Libya Security Highlights (September 12 – 18, 2022)

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

• A group of 129 people rescued at sea by German charity Sea-Eye has been brought ashore in the port of Taranto in southern Italy. Three other private rescue vessels are currently in the Central Mediterranean with rescued migrants on board. According to Sea-Eye, more than half of the 129 rescuees spent 14 days at sea, the organization said on Friday, September 16. The group includes 48 unaccompanied minors.

• A group of Somali migrants attempted to break into their country’s embassy in Libya before being placed under arrest by police, according to the Libyan Interior Ministry. In a brief statement via its official Facebook page, the ministry said that officers of the General Department for the Protection of Diplomatic Missions intervened and apprehended the migrants within 15 minutes after their attempt to storm the embassy, which is located in the Janzur district of Tripoli.
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it helped 29 refugees leave Libya on flights last week, to be resettled in Canada and Europe. UNHCR urged “states to offer more safe, legal pathways to help other vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees find safety out of Libya.”

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of National Unity has confirmed its continued communication with Chad, to release four detained Libyan youths, whom have lost their way in the desert. The ministry indicated that it had formed a crisis cell working around the clock to ensure their release and return to their homeland, directing the Libyan embassy and the consulate in Chad to visit them and ensure their safety, and to provide them with consular services.

• 368 migrants were disembarked back on Libyan shores in the period from 4 to 10 September, 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). So far in 2022, 15,444 migrants have been disembarked on Libyan shores, IOM said on Wednesday, September 14. It added that 233 migrants died and 800 went missing in the period from 1 Jan to 10 September, 2022 on the Central Mediterranean route. In 2021, 32,425 migrants were disembarked on Libyan shores, while 662 died and 891 went missing, the Organization added.

• A fuel tanker exploded in a massive blast in the southern Libyan city of Sebha late on Tuesday, September 13, injuring 17 people, the health ministry said in a statement. The fire caused by the explosion was brought under control, witnesses said. The blast comes weeks after a fuel tanker blast in another southern Libya city killed several people and injured dozens.
• The Undersecretary of the Tripoli-based Interior Ministry, Bashir al Amin, held talks on Monday, September 12, with the defense representatives of the Netherlands and the European Union, announced the ministry via its official Facebook page. The talks focused on capacity-building for Libyan security forces in the field of counter-terrorism and combatting transnational organized crime.
• Seven of the nine Tunisians kidnapped in Libya in the western city of Sorman, about 100 kilometers from the border with Tunisia, have been released, announced the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights. The Head of the Tunisian NGO Mustafa Abdelkabir made the announcement via his Facebook page. He added that two individuals are still detained by the Libyan security authorities. “We will work to free them,” said Abdelkabir, thanking the Libyan side for their cooperation. According to Abdelkabir, the Tunisians were arrested by an armed group representing the Libyan state as part of routine procedures against illegal migration.

• The U.S. Ambassador and Special Envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, led his country’s diplomatic team to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack against U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi on the 11th of September 2012, according to the American embassy. Norland and the American embassy staff held a moment of silence to honor former ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty who were  killed in the attack perpetrated by the Libyan terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

• German ambassador to Libya, Michael Ohnmacht, said he had “a constructive meeting” with the outgoing Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, where they discussed the latest political developments in Libya. “I stressed the international efforts to help Libya to resume its political and electoral process – in order to achieve peace, stability and prosperity,” Omacht tweeted on Saturday, September 18.
• Libyan Parliament Speaker Aqila Saleh confirmed Thursday, September 15, that the governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and the heads of the Audit Bureau and the Administrative Control Authority have lost their legal status. Saleh added in a speech during the parliament session held in Benghazi that these institutions are no longer affiliated with the Parliament, and they receive orders from the outgoing government led by Abdul Hamid Dabaiba. The Speaker called on the High Council of State to respond to the Parliament regarding these positions and refer them to an investigation into the performance of their duties and neglect of the duties assigned to them.
• The Libyan Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, said the U.S. State Department’s Financial Transparency Report highlighted the extent of financial corruption of the outgoing government led by Abdul Hamid Dabaiba. “Undoubtedly, these practices must end, which my government will strive to achieve,” Bashagha pointed out on his official Facebook page. He added, “We will focus on applying the principles of accountability, transparency and compliance in all state institutions, working according to a budget approved by the House of Representatives (HoR).”
• German Ambassador to Libya, Michael Ohnmacht, said Wednesday, September 14, “efforts for completing a constitutional basis for Libya is ongoing,” after his meeting with the First Deputy of the House of Representatives (HoR) and the President of the High Council State (HCS). “During my meetings with the First Deputy HoR-Speaker Al-Nuwairi and with HCS President Al-Mashri, I was pleased to hear that efforts for completing a constitutional basis for Libya are ongoing – based upon the agreement reached in the Geneva & Cairo meetings,” Ohnmacht tweeted.
• Member of the Libyan Presidential Council, Abdullah Al-Lafi, valued Germany’s role and efforts to end the Libyan crisis, stressing the importance of consensus among all parties to the political process on a constitutional basis to achieve the hopes of all Libyans to reach the elections. This came during his meeting with the German ambassador to Libya, Michael Unmacht, Tuesday in Tripoli, during which they discussed the latest political developments in Libya.

