Libya Security Highlights (February 15-21, 2021)

Feb. 15, PM Al-Sarraj hospitalized in Rome after giving full powers to deputy Maetig.

UN confidential report says US contractor “Blackwater” head Erik Prince violated UN arms embargo in Libya, tried to topple Government of National Accord twice in 2019 by aiding Haftar.

Libyan MPs gathered in Sabratha vote to hold plenary session Feb. 22, replace Speaker Saleh.

Feb. 18, Libyan singer Ramadan Salem Bil-Raheem kidnapped in Tripoli after performing at 17 February Revolution anniversary event.

Feb. 19, UNSMIL head Ján Kubiš meets General Haftar in Benghazi with 5 + 5 Military Joint Committee delegation.

Feb. 21, GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha escapes alleged attack in Janzour district.

TRIPOLI

• Feb. 21, GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha escaped an attack on the road to the Janzour district, just outside the center of Tripoli, around 15:00 LT, when an armed Toyota-type car, with four armed men entered the Minister’s procession and opened fire. Bashagha security personnel opened fire on the attackers, killing one, wounding another and arresting the other two, while a guard of Bashagha’s was injured;

• Feb. 20, UNSMIL head Ján Kubiš met NOC Chairman, Mustafa Sanalla, reiterating the mission’s support for NOC’s efforts to support Libya’s economy, and praised the NOC’s commitment to the “principle of transparency”, saying NOC strengthened its position, domestically and internationally, as a neutral technocratic institution working for the benefit of all Libyans;
• Feb. 20, Presidential Council chairman, Menfi met in Tripoli with GNA Chief of Staff, Gen. Muhammad Al-Haddad, to assess how to unify the military establishment in the country, in compliance with the directions of the Joint Military Committee (JMC) 5+5;
• prime minister-elect, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, left for Tripoli after visiting Tobruk Feb. 19, without going to Benghazi to meet Haftar, contrary to previous expectations of local media. It is believed that the meeting between Dabaiba and Haftar was skipped to avoid irritating the political components of the city of Misrata opposed to dialogue with Haftar;
• Feb. 18, the Head of the UN Support Mission (UNSMIL), Jan Kubiš, stressed to the newly elected Head of the Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi, his support for the fact that House of Representatives convenes and endorses the Presidential Council as well as the Government of National Unity once it is formed. These remarks came as Menfi and the Presidential Council’s deputy head, Abdullah Al-Lafi, met in Tripoli with Kubiš and the special coordinator of the UNSMIL, Raisedon Zenenga, as well as the humanitarian coordinator of the UNSMIL, Georgette Gagnon;

• Feb. 18, Libyan singer Ramadan Salem Bil-Raheem, known by his stage name of ‘Maniglesias’ was kidnapped in Tripoli by an unidentified armed group. According to local sources, the singer was taken hours after he participated in the 17 February Revolution’s 10th anniversary celebrations last night. The kidnapping of Salem has sparked widespread outrage on social media, with demands for his immediate release, and calls to end abductions;

• Feb. 17, PM Al-Sarraj, on the 10th anniversary of the revolution, said that during his tenure, he worked to reach out to the various parties involved in the crisis to end the conflict and division, avoiding bloodshed and ensuring the safety of citizens;
• Feb. 17, UNSMIL head, Ján Kubiš, met with Fayez al-Sarraj, in Tripoli. The meeting discussed the developments of the three most important “traces” for the solution of the crisis in the country: the military, the political and the economic. The parties agreed on the importance of adhering to the decisions of the political dialogue forum and the results of the Berlin conference;
• Feb. 16, the press office of president-elect Menfi began today his first visit to Tripoli after being elected Feb. 5. The president had concluded a tour of the eastern region, which began on Thursday, February 11 in Benghazi, then Tobruk, and Beida. Among the exponents whom Menfi met in those days primarily are Marshal Haftar and Speaker Aguila Saleh, as well as numerous members of parliament and tribal sheikhs.

BENGHAZI

• Feb. 19, UNSMIL head Ján Kubiš met General Haftar in Benghazi in the presence of a delegation representing Haftar in the 5 + 5 Military Joint Committee. The parties agreed on the importance of the commitment of all parties for the proper conduct of the next elections . Kubiš and Haftar also discussed the complete withdrawal of all foreign and mercenary force;

TOBRUK

• Feb. 20, Presidential Council vice-chairman, Ahmed Maetig met HoR Speaker, Aguila Saleh in Tobruk as part of Saleh’s work on approving a unified budget for 2021 so as to end financial division;

WESTERN LIBYA

• Feb. 20, Presidential Council vice-chairman-elect, Abdullah Al-Lafi, stressed the importance of social reconciliation amongst all Libyans after visiting western Libyan cities, including Zwara, Zolton, Regdalin, Al-Jmail, Al-Ajelat, and Abu Kammash. During his visits, he met mayors, officials, sheikhs, and notables in addition to MPs from those regions;

ZAWIYAH

• Feb. 20, the Libyan Civil Society Commission in Brak town said that the Coronavirus pandemic had invaded the Zawiyah village and spread across many homes, warning that the area might turn into “another Wuhan”;

SOUK AL JUM’AA

• Feb. 20, the Libyan Coast Guards rescued 210 illegal migrants, after their boat sank off the Libyan coast of Souk al Jum’aa.

