Libya Security Highlights (August 01 - 07, 2022)

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

35 migrants had to spend the night at sea, after Maltese authorities refused to save them and instead turned to Libya to intervene, humanitarian non-governmental organization Alarm Phone reported on Friday, August 5. Alarm Phone, which is a hotline to help migrants in need of rescue at sea, alerted Maltese authorities, and explained that water was getting into the boat. It also noted that there was a merchant vessel in the vicinity. Nine hours after its first alert on went unheard, the NGO said the group was still at sea and were combatting strong Northern winds. According to Alarm Phone, the Maltese authorities have now turned to the Libyan Coast Guard to intervene and save the migrants, which the NGO described as a “crime” giving that migrants intercepted by Libya are often detained in militia-run facilities where they endure abuse.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partner Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have helped rehabilitate the badly damaged homes of 50 families in Al Sabri district of Benghazi, eastern Libya, according to UNHCR. The area saw heavy fighting in 2014, forcing most of the population to flee. Now, families are returning and rebuilding their lives, UNHCR said in a statement on Saturday.

Clashes between armed groups erupted overnight in Tripoli, according to local media reports, the latest violence to hit the Libyan capital. An AFP journalist heard gunfire and explosions around 1:00 am Saturday August 6, (2300 GMT) in the city. The fighting, with light and heavy weapons, occurred in the El Jebs district in the city’s south, media reports said. Saturday’s clashes were between armed groups loyal to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, head of the unity government based in Tripoli, and others following his rival Fathi Bashagha, named in February as prime minister by the parliament. A military source told The Libya Update that forces affiliated with Major General Osama Al-Juwaili, a pro-Bashagha military commander, seized control of the headquarters of the Joint Mobile Force in Tripoli. The fighting ended when another group called the 444 Brigade intervened to mediate, according to Libyan media. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The 444^thCombat Brigade, a detachment of the (western-based) Libyan Army reported that it had made arrests of fuel smugglers and seized fuel trucks south of Shwerif, 420 km south of the capital Tripoli. The brigade, stationed in the valleys, said it clashed with armed fuel smuggling gangs in a dawn operation. The operation led to the arrest of 8 smugglers, the seizure of three fuel tankers containing 120,000 litres of (subsidised) fuel and burned a track containing 40,000 litres of fuel. The 444 said it will continue to work in the summer desert, sun and heat for the sake of citizens, the nation, the rule of law, justice and a Libya of institutions.

A European Union drone is helping Libyan forces intercept boats carrying migrants in the Mediterranean, who are then “hauled back to arbitrary detention and abuse”, according to Human Rights Watch. The drone, operated out of EU member Malta, plays a “crucial role” detecting boats leaving Libya, information that the EU’s border agency, Frontex, then hands to the Libyan coastguard, the international rights group said on Monday, August 1st. Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, said the EU had withdrawn its own vessels and installed a network of aerial assets run by private companies. It said Frontex had deployed the drone out of Malta since May 2021, and its flight patterns showed the crucial role it plays in detecting boats close to the Libyan coast.

Dozens of wounded Libyans arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to receive medical treatment for injuries sustained from fuel tanker explosion in the southern town of Bent Bayya, which took place on Monday, August 1st. The victims were transported from Benghazi to Cairo via a medically-equipped C-130 military plane of the Egyptian army, according to a statement by the spokesman of Egypt’s Armed Forces. The Egyptian army said the victims said the victims will receive care in the army’s hospital, which located in Al-Helmiya neighborhood in southeast of Cairo.

Protestors in Libya’s southern town of Bent Bayya closed entrance to the town’s municipal council on Tuesday, August 2nd. This comes in the aftermath of fuel tanker explosion that took place in the town few days, which resulted in the death of at least 8 people and more than 70 injured. To voice anger towards the council’s handling of the deadly incident, the protestors used one of the cars that were burned in the explosion to block the council’s entry gate. The Municipal Council of Bent Bayya had blamed current and past governments for the incident as well as the Brega Oil Company, which owns the exploded tanker.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed that more than 1600 illegal migrants have been trafficked between 2020 and 2022, adding that most of them are from Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. “There were more men than women among the identified victims of trafficking exploited in Libya. However, proportionately women were more at risk of exploitation based on the overall migrant gender demographics in Libya”, the IOM indicated in a report to provide an overview of trafficking in persons as reported by the victims assisted by IOM. It also explained that most common forms of exploitation identified were kidnapping for extortion, forced labour and sex trafficking.

