First Independent Mena Newspaper
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will start processing asylum seekers’ applications in Libya as of this summer, in a move to curb the deadly crossing of the Mediterranean by illegal migrants. “The idea is to create hotspots to avoid that people take crazy risks when they are not all eligible for asylum. […]
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 […]
Libya’s political rivals agreed Tuesday in France to set aside their contentions and make way for peace, endorsing the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) signed in Skhirat, Morocco, in December 2015, as the only political roadmap for the country’s reconstruction, after the six-year long chaos that followed the removal of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in a […]
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 […]
The Libyan National Army commander, aligned with east-based rival government, Khalifa Haftar has been reportedly receiving military aid from Israel with the secret support of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which backs him against the UN-sponsored Government of National Accord (GNA), reports say. London-based The New Arab, citing a source close to the Field Marshal […]
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have expanded their list of terrorist groups and individuals having links with Qatar. Nine entities, based in Yemen or Libya, were thus added to the list. They include charity foundations, media and militia groups. Nine individuals, labeled as terrorist by the Arab quartet, are nationals […]
Libyan authorities have rescued in two separate operations on Monday at least 278 migrants as they tried to reach Europe. In one operation, 150 African migrants including two women and four children, were saved by Libyan coastguards after their inflatable boat engine broke down and started to sink. The migrants were brought ashore to a […]
France has confirmed that the Prime Minister-designate Fayez Serraj of the UN-backed Government of National Accord will be meeting, in Paris on Tuesday, with Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army, loyal to the Tobruk-based House of Representative. An official statement highlighted that the initiative is geared towards facilitating “a political agreement” between […]
A new military base, the largest in the Middle East and Africa, was inaugurated over the weekend and baptized after the leader of the 1952 Egyptian revolution and the country’s first President, Mohamed Neguib. The military base, consisting of more than 1,100 new or recently renovated buildings, was built on what used to be a […]
Spanish rescue service said Monday it has saved 19 migrants from Algeria as they were attempting to cross the Mediterranean onboard a small boat. Two days earlier, Spain rescued 57 migrants at sea on Saturday as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe from Morocco. Spain has become the new backdoor to Europe following […]