SABRATHA

• the Libyan MPs gathered in Sabratha decided to hold a plenary session on Monday, Feb. 22, in a new attempt to replace the president of parliament, Aguila Saleh. The Sabratha session, which took place with a quorum of over 100 deputies, agreed to remove Saleh and elect a new president from Fezzan. Meanwhile, MP Abu Bakr Baira confirmed that the next session of parliament will be held in Sirte;

• Feb. 16, the group of parlamentarians from the Libyan House of Representatives who met in Sabrata decided to elect a new parliament speaker, demanding the resignation of the current speaker, Aguila Saleh;
• A source close to parliament members attending the session in Sabratha said on 15 February that only 90 MPs had arrived in Sabratha , while another group of members is expected to join the group soon. Members of the so-called Ghadames Group of the House of Representatives (HoR) were planning to hold a consultative meeting in Sabratha to discuss the venue and agenda of the official session set to take place upon the formation of the national unity government during the coming days to give it the confidence vote. The source said that the session was postponed to allow more members to join their colleagues, especially since many of them expressed their desire to attend.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• Feb. 21, the (PC) Presidential Council Member, Mohammed Amari Zayed met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the British Embassy to Libya, Fleur Wilson, to discuss strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries in many fields. During the meeting, which was held at the PC’s HQ, the two sides also discussed the latest Libyan political developments, in addition to ways to support the outcomes of the Libyan dialogue and the roadmap leading to the elections on December 24, 2021;
• Feb. 21, Greek naval personnel conducted searches on two commercial ships whilst heading to Libya over the past two days, within the auspices of Operation IRINI. Operation IRINI published photographs of the inspections and verification of the cargo of both vessels, confirming that the search was carried out smoothly and without difficulty;

• a UN confidential report said US contractor “Blackwater” founder and former head, Erik Prince violated UN arms embargo in Libya and tried to topple the Government of National Accord twice in 2019, by deploying foreign mercenaries armed with attack aircraft, gunboats and cyberwarfare capabilities, to eastern Libya supporting Khalifa Haftar’s 2019 offensive on Tripoli;

• the International Organization for Migration confirmed there still are more than 278,000 internally-displaced people in Libya, notwithstanding the ceasefire. Up until December 1, more than 37,000 internally-displaced Libyans had been returned to their places of origin, pointing out that there still exists an enormous challenge in relation to the very limited access to basic services for the majority of them;
• Feb. 19, the director of the National Security Council for the Middle East and North Africa, Barbara Leaf, met with the Libyan ambassador to the United States, Wafa Bugaighis. The parties discussed US support for the political process in Libya and for the National High Electoral Commission (HNEC);
• the president-designate of the Presidential Council, Muhammad Al-Menfi, received the Italian ambassador to Libya, Giuseppe Buccino, in a meeting held in Tripoli, to discuss relations between the two countries. The meeting analyzed the means of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, reaffirming that the next Libyan government will be a government for all Libyans;
• Feb. 18, the new Italian envoy to Libya, Pasquale Ferrara, met in Rome with the Libyan ambassador to Italy, Omar Tarhouni. The Libyan embassy in Italy affirmed in a statement that the meeting discussed cooperation between the two countries and drafts of memoranda of understanding including agreements on exchange of convicts, customs, and combating illegal immigration;
• Feb. 18, the head of the European Union (EU) Military Committee, Claudio Graziano, stated that Ankara and Moscow are working outside the framework of international relations in Libya, saying that “the Libyan scenario raises many concerns”. “The EU missed the opportunity to be more present in Libya, and Rome was unable to steer the course of the Libyan crisis towards its interests”, Graziano added in a statement to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. He also added that the only concrete mission that the EU presented to Libya is Operation IRINI;

• Feb. 18, in a phone called with newly elected presidential council members, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated the call for all foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya to depart the country immediately. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated that Guterres spoke with both the newly elected head of presidency council Mohamed Al-Menfi and prime minister Abdul Hamid Debaiba;
• Feb. 16, the Kuwaiti Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, confirmed his country’s support for the new government of national unity to achieve stability in Libya. This took place during a phone call with Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Debaiba, during which developments in the political situation in Libya after the election of the executive authority were discussed;
• Feb. 16, Turkey confirmed that its military presence in Libya will continue pending approval by the Libyan government and in light of the 2019 bilateral military agreement;
• Feb. 15, an Egyptian diplomatic delegation arrived in Tripoli on a formal visit, with the aim of assessing bilateral relations and the reopening of Cairo’s embassy in Tripoli;
• Feb. 15, it was reported that PM Al-Sarraj was in Italy, hospitalized for medical treatment. Before leaving Tripoli for Rome, where he was due to undergo a lengthy surgery, Sarraj had signed a decree to give full powers to his deputy Ahmed Maetig.