NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- Libya is participating in a regional conference aimed at securing the borders between Libya and other countries in the African Sahel region. The conference, sponsored by the European Union, is being held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and focuses on enhancing cooperation between border authorities in the region and Libya to combat terrorism and organized crime. The two-day conference is being attended by representatives from Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Libya. The aim of the conference is to help Sahel countries develop more effective approaches to border management and combat terrorism and organized crime. The European Union is sponsoring the conference “as part of its efforts to support stability and security in the region.”
- The European Union’s naval Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI, responsible for enforcing the UN arms embargo in Libya, has released its monthly report for April, revealing that Turkey has refused to allow the boarding and inspection of suspicious ships on ten occasions, the latest being on March 29, 2023. The operation seized three shipments in violation of the UN arms embargo and redirected the ships to a port in an EU member state. IRINI also investigated 9,361 commercial ships through radio requests and visited 470 ships with the approval of their leaders. Additionally, the operation investigated 1,153 suspicious flights, 25 airports, and 16 ports, providing 41 special reports to the UN expert team on Libya, most of which indicated violations or potential violations of the embargo on arms and oil smuggling in the west and east of the country.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- The President of the Libyan Presidential Council (LPC) Mohamed al-Manfi has received the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, according PC media. The meeting focused on the progress made in the basic files to reach the elections during the year 2023, and discussed ways to support the 6+6 committee to fulfill its responsibilities regarding electoral laws as soon as possible.
- The Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, received Jalal al-Shuwaidi, HoR member and Chairman of the Joint Committee for the Preparation of Electoral Laws (6+6), representing the House. Saleh, during the meeting in his office in the city of Qubba, was briefed on all the developments discussed by the joint committee and on the latest understandings reached, HoR Speaker Media Office said in a statement.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Libyan Foreign Minister Najlaa Mangoush arrived in Doha where she met with her Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. According to a statement by the Libyan foreign ministry, the two diplomats discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, coordination and support for Arab efforts aimed at a final ceasefire in Sudan
- A delegation from the Tripoli-based Libyan Government of National Unity attended the inauguration of the BlueMed submarine cable in Palermo, Italy, linking communications between the European and African continents. The delegation was headed by the Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid Al-Lafi, representing the government, along with the chairman and several members of the board of directors of the Libyan Post, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Holding Company (LPTIC).
- Khaled Shakshak, the head of Libya’s Audit Bureau, met with a delegation from the US Agency for International Development to discuss ways to improve efficiency in auditing, particularly in the oversight of extractive industries and investment. The meeting, which took place on Wednesday evening, included discussions on plans for developing the Audit Bureau through a partnership with the US agency.
- The Libyan government of Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha, appointed by the House of Representatives, signed agreements with several international companies to implement infrastructure reconstruction projects in Libya. The projects will focus on areas such as roads, transportation, hospitals, and other infrastructure across the country.
