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…
As progress on a Libyan ceasefire inches forward, experts warn of a new challenge: land mines. An international meeting on mine action wraps up today in Geneva, and one of the renewed concerns is the recontamination with unexploded ordnance (UXO) on land in and around Tripoli since the April 2019…
The United Nations mission in Libya says continued violations of the arms embargo threaten any progress made in securing peace between the factions fighting for control of the nation. “The 12 January truce agreed by the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA), which led to…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, host of Sunday’s international conference on Libya in Berlin, said all parties have agreed to honor an oft-violated arms embargo as the parties move forward in a new framework for peace. Both Government of National Accord leader Fayez al-Sarraj and rival Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan…
Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Khalifa Haftar returned to Benghazi late Monday, after eight hours of negotiations with Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez Al-Sarraj in Moscow that failed to deliver on a ceasefire agreement. The Al-Arabiya news outlet reports that “clashes renewed in Salah al-Din, south of the…
The Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya said it welcomes a ceasefire agreement presented Saturday by the Libyan National Army (LNA) after days of diplomatic efforts to get the warring sides to return to negotiations interrupted in April by an LNA offensive on Tripoli. LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmed…
Libyan leader Khalifa Haftar has rejected a call from Russia and Turkey to implement a ceasefire beginning Sunday, and said the Libyan National Army will continue its offensive against Tripoli and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based there. Haftar made his announcement through a LNA spokesman late…
Ghassan Salamé, head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), had a stern warning Monday for other nations backing the warring parties in Libya, one he delivered after a closed-door session with the United Nations Security Council. “Keep your hands off Libya,” he said, when asked for his message…
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…
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted talks with Fayez Al-Sarraj of Libya on Sunday in Istanbul, as the two strengthened their security commitments in the face of both a renewed offensive on Tripoli at home and heightened tensions over the Eastern Mediterranean within the international community. Sarraj, the head of the…
Libyan military leader Gen. Khalifa Haftar announced on Thursday that “Zero Hour” has come for Tripoli, heralding an intense offensive to take the city in a message similar to the one used in April when renewed fighting there first began. Haftar, head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), made the…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Another 10 people have died in an airstrike in Libya, with the news coming as the United Nations Security Council heard testimony Monday from Ghassan Salamé, head of the UNSMIL mission, who warned of intensifying violence and “a race against time to reach a peaceful solution.” Salamé said the attack…
Embattled President Evo Morales has stepped down in Bolivia, where the dramatic developments since the country’s October 20 election have implications for the wider Global South – among them Africans concerned about the competing narratives emerging from the small but resource-rich nation. “The coup plotters who raided my house and…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Turkey’s ambassador to Tunisia has denied reports that extremist fighters from Syria are being transferred to Libya, a claim that has circulated in Libyan news outlets aligned with General Khalifa Haftar and the Libyan National Army (LNA) based in the country’s east. The new ambassador in Tunis, Refik Ali Onaner,…
Four African nations have been newly elected to the United Nations Humans Rights Council – among them a few that are raising eyebrows – and they’ll replace four outgoing nations beginning in 2020. Libya, Mauritania, Namibia and Sudan are the new nations, according to a UN statement that followed Thursday’s…