Libya Security Highlights (November 21 – 27, 2022)

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

• Benghazi Security Directorate managed to dismantle a human smuggling network to Italy that includes suspects of Libyan, Sudanese and Bangladeshi nationalities. The Directorate said in a statement that after receiving information about a gang that practices fraud and defrauding expatriate workers and smuggling people to Italy, specifically by sea, with sums of money amounting to 7,000 dinars per person in exchange for their transportation, pointing out that some of them are transferred and some are defrauded.

• Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army, has confirmed that the military units of the National Army will continue their military operations against terrorists and targeting all organizations. Al-Mismari, in press statements, referred to the continuation of operations on all Libyan lands secured by the General Command of the Libyan National Army.

• The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) team said it is in Libya to verify fingerprints and facial images through Interpol databases, to arrest what it described as criminals and terrorists who are trying to hide in the flows of migrants. The Organization confirmed that the Interpol databases of fingerprints and facial images are central to the project, stressing that the project aims to increase the number of verification operations conducted by member states.

• UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it was alarmed by reports that more than 70 inmates at Mitiga Central Prison in Tripoli are on a hunger strike. “Inmates have been striking since October, protesting the prolonged arbitrary detention of many inmates, conditions of detention and ill treatment, including denial of family visits and medical care,” UNSMIL said in a statement.

• The Public Prosecution announced that it had imprisoned the financial controllers of the Libyan mission to the Czech Republic, during the period from 2011 to 2020, on charges of financial corruption. “The Public Prosecution filed a public lawsuit against the former officials in charge of controlling the financial affairs of the Libyan mission in the Czech Republic, based on a report submitted by members of the Audit Bureau, which included results that demonstrated the misconduct by two officials, a statement published by the Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
• The Nigerian Government on Tuesday evacuated 159 Nigerian irregular migrants from Libya. The Chargé D’affaires of the Nigerian Mission to Libya, Amb. Kabiru Musa, who confirmed the development in a statement in Tunis, said the exercise was carried out in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). He added that the continuous evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Libya was part of the his Government’s drive to ensure the safety of Nigerians across the world.

• The Rapid Support Forces in Sudan announced the deployment of new forces in the border triangle area between Sudan, Libya and Egypt. “The deployment of the Desert Shield forces in the border triangle area comes within the tasks of the Rapid Support Forces to tackle illegal immigration and human trafficking, combat cross-border crime and eliminate armed robbery, in addition to providing protection for the citizens,” the Sudanese News Agency quoted the commander of the border military base, Col. Othman Abdel Majeed, as saying.

• The spokesman Libyan NationalArmy, Major General Ahmed Al-Mismari, stated that the LNA forces from the Southwest Security Operations Room raided a hideout of extremist militants in the area. The raid on extremists took place in the far southwest, specifically in the south of the Qatroun region, near the Libyan-Chadian border, Al-Mismari said in a statement. Al-Mismari confirmed that the armed forces units succeeded in the operation without any losses of its members, and that a group of takfiris were eliminated and two were captured. The LNA forces also found light and medium weapons, ammunition, and two desert SUVs, he added.

• The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has accused deputy governor of the bank, Ali al-Hibri, of signing “forged” banknotes with face value of 50 Libyan Dinars. In a statement on Thursday, the CBL said the banknotes have been printed out in Russia and bares al-Hibri’s signature. It also said the banknotes “have been seized”. However, the bank did not clarify the quantity of the banknotes nor how it was seized.
• An official in theibyan Audit Bureau said, “Corruption is one of the most important causes of security tensions, and the weakness of the education and health systems,” noting that it “reinforces manifestations of injustice and affects all electoral benefits.” The delegation of the Audit Bureau, headed by the Director of the Inspection and Follow-up Office, Mustafa Al-Asmar, participated in the scientific conference entitled “Anti-Corruption to Support Stability”, which was held in Tripoli.
• Members of the Misurata seaport customs center announced that the head of the center, Colonel Khaled Arhouma Al-Dalaa, was subjected to an assassination attempt, but survived. Unidentified persons shot Arhouma while he was driving his car back to Misurata from Tripoli on Monday, when he stopped to enter a mosque to perform the Maghrib prayer, according to a statement by the members of Misrata Customs.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

