First Independent Mena Newspaper
Several NGOs rescuing migrants off Libya’s coasts have suspended operations because of security threats from Libyan coastguard whom they accuse of firing at their ships. Germany-based Sea-Eye has joined Save the Children and halted its interventions in international waters to save migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe’s southern coast. The charity said it made […]
Son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi Thursday indicated that Italy, by deploying warships into Libyan territorial waters, is looking to re-colonize Libya by, repeating the colonization and fascist strategy of the past. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reportedly said Italy wants to re-colonize Libya as it used to consider Tripoli beaches as Rome’s colony. According to […]
Shortly after the Italian parliament approved the deployment of the country’s naval forces to the Libyan shores to help combat the flow of illegal migration from the North African country to Europe, the Libyan National Army (LNA) have been ordered to take actions against foreign vessels trespassing in Libyan waters. The Parliament’s vote, which took […]
Libya’s increasing oil exportations are beginning to raise eyebrows in Italy as authorities believe that the mafia is linking up with extremist groups loyal to the Islamic State group to smuggle crude oil from the Middle East into Italy. As Libya has been in turmoil for the past six years, it was, along with Nigeria, […]
Italy is planning to send ships in Libyan waters by the end of August to combat human trafficking and stem a huge influx of immigrants, a government source said on Thursday. The announcement came after Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that the internationally recognized government in Tripoli requested in a letter Italy’s help through […]
Mediterranean interior ministers have agreed to enhance joint actions to combat illegal migration, migrants’ smuggling and human trafficking networks, a growing lucrative business threatening peace and stability in the region. At the end of a meeting held lately in Tunis, the European and African Interior Ministers stressed the importance of addressing the roots of illegal […]
Moroccan authorities handed over to Italian counterparts a stolen 17th century Baroque Italian painting worth up to six million euros. The painting by Giovanni Francesco, known as Guercino, had been recovered in Morocco after being stolen from a church in the northern Italian city of Modena in 2014. The Moroccan police returned the painting to […]
Would-be migrants are increasingly avoiding passing through conflict-wracked Libya on their treacherous sea journey to Europe in favor of the more peaceful and closer western Mediterranean route between Morocco and Spain. The UN Refugee Agency has warned Spain to prepare for an upcoming surge in migrant arrivals as the number of mostly sub-Saharans who made […]
The Libyan navy has claimed that the country’s sovereignty is being jeopardized by international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) that are helping illegal migrants trying to reach Europe through Italy from the Libyan shores. Spokesman Ayoub Qassim of the Libyan navy pointed out that “the humanitarian NGOs are blocking any agreements that help Libya uproot immigration issues; […]
Italy’s deputy Foreign Minister Mario Giro made it clear that the referendum option does not offer a feasible solution to the regional conflict over the Sahara and that the Algerian-Backed Polisario separatists had better give up the chimera of conducting a vote on the Sahara’s independence. The Italian official made the remarks during the presentation, […]