• The Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, held talks on Tuesday with France’s Special Envoy to Libya, Paul Soler. According to the French Embassy in Libya, the two discussed the “importance of completing the constitutional basis and holding presidential and parliamentary elections quickly”.
• The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, has invited members of the House to attend an “official session” in the city of Benghazi on Thursday, September 15. This was announced by the spokesman of the parliament, Abdullah Blehaq, in a statement published on his Facebook page. The session follows Saleh’s three-day visit to Doha, where he met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of the Shura Council, Hassan bin Abdulla Al Ghanim, and the deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. During the visit, Saleh discussed with officials in Qatar the latest developments of the political situation in Libya, how to strengthen the cooperative relations between the two countries, as well as regional and international issues of common interest.

• The U.N. Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has discredited on Sunday a “fabricated” letter purporting to be from its acting head of mission Raisedon Zenenga. “Unfortunately, spreading fake news and disinformation in an attempt to mislead the public and rally support for various political causes has become common in Libya,” said the U.N. mission via Twitter. “The Mission warns against this and reiterates its call for all sides to avoid any incendiary actions or rhetoric that may threaten Libya’s fragile stability.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• The government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has picked Ziad Daghim, a member of parliament, to become Libya’s next ambassador to the Netherlands, according to multiple reports by Libyan press sources. Libyan press reported that Daghim will officially assume his new diplomatic role in October with monthly salary worth 12 thousand euros. The news provoked an outcry by the Libyan public on social media as it raises legal and ethical suspicions due to Daghim’s political record and history with corruption.

• Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Council, Musa Al-Koni, will represent Libya at funeral ceremony of the late British Queen Elizabeth II, reports the state-owned Libyan News Agency. Buckingham Palace announced earlier on September 8 that the Queen had passed away peacefully at the age of 96. The funeral of Britain’s longest serving monarch will take place on Monday, September 19. World leaders will attend the ceremony at the invitation of the British government.
• Libyan Parliament Speaker Aqila Saleh will visit Russia in the coming days. The visit will address common interests between Libya and Russia, Parliament Media Adviser Fathi Al-Marimi told Alwasat newspaper on Saturday, September 18. Last Sunday, Saleh visited Qatar and met with its Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, two days after a visit by Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba.
• Participants from the Libyan Government and Embassies of migrants’ countries of origin gathered in Tunis to discuss challenges and strengthen existing procedures on access to legal identity and consular services for migrants, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “3day VHR consular support workshop happening in Tunis, bringing together the Libyan Government and Embassies of migrants’ countries of origin,” IOM tweeted on Wednesday, September 14. “Participants gathered to discuss challenges and strengthen existing procedures on access to legal identity and consular services,” IOM pointed out.

• Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) Aqila Saleh reviewed with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al Thani the bilateral cooperation relations between the two countries. During the meeting in the Qatari capital Doha the two sides discussed the latest developments in Libya. Al Thani affirmed Qatar’s full support for the Libyan political process, the relevant Security Council resolutions, and all peaceful solutions that preserve Libya’s unity, stability and sovereignty.
• Libya’s outgoing prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh arrived today in the Senegalese capital Dakar, where he met with the country’s head of state and current president of the African Union, Macky Sall. “We have discussed ways to organize elections in Libya,” explained Dbeibeh in a statement to the press. “We also talked about the activation of the second session of the Libyan-Senegalese joint committee,” he added. “Senegal is an important country and has historical ties with Libya,” said the 63-year-old Libyan premier, explaining that President Sall “told us that he will support our efforts to hold elections”. It is worth mentioning that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently announced the appointment of Senegalese Abdoulaye Bathily as his Special Representative for Libya and as head of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), succeeding the Slovak. Jan Kubis, who resigned in November 2021.

• The Tripoli-based government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has agreed to assign land lots to the embassies of Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, according to state-owned media platform known as Hakometna. The area intended for diplomatic offices is located east of Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport, according to Hakometna. In particular, this involves 30 thousand square meters for Qatar and a 40 thousand square meter property in the municipality of Tajoura for the benefit of the Emirati embassy. The location details of the Turkish and U.S. embassies have not been published.