First Independent Mena Newspaper
Libya has issued 205 warrants for the arrest of Libyans and foreigners suspected of being involved in a smuggling networks sending illegal migrants to Europe. The wanted are also accused of human trafficking, torture, murder and rape. The Libyan attorney general’s office said the network included members of the security services, migrant detention camp leaders, […]
Khalifa Haftar’s so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) has set March 17 as a deadline for African forces to leave the Libyan territory on grounds that they play a mercenary role in the conflict opposing rival armed groups in the country. In the unexpected announcement made Thursday, the eastern-based army aligned to the House of Representatives […]
China’s largest oil and gas producer and distributor, PetroChina has signed up with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) to buy Libyan oil, few months after Shell and British Petroleum (BP) signed similar deals. The deal is the first ever since 2013, Bloomberg reports. The deal comes as oil production knows a revival following several […]
The Libyan mayhem has reached the relatively peaceful south where rival armed groups in the southern Libyan city of Sabha has left at least six civilians dead and several others wounded, including women and children. Local media reported that the Libyan National Human Rights Commission confirmed the killing of civilians in armed clashes between the […]
The US Treasury has imposed new sanctions, including asset freeze, on several entities and individuals from Libya, Egypt and Malta believed involved in the smuggling of Libyan oil. The new sanctions from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have targeted six people, twenty-four companies and seven vessels. Assets belonging to targeted individuals and […]
Algerian officials continue to issue statements calling for reviving the paralyzed Maghreb Union, a five-member regional grouping also comprising Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya. Recently, President Abdelaziz Boutefika sent messages on the 29th anniversary of the Union to Maghreb leaders urging collective efforts to reinvigorate the union. Few days later, Algeria’s Foreign Minister said, during […]
Seven years after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya remains in turmoil, battered by infighting between heavily armed militias and a political crisis that has divided the country. The initial euphoria is a distant memory as little have changed since the fall of Gaddafi’s dictatorship. A 2015 UN-backed deal to set up the unity […]
The UN has denied Venezuela and Libya the right to vote because of millions of dollars of upaid dues to the world body. The two countries lose the right to vote in the 193-member global organization for the third consecutive time. According to a letter from Guterres to the Assembly president, Venezuela must pay a […]
At least 90 migrants, mostly Pakistanis, lost their lives off the coast of Libya on Friday after their boat capsized, according to press reports. The victims were dreaming to reach Italy but their vessel, owned by smugglers, sank adding a new tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM Libya’s Olivia Headon, 10 bodies washed […]
Nearly two months after reports emerged showing African migrants sold out as slaves in Libya, the African Union launched a repatriation operation that saw 13,000 migrants return to their homelands since last December. Speaking to the press, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahamat Faki, noted that the number is still below the goal set […]