On Thursday, Martin Kobler, UN special envoy for Libyan crisis, was in Tripoli, for a political meeting with Serraij (Presidency Council-PC) and State Council President Abdulrahman Sewehli. Kobler has also met some deputies of HoR (House of Representatives) who are now in Tripoli. Kobler told that organization of a meeting between HoR and State Council is the main priority. He told at the end of meetings “Libya will rise again”.
The Fuel Crisis Committee, originally established by the Presidency Council’s government of national accord to find solutions to the shortage of fuel in Tripoli, yesterday launched what is being called “Operation Mediterranean Storm” to counter the smuggling of Libya’s subsidised fuel by sea. In cooperation with NOC (Libyan National Oil Corporation) they try to block fuel smuggling by land to Tunisia. However, to preserve the discretion they refute to tell the press of their operations. During an exchange of fire with Libyan Coast-Guard (under GNA force) 4 oil smuggler had been killed.
The Italian ambassador in Libya, Giuseppe Perrone, has arrived in Tobruk to meet with the House of Representatives’ Speaker, Aguilah Saleh, to discuss the current political affairs in the country. According to the media office of the HoR, Perrone will discuss about the statu quo in Libya. This will enforce Italian position in Libya. Italy had been the first country to reopen an embassy in Libya, it has also started to issue visas for Libyans three days ago, and offered to open an Italian consulate in eastern Libya.
Last February, Italy (and EU) has signed an agreement with Libya to maintain the migration, to control their borders. The agreement previous to send economical help to Libya, to help the country to contain migration, but also to built some refugees camps. However, Arjan Hehenkamp, general director of MSF (Doctors Without Borders), told on Monday that the idea that migrants can be housed in a humane way on Libyan soil “is simply impossible”. He underlined the unsafe situation of Libyan State, and added that it’s impossible now, to “think that Libya can be considered part of the solution”. The EU has so far trained about 90 people to work in the Libyan Coast Guard and Italy has promised to give them 10 patrol boats. Thus the solution to fight against human traffic in Libya revealed itself all the problem of Libyan chaos.
New wave of violences in the conflict between Benghazi and the LNA (Libyan National Army). The warplanes of Dignity Operation, led by Khalifa Haftar, have carried out over five airstrikes on Benghazi Shura Council in the neighborhoods of Al-Sabri, Sooq Al-Hoot, and Ekhraibish, sources from the media said on Monday. Since two weeks, Dignity Operation has started warplanes attacks.
HoR (House of Representatives) did a pass toward reconciliation with the State Council, deciding to apply the LPA (Libyan Political Agreement) signed 16 month ago at Skhirat (Morocco). However, to implement it, HoR has imposed 6 points: 1. No foreign bodies (such as UNSMIL) to have any say on who takes part in discussions between the HoR and the State Council to amend the LPA, and the discussions must take place on Libyan soil; 2. The Presidency Council to consist of three people – a head and two deputies which will appoint a separate prime minister; 3. The prime minister to from a government to be submitted to the HoR for approval; 4. The State Council to consist of those elected to the General National Congress (GNC) on 7 July 2012; 5. Additional Article 8 (which calls for all powers of senior civil and military posts to be transferred to the Presidency Council) to be removed from LPA; 6. The Libyan National Army under the command of Field Marshal Khlifa Hafter and instituted by the HoR to be recognised as the sole legitimate armed force. If these conditions are respected, HoR declared the possibility to renew the dialogue between Libyan forces.
Italy try to impose itself as peace-maker in Libya. Several representatives of the tribes living in the south of Libya signed a peace agreement after over three days of secret negotiations in the Italian Interior Ministry. The meeting was attended over 60 clan leader including the head of the largest Tuareg tribe in the Libyan region of Fezzan as well as Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Omar Maiteeq of Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). The agreement previous the end of hostilities in the area, but also the control of migrations.
New allegation of violences from East Libyan Army. Starving residents of a besieged neighbourhood in the eastern city of Benghazi were killed by members of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) as they tried to flee aboard a bus to find food last month, relatives of the victims have told Middle East Eye. Around 25 peoples had been killed during those exactions. The Human Right Watch, asked General Haftar to fulfil investigations.
The situation in Libyan together with the potential return of the Polish embassy and of Polish oil, construction and other companies were among the main subjects of discussion in talks in Warsaw on Thusday and Friday between the Presidency Council’s foreign affairs minister and the Polish government. It was the first time since the revolution in 2011 that a Libyan official went in Poland. Warsaw has recalled its willingness to see the Libyan stability soon, for the Libyan people but also to increase their bilateral relation.
A delegation of Libyan tribal leaders and women leaders has called on the UN to take a balanced approach to the Libyan peace process. The delegation from the National Movement for Libya (NML) met with UN officials and U.S. government representatives while visiting New York and Washington D.C. to discuss the UN-led peace process in Libya. After have recalling the collapsing of Libyan State since 2011, they have called UN to collabaorate with Libyan tributes