By NJ Ayuk, African Energy Chamber Sometimes it is easy to forget how interconnected human lives across the globe have become. Perhaps we no longer talk as much about globalization as we used to in the 1990s because it is no longer an issue to be discussed or protested against,…
Ghassan Salamé, head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), announced on Monday that he’s quitting the position. “For two years, I sought to reunite the Libyans, curb the interference of the outside, and preserve the unity of the country,” he said in a public Twitter message. “My health…
Social media giant Facebook says it has removed a network of accounts based in Egypt that targeted countries across North Africa and the Middle East with inauthentic political messages, including some of the same groups it took offline in August and October 2019. “Although the people behind this activity attempted…
Italy has agreed to accept nearly 300 Mediterranean Sea migrants stranded aboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship, but the country’s interior minister says they have to go in quarantine along with the ship’s crew as the country deals with a large cluster of deadly coronavirus cases. The ship operated by…
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