At least 7 people died and more than 50 injured after a fuel truck exploded today in Bent Bayya, a town in southern Libya located between Sabha and Ubari, according to several reports from health officials. The incident took place during early morning hours (Monday, August 1st) when, according to eyewitnesses, a crowd of people gathered around a vehicle carrying a fuel container and began unloading fuel from it, before fire broke out. The blaze spread from the vehicle and into the container, killing and wounding dozens. The cause of fire is yet to be identified.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

The Italian Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy to Libya, Nicola Orlando, and Libya’s UN Representative, Taher Al-Sunni, have stressed the need to appoint a new UN envoy to Libya. This came during their meeting in New York, according to Orlando’s tweet on his Twitter account, Friday, August 5. The two sides considered that the appointment of a new envoy will contribute to accelerating the path towards elections, as it is the only solution to the current impasse. Orlando also renewed his country’s support for the efforts of the United Nations for the stability and unity of Libya.

Acting Head of UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Raisedon Zenenga met Friday August 5, with Foreign Minister of the Libyan outgoing government Najla Mangoush. They discussed the latest developments in Libya and agreed on the need to chart a pathway to elections as soon as possible, based on a consensual constitutional framework, according to UNSMIL. Zenenga reiterated UNSMIL’s commitment to support Libya to overcome the ongoing political divisions at this critical time and resume the path to stability, in line with the outcomes of the Berlin and Paris conferences and the Libya Stabilization Conference as well as relevant UNSCR, UNSMIL said in a statement. He welcomed recent positive developments including the resumption of oil production, the statment pointed out. During the meeting, Zenenga extended his condolences to the Minister on the oil tanker incident in southern Libya, it added.

The mayor of Ghadames municipality, Qassem Al-Manea, has revealed that work is underway to reopen the Libyan-Algerian border crossing in the near future. Al-Manea added, according to Hakometna platform, that the border crossing will initially be opened for commercial purposes only, and then for travelers according to the agreement concluded between the two sides, stressing the endeavor to reopen the crossing for all citizens to facilitate movement between the two countries.
Khaled Mishri was e-elected as the head of the High State Council for the fifth consecutive two-year term. Mishri won in the second round with 65 votes out of 118 votes.

The Special Advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General on Libya, Stephanie Williams, has appealed to the country’s rivals to agree to hold elections “within a firm constitutional framework”. As her tenure comes to an end, Williams released her last statement as U.N. Advisor on Libya in which she affirmed that her “top priority” was to “listen to the millions of Libyans who registered to vote to go to the ballot box to restore the legitimacy of the country’s institutions via national elections.” “I believe it is only with the establishment of a consensual constitutional framework which sets the milestones, the contract between the governed and those who govern them, and the guardrails for the end of the transitional period through national elections that the current political stalemate and recurrent executive crisis can be overcome,” she said.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Libya’s outgoing prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and chairman of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, held a meeting on Sunday, August 6, with several security officials, including members of 5+5 Joint Military Committee, and chiefs of intelligence, military police and counter-terrorism. According to a brief statement by Dbeibeh’s government, the talks focused on the “latest military developments, the course of action of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee, and the steps taken to unify the military institution, away from all political squabbles, and follow up on the continuation of the ceasefire”. The gathering notably comes just two days after the capital witnessed violent clashes between armed groups for the second time in less than a month.

The Tripoli-based Interior Minister Badreddine Toumi, hosted British Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall, for talks on the migration crisis, thefight against terrorism as well as elections in the country, according to statement by the Ministry of Interior. The two also discussed bilateral cooperation in terms of capacity building for the ministry’s staff and facilitating entry visas to British territories for Libyans, as per the ministry’s statement.
Libya’s outgoing prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, met with the top officials at executive branch to discuss the latest developments in the country, according to a statement by his government. The officials reportedly discussed a number of issues, including this weeks deadly fuel tanker explosion in southern Libya. In addition, they also follo “the public affairs of the state during the first half of this year”and “disclosure and transparency steps by the Central Bank of Libya and the Ministry of Finance”.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to discuss the situation in Libya at the end of this month, according to the council’s agenda for August. The Security Council will hold a briefing followed by consultations regarding the country on Wednesday, August 24. Both the briefing and subsequent consultations will focus the internationally imposed sanctions on the country as well as the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

In Benghazi, Ali Faraj Al-Qatrani and Salem Al-Zadma, both are deputies of Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha, met with the Netherlands’ Ambassador to Libya, Dolf Hogewoning, to discuss “bilateral relations between the two countries,” as per statement from Bashagha’s government. During the meeting, the three officials discussed several issues concerning Libya, including the situation in the country’s southern region, the migration crisis and human trafficking. The two deputies stressed upon “the importance of investment cooperation between the two countries in the presence of one stable government,” reads the statement.

Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), Aqila Saleh, accompanied by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Council (PC), Abdulla al-Lafi, met Tuesday, August 2, in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Al-Lafi said, via Twitter, that the meeting with Erdogan dealt with political developments, noting that the views agreed on preserving Libya’s unity, expediting the holding of elections, through one strong government, and emphasizing the exclusion of a military solution. For its part, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency said that the meeting between Erdogan, Saleh and al-Lafi took place in the presidential complex away from media.