Libya’s GNA backs out of Geneva talks after Tripoli port bombing

Libya’s GNA backs out of Geneva talks after Tripoli port bombing

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has suspended participation in the Geneva negotiations on military issues, one of three national dialogue tracks established following the Berlin Conference on the conflict in January. GNA President Fayez Al-Sarraj said the decision followed the bombing of Tripoli’s port on Tuesday by the Libyan…

UN says LNA strikes near Tripoli target civilians

Another bombing on the outskirts of Tripoli  – impacting civilians for the fourth time this week – drew a fresh appeal from the United Nations representative in Libya for their protection. The Institute of Applied Engineering, located near hundreds of people sheltered in the Al-Nasser Migrants Center in Al-Zawiya, was…

Salamé warns that Libya crisis could drive regional chaos

The special envoy to Libya painted a dire portrait for the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, warning of two potentially deadly outcomes if Libya fails to abandon the “chimera” that is a military solution. Ghassan Salamé told the council that one path leads to “continued fratricide amongst the Libyans”…

Libya’s GNA objects to Salamé report to UN Security Council

Libyan leader Fayez Al-Sarraj, head of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, has summoned United Nations envoy Ghassan Salame in order to register disapproval about what the GNA says is “misinformation” provided to the U.N. Security Council on the situation there. At the same time, the Libyan…

Fighting intensifies in Libya as LNA refuses to halt advances

There is still time to avoid “a dramatic, bloody battle for Tripoli,” the United Nations Secretary General said late Wednesday, but there’s little optimism that will be the case amid intensifying clashes. Abdel Salam al-Hassi, the commander of Libyan National Army (LNA) forces led by Khalifa Haftar, told Asharq Al-Awsat on…

Haftar orders LNA forces to move into Tripoli

It’s been five days since Khalifa Haftar, head of the Libyan National Army, vowed that the chaotic nation’s political crisis would come to an end in the next two weeks – comments he made to Al Arabiya news, with the promise of a national unity government. On Thursday, Haftar gave…