• Member of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, Ahmed al-Sharkasi, warned of Abdel Hamid al-Dabiba, the outgoing head of the national unity government, describing him as a “serious danger to Libya.” “If we look at the institutional division today, we will see that those behind it are the local bodies, the House of Representatives and the Council of State, which are prolonging the crisis,” Al-Sharkasi said in a statement.
• Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias held talks on Thursday with Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, announced Greece’s Foreign Ministry. The meeting comes at the conclusion of Dendias’ visit to eastern Libya, which was marred by a diplomatic dispute with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity over the Greek top diplomat’s refusal to meet with his Libyan counterpart Najla Mangouh.

• The Libyan Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, discussed Wednesday in Benghazi with the French Ambassador to Libya, Mustafa Maharaj, the political situation in Libya and the international community’s position on it. The meeting, held at the Prime Ministry’s headquarters in Benghazi, discussed the political and economic situation, the position of the international community, the efforts of the UN mission, and the support of the UN envoy, Abdoulaye Bathili, stressing support for the Libyan dialogue and efforts to unify sovereign institutions.
• Member of the Libyan Parliament, Jibril Ohaida, confirmed that the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) operates under the control of the militias and cannot make any decision. Ohaida said in a press statement, “The militias control the decision-making process in the capital, Tripoli, which is controlled by the outgoing government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.” He explained that “it is difficult to reach an agreement with HCS, especially since it did not implement the most important clause in the previous constitutional declaration related to security arrangements.”
• The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Ali Al-Hibri, discussed with the French Ambassador to Libya, Mustafa Maharaj, the developments of the bank’s unification project, the obstacles it faces, and ways to continue the project. This came in a meeting in the city of Benghazi on Tuesday, where Al-Hibri touched on the financial and economic situation of the country in light of the recent developments locally and internationally, according to a CBL statement.
• The head of the State Council, Khaled Al-Mashri, accused Abdel Hamid Dbeibah of “trying to prevent the council from holding its session and performing its duties.” The State Council was scheduled to hold a session at the Mahari Hotel in Tripoli to review the report of the committee for selecting sovereign positions, and to discuss the mechanism of unifying the executive authority, but a military force prevented members from entering the meeting room to hold the session.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the importance of cooperation between the two countries to solve the Libyan crisis and the issue of illegal immigration. According to a statement issued by the Italian Prime Ministry, the agreement came between the two parties on several files, following Meloni’s meeting with the Turkish president on the sidelines of the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Wednesday. The two sides stressed the importance of joint action in order to facilitate a solution to the Libyan and illegal immigration crises.
• Greece is open to discussing the issue of the Turkey-Libya maritime borders deal with a newly elected Libyan government, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told reporters in Benghazi. Dendias explained that the reason Greece wants to the discuss the deal a Libyan government that “will emerge from the elections” so that this government “represents the real will of the Libyan people.”
• The Minister of Economy and Trade in the Interim Government of National Unity, Mohamad al-Hawij, signed an agreement with the Tunisian Minister of Trade, Fadila Ben Hamza, which includes the establishment of a joint free economic zone at the Ras Jadir crossing, according to a statement by the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. The agreement also includes lifting restrictions on the citizens of the two countries, in addition to cooperation and trade exchange, and facilitating procedures for the entry of goods of foreign origin into Libya through Tunisian ports.

• A United Nations delegation, led by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Libya, traveled to Sebha Monday to meet with southern government officials, tribal notables, academics, community-based organizations, women and youth, according to UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). The trip builds on SRSG Abdoulaye Bathily’s efforts, in his first month in Libya, to listen to people from across the country about how the UN can best support a Libyan-led solution to the political stalemate. The SRSG, who is also the head of UNSMIL, visited Benghazi and Sirte in October, UNSMIL said in a statement.
• Refugee camps, similar to the ones in Turkey, could also be in Libya and other countries where migrants leave for European shores, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the press. This was reported by Italian news agency Nova, which also stated that Tajani is “in favor” of strengthening the 2017 memorandum of understanding signed with Libya on the fight against illegal migration, human trafficking, smuggling and the strengthening of border security signed. Tajani reportedly said that he “talked at length on the subject” with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush during a telephone conversation last Monday, 7 November.