Libya - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Legitimacy crisis for Libya’s political institutions

LIBYAN protesters want the political authorities to quit and hold elections after previous transitional periods created institutions that clung on long after their mandates expired. Here are Libya's main political institutions that have so far failed to overcome entrenched differences between rival authorities in the east and west of the country, a divide that emerged after the 2011 toppling of autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Libya's House of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a transition to a new constitution prepared by another elected body. But the legitimacy of the…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Libya talks in Geneva end without breakthrough

NEWS

LIBYAN legislative leaders quit talks in Geneva on a constitution and elections without reaching a deal, pausing diplomacy to resolve a standoff that has imperilled a two-year peace process. The talks between the House of Representatives and High State Council legislative bodies were aimed at agreeing on a constitutional basis and interim arrangements for elections that were originally scheduled for December 2021. Many Libyans fear that a failure to set a path to elections and resolve an existing dispute about control of an interim government will thrust the country back towards territorial division or conflict. Since the planned December election…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: Shell eyes return to Libya with oil, gas, solar investments

NEWS

RON BOUSSO ROYAL Dutch Shell is considering a return to Libya with a plan to develop new oil and gas fields and infrastructure, as well as a solar project, two sources said, a decade after exiting the North African country because of unrest. The plan, details of which were seen by Reuters, marks a rare new oil and gas foray by the energy major as it seeks to cut fossil fuel investment and slash greenhouse gas emissions. In that strategy, Shell still needs some new projects to maintain output as reserves in existing oil and gas fields have rapidly fallen…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya’s moment of danger in push for peace

NEWS

ANGUS McDOWALL LYBIA’S best chance of peace in years is at risk of unravelling as factions tussle over looming national elections that were envisaged as a way to end a decade of chaotic division. As a cast of factional leaders position themselves for a presidential run, many Libyans are bracing for a return to violence whether the vote goes ahead as planned on December 24 or not. Already, the eastern commander Khalifa Haftar has paved the way for a campaign by handing his duties to an acolyte, while Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former dictator, has indicated he…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya frees son of Muammar Gaddafi

NEWS

LIBYAN authorities have released Saadi Gaddafi, a son of the former leader Muammar Gaddafi who was ousted and killed during a 2011 uprising, a Libyan official source and a unity government source has said. Saadi Gaddafi fled for Niger during the NATO-backed uprising, but was extradited to Libya in 2014 and has been imprisoned since then in Tripoli. He immediately departed on a plane to Istanbul, the official source said. Libya has suffered chaos, division and violence in the decade since the uprising. The Government of National Unity was installed in March as part of a peace push that was…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya safe house offered haven for migrants

NEWS

HALIMA William crossed the desert from Nigeria to Libya hoping to reach Europe for a better life but was forced into prostitution until she was able to escape and find refuge in a rare safe house. The story of William, 23, and her husband Mark, 27, who also faced detention and abuse, show the risks facing ever-growing numbers of migrants seeking what they hope will be safety and prosperity in the West. Though they were reunited by chance at the safe house in the town of Bani Walid, where they have been able to find a semblance of security for…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya headed back to ‘square one’

NEWS

AYMAN AL-WERFALI LIBYA will return to "square one" and the turmoil of 2011 if national elections planned for December are delayed, the speaker of parliament said, with a new rival government likely to set itself up in the east. The elections are seen in the West as a critical step in efforts to bring stability to Libya, which has been in chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. Libya, a major oil and gas producer, was divided in 2014 between an internationally recognised government in the west and a rival administration in the east that established its own…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya imposes two-week curfew

COVID-19

LIBYA’S Government of National Unity has announced a two-week curfew in some local councils where there is a rise in COVID-19 infection cases. The curfew, which will take effect as of July 27, will be imposed in some selected municipalities in the western and central regions of the country. The government said the curfew will be from 6 pm to 6 am, and all commercial activities will be closed except for institutions that provide public, security, and medical services.

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya fails to stop migrant detention abuses, as EU-backed returns soar

HUMAN RIGHTS

SARA CRETA ZINTAN, LibyaThe EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard has intercepted more than 13,000 asylum seekers and migrants at sea this year, preventing them from reaching Europe – already a greater number than in all of 2020. Those intercepted are returned to Libya and sent to detention centres where a well-documented cycle of extortion, torture, gender-based violence, and trafficking has been taking place for years. At the same time, the EU is facing intensifying scrutiny over its hand in the system due to its support for the Libyan Coast Guard – including the use of its aerial surveillance assets to coordinate interceptions and returns to…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Difficult’ Libya talks aimed at preparing elections miss deadline

NEWS

U.N.-backed talks aimed at paving the way for elections in Libya in December missed a deadline and extended into a fifth day on Friday with delegates struggling to agree. The meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum near Geneva was due to establish the constitutional basis for presidential and parliamentary elections by July 1. But delegates and U.N. officials said they could not agree among themselves on several proposals circulating, prompting organisers to extend the talks originally planned to last four days. The elections would be a key part of international efforts to bring stability to Libya, which has been…