripoli-based General National Congress has not initialled yet. Libya, which has been rocked by violence and fighting between rival armed groups competing for power since the fall of Gadhafi […]
Escalating tensions in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi and the heavy civilian casualties have caught the attention of UN Special envoy Bernardino Leon who condemned the hostilities and warned concerned parties to refrain from such actions because it could lead to war crime charges. Benghazi hosts the highest number of internally displaced Libyans thereby […]
Former Assistant Chief of Mission for Assistance Transition and Coordinator for Minority Issues at the US embassy in Iraq and current US ambassador to Nepal, Peter Bodde, has been appointed new US ambassador to Libya in replacement of the outgoing ambassador Deborah K. Jones. The White House confirmed Peter Bodde as the new US ambassador […]
Libyan rival factions continue tossing the UNMIL draft accord as the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) on Tuesday refused to sign the draft accord which normally will help end four years of chaos and uncertainty in once a better-off country in North Africa. The GNC argues that the current accord as drafted is biased and […]
The Tripoli based government has announced that it is restructuring its military and a statement from Prime Minister Khalifa Ghweil stated that it was part of reforms geared towards establishing a 5000-strong army integrating heavily armed former rebel forces. The armed forces will now be composed of 11 brigades. It is still unclear if the […]
Libya internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni sounded optimistic for a final agreement between the Libyan rival factions which have resumed talks in Morocco to agree on the peace accord draft proposed by the UN envoy, Bernardino Leon. The UNSMIL Draft V peace accord which was initially criticized by Prime Minister Thinni’s side is the […]