NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, January 16, that 119 illegal migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya last week. “From Jan. 7 to 13, 2024, 119 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya,” IOM said in a statement. The rescued migrants include four women, IOM said, adding that two dead bodies of illegal migrants were also retrieved.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- A delegation from the Ministry of Justice of the Government of National Unity will soon travel to Beirut to meet with Lebanese counterparts and the committee overseeing the case of Hannibal Gaddafi, fourth son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, detained in Lebanon in precautionary custody since his arrest in December 2015.
-
UN envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily has discussed the political, economic and security situation with the ambassadors of Egypt, France, Netherlands, Tunisia, Germany, Russia, and the European Union. Bathily said he met with Ambassador Tamer Mostafa of Egypt on Tuesday, where they reviewed current political, security and economic developments in Libya. “I stressed the need for all regional and international partners to engage positively for a political settlement paving the way for elections.”
- Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Unity announced on Tuesday, January 16, the opening of the Japanese embassy in Tripoli, which had been closed since 2014. The director of the Asia and Australia department at the ministry, Nouri Al-Kasih, received the Japanese Chargé d’Affaires Masaki Amadera, according to a statement issued by the Ministry.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
-
The British Ambassador to Libya, Martin Longden, stressed the necessity of cooperating with the international community to resolve the Libyan issue in order to preserve the unity of Libya and ensure its stability. These remarks came in a meeting between Longden and the Deputy Head of the Presidential Council, Mossa Al-Koni, on Thursday, as Longden stressed the British government’s support for the efforts of the Presidential Council that aim to achieve stability in Libya by discussing the latest developments, and working with the Presidential Council to end the political impasse.
- The President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, received the Prime Minister of the interim Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. The two parties discussed ways to break the political deadlock and control public spending, according to a statement by the Presidential Council’s media office. The media office said that the Menfi-Dbeibah meeting “addressed solutions for the political process stalemate, and explored joint ideas to ensure the Libyan people’s right to determine their destiny directly.” The meeting also “touched on texts of the political agreement regarding controlling public spending and state revenues, through financial arrangements prepared by the joint financial committee,” the statement added.
- Head of the High Council of State (HCS), Mohamed Takala, met with the Dutch Ambassador to Libya, Joost Klarenbeek, at the Council’s headquarters in Tripoli. Takala welcomed the ambassador on his first visit to the Council, and praised the positive role played by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in supporting peace and stability in Libya, looking forward to more joint cooperation and developing bilateral relations in various fields to serve the common interests between the two countries.
