May 15, 35 Volcano of Rage Operation POWs swapped for as many captured Haftar militiamen.
May 15, US State Department announces ambassador Norland to act as special envoy to Libya.
May 15, locals in Hun, Sukna clash with Haftar’s Janjaweed mercenaries.
TRIPOLI
- May 16, the Libyan Coast Guard foiled two separate attempts by nearly 200 migrants on Friday to reach European shores by rubber dinghies. In both cases, the rescued migrants were disembarked at the Tripoli Naval Base landing point, prior to being transferred to the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency;
- May 15, several prisoners from the Volcano of Rage Operation have been swapped for fighters from Haftar’s militias, the Presidential Council (PC) confirmed. The prisoners-swap deal included 35 detainees from both sides, who have been captured on the battlefield during the aggression on Tripoli, the PC explained in a statement Tuesday;
- May 10, the Head of the Libyan Audit Bureau, Khalid Shakshak has called on the Presidential Council to withdraw the appointment of Hussein Al-Ayeb as the Chief of Libyan Intelligence over his alleged involvement in defrauding the Libyan state when he was the Board Director of the International Company for Development and Investment in Libya. The alleged fraud included giving contracts worth over LYD 800 m to the Turkish Cengiz construction company aiming to gain personal benefits from the contract;
KUFRA
- May 11, Libya’s Minister of Migration in the Government of National Unity (GNU), Ajdid Maatouk stressed the need to support border guards in preventing smuggling operations. During a meeting held at the Kufra municipal council hall, the minister discussed the most prominent problems and difficulties facing the fight against illegal migration, according to a statement by the municipality.;
WADI AL-BAWANIS
- May 15, the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), chose the Wadi Al-Bawanis region in southern Libya to be the permanent headquarters of its Deputy Prime Minister, Ramadan Boujenah, who recently visited Wadi Al-Bawanis, accompanied by its Mayor and a number of members of the Municipal Council, plus the Mayor of Sebha Municipality;
SIRTE
- May 10, the Minister of State for Displaced People Affairs and Human Rights at the Government of National Unity (GNU), Ahmed Faraj Al-Mahjoub held a meeting with Head of the elected municipal council of Sirte, Mukhtar Al-Maadani. They discussed the issues facing displaced people from the city of Sirte, both inside and outside of Libya;
HUN – SUKNA
- May 15, residents in Hun and Sukna regions clashed with Janjaweed mercenaries affiliated with Haftar. The clashes were triggered when the Janjaweed encroached on private lands and farms in the Hun and Sokna regions. Brigades and militias belonging to Haftar have been dispatched to the area in an attempt to end the clashes and defuse the tension, according to spokesman for the Sirte-Jufra Military Operations Room, ‘Abd al-Hadi Darah;
ZAWIYA
- May 10, Libyan coastguards rescued 291 illegal immigrants of different nationalities as they were making a perilous journey to Europe on a dinghy off Al-Zawiya shores after receiving a distress call from north of the city. The Libyan Coast Guard said in a statement that the rescued immigrants were disembarked at Tripoli Naval Base and then transferred to the anti-illegal immigration authority for further procedures that will include repatriation to their home countries;
REOPENING OF THE COASTAL ROAD
- Chairman of the Defense and National Security Committee at the Libyan Parliament, Talal Al-Mihoub confirmed on Tuesday, that those obstructing the work of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) are the militias that control western Libya;
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- May 16, the Sudanese and Chadian governments held discussions on arrangements for the disarm of their militias located on Libyan territory, following relative stability and the formation of a national government, along with the arrangements for these militias to reintegrate back to their respective countries. These talks came during a meeting held by Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mariam Al-Mahdi in Khartoum with Abdel Karim Idris, the envoy of the Chadian Transitional Military Council;
- May 16, Libya renewed its demand to Malta for the return of in excess of EUR 80 m of frozen bank deposits, sitting in Maltese banks, all being held in the name of the Gaddafi family, including a number of his old regime’s officials. FM Al-Mangoush called on the Maltese Foreign Minister, Evarist Bartolo, to intervene and force Valletta Bank to release the frozen assets as a mark of goodwill, following ten years of attempting to restore it to Libya;
- May 15, UNSG Guterres said foreign fighters and mercenaries remain in Libya despite the commitments made by the concerned parties in this regard. The UN chief confirmed that the UN Support Mission in Libya had received reports of fortifications and defensive positions being set up along the Sirte-Jufra axis, while air cargo activities reportedly continued with flights to various air bases in Libya in breach of the ceasefire agreement signed last year;
