First Independent Mena Newspaper
After Washington upgraded its ties with Tunisia to the level of a strategic ally during President Béji Caid Essebsi’s maiden visit as president, Khemaies Jhinaoui Diplomatic Adviser to the North African President explained to his compatriots that it does not mean that they have become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as […]
Tunisia will join Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco as the fifth Arab country to be designated as a major non-NATO ally of the U.S. The announcement was made by President Barack Obama after a meeting with Tunisia’s President Essebsi, on his first visit to the U.S since his election last year. President Obama said the […]
Rulers of Four Arab countries out of the six nations forming the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are snubbing the summit to be hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House on May 13 and at Camp David Presidential retreat on May 14. King Salman of Saudi Arabia announced that he would not attend the […]
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni of the Tobruk-based government is in Moscow and has called on Russia to support the lifting of the arms embargo on the country as he held the West responsible for the situation in Libya. A U.N-led dialogue for a transitional unity government is about to resume in Morocco but renegade General Khalifa […]
Libya is on the verge of becoming a failed state if the war in the country does not come to an end and attacks on oil installations are not halted. Mashala Zwai, the oil minister of the Tripoli-based government warned that the country was becoming “a second Somalia” as fighting between the militias of the […]
Turkey’s defense minister Ismet Yilmaz has maintained that the country has not sidelined plans to buy a new missile defense system from China despite concerns from NATO and the US that it will be incompatible with their defense systems. The missile defense system is to be supplied by China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp […]
Talks between the two governments of Libya will begin in Geneva on Wednesday but only the one based in Tobruk could be present. The Tripoli based government is not satisfied with some of the actions undertaken by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) ahead of the announcement and said that it will decide on […]
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed the need to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis rather than another military operation in the North African country plunged in chaos since the collapse of the Kaddafi regime. The French official, who was visiting Madama, Northern Niger, where a French military base is being built […]
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed deep concern over the conflict in Libya and its implications for the country’s future, during a Sunday meeting with his Libyan counterpart, Mohamed Al-Dairi. Hostilities in Libya between the government forces and the Islamists have not stopped leading many to fear that it could delay the projected UN-led dialogue […]
Fighting for the control of eastern oil ports have broken out after Fajr Libya launched an operation to “liberate oilfields and terminals.” Last week, President Al Thinni of the Tobruk government said means are being developed to ensure that the payment of oil exportations to accounts that are not under their control be stopped. Fighting […]