NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that 400 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the past week. “In the period of 5 – 11 Feb 2023, 400 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya,” IOM said in a statement.
- Rwanda has renewed its partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union (EU) for hosting asylum-seekers evacuated from Libya, authorities said. Under a four-year partnership, the Emergency Transit Mechanism center, in eastern Rwanda’s Bugesera District, will continue to host asylum-seekers through 2026, said Philippe Habinshuti, permanent secretary at the Rwandan Ministry of Emergency Management.
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The Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, sent tons of aid materials containing medicines and foodstuffs to both Syria and Turkey, to support the people affected by the earthquake that struck the two countries.
- Benghazi is witnessing heavy security deployment of all security services, and closure of several main streets in the city, specially the streets leading to the Bohdema neighborhood. This comes in conjunction with the announcement of the Benghazi Security Directorate, that the security services of the Interior Ministry, with the support of the Libyan National Army forces, raided local wineries and imported wine stores in the Buhdima and al-Wahishi neighborhoods in Benghazi.
- The General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, received on Tuesday, in his office in Benghazi, the British Joint Forces Commander, General Jim Morris. The meeting was attended by the UK Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- Islamist politician Abdelhakim Belhaj believes that the solution to end the political deadlock in Libya is to hold parliamentary elections first, followed by presidential elections, as opposed to holding them both simultaneously as per the U.N. peace plan.
- The head of the interim Government of National Unity, Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh, expressed his government’s openness to any initiative or proposal that “enhances confidence in the implementation of the elections and blocks the way for those who seek to enter the country into new transitional stages.”
- Members of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) elected Tuesday, February 07, Representative Abdul Hadi Al-Saghair as second deputy speaker of the House, by a majority of 67 votes, compared to 40 votes for Representative Ahmed Al-Sharif. HoR Spokesman, Abdulla Bleihiq, said that 06 votes were invalid out of the total of 113 deputies present for Tuesday’s session in Benghazi.
- The Arab Parliament called on the Libyan parties “to return to dialogue and to set a clear and specific roadmap leading to elections this year.” The Parliament said, in a statement published on the website of the Libyan House of Representatives on Monday, February 06, that it calls on “the Libyan national parties and forces to return to dialogue and develop a clear and specific road map to bring together views on the foundations and laws related to executive procedures and the unification of institutions, leading to holding elections this year.”
- The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, met with the head of the Libyan government appointed by the Parliament, Fathi Bashagha. Saleh and Bashagha, who met in Benghazi, “discussed a number of political, economic and service files in all their aspects, at the top of which were the government’s workflow,” a statement by issued by the office of the Speaker of Parliament said.
- The first round of electing the second deputy speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) concluded Monday, February 06. The second round will take place on Tuesday between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. HoR Spokesman, Abdullah Bleihiq, said the result of today’s vote was as follows: Al-Hadi Al-Saghair 35 votes, Ahmed Al-Sharif 29 votes, Muftah Al-Kartihi 20 votes, Moaz Rafi 11 votes, Misbah Duma 13 votes, and Mahdi Al-Awar 2 votes.
- The “Stability Support Apparatus”, headed by Ghniwa Al-Kikli, decided to establish a company to work in the field of oil services, in the oil sector, under the name of “North African Development and Investment Company.” Al-Kikli sent a letter to the head of the National Oil Corporation, Farhat Bengdara, requesting support for the company and help to participate in the projects and services to be implemented in the oil sector, Al-Saaa24 reported.
- The U.N. Envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, met