- May 15, the US State Department announced that its ambassador, Richard Norland, will also act as a special envoy to Libya in addition to his task as head of the diplomatic mission there. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement published by the ministry that Norland, through his role as a special envoy to the United States, will lead the US diplomatic efforts to enhance international support for a Libyan-led, inclusive, and negotiated political solution to the conflict facilitated through the UN;
- May 14, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, António Guterres, said that Libya has not witnessed a reduction in foreign fighters or of their activities in the North African country. In a report submitted this week to the Security Council, Guterres said, that “while the ceasefire agreement continued to hold, the United Nations Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) received reports of fortifications and defensive positions being set up along the Sirte-Jufra axis in central Libya, as well as of the continued presence of foreign elements and assets”;
- May 14, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with the Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Dabaiba, during which they discussed the latest regional developments. The two leaders exchanged congratulations on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, and stressed the need to strengthen bilateral relations. President Erdogan affirmed his keenness to continue providing support to the political process in Libya;
- May 13, UNSG Guterres announced he had discussed several major and regional issues with Russian President, Vladimir Putin including the Libyan crisis. Speaking at the University of International Relations in Moscow, he said: “We discussed the issues of Syria, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan, and how the United Nations and Russia can work together to solve crises and support the population more effectively, and create conditions to restore stability”;
- May 13, UNSMIL chief Jan Kubis visited the headquarters of the EU’s Operation IRINI, during a visit to Rome. The Special Envoy was briefed by Admiral Fabio Agostini on the implementation of the arms embargo, and Kubis stressed the importance of creating conditions for stabilization in Libya, and the wider southern Mediterranean region;
- May 13, the National Commission for Human Rights in Libya (NCHRL) welcomed the release of 78 prisoners of war on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr. The NCHRL stressed the importance of such steps in supporting efforts to bring peace, and comprehensive national and social reconciliation in Libya. It called on all parties to release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, and to shed light on all “forcibly disappeared persons”;
- May 13, Italian radar site ‘ItaMilRadar’, which is specialised in monitoring military aircraft, reported that a Turkish military cargo aircraft landed in western Libya on Thursday. The website stated that the plane set off from Kayseri Erkilet base to Ankara airport, before entering Libyan airspace. Turkey is believed to control a number of military bases in western Libya, the most famous of which is the Al-Watiya airbase. Ankara had also recruited more than 18,000 Syrian mercenaries, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR);
- May 12, Italian FM Luigi Di Maio said that there was very discouraging progress in Libya, despite the “positive developments” occurring in the weeks following the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU);
- May 12, Mohamed Al-Ra’id, Chairman of Libya’s General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Agriculture, and Industry met with the Pakistani Ambassador to Libya, Rashad Javed on Wednesday. Al-Ra’id discussed arrangements for receiving a delegation of Pakistani businessmen, in the coming days. The Pakistani delegation will hold expanded meetings with their Libyan side, in the framework of facilitating trade, and also discussed the possibility of resuming flights between the two countries;
- May 11, it was reported that Italy allegedly is set to ask the European Union (EU) to pay Libya to stop migrant boats leaving its coast. According to La Repubblica, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi may propose a similar deal to the one struck with Turkey, to halt the migrant flow from the Balkans in 2016, during an EU leaders summit (24-25 May). So far, no official confirmation has been made available;
- May 10, Head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya, Federico Soda expressed his concern about the rise in the number of departures made by migrants in Libya. “I extremely concerned about the increased departures from Libya and the continuous loss of life. The situation cannot be ignored and states must live up to their responsibilities and redeploy search and rescue vessels,” Soda said;
- Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush has arrived in Malta for talks with her Maltese counterpart, Evarist Bartolo. The main topic of discussion is over a special EU budget to deliver military aid to Libya’s Coast Guard, the Malta Today news website reported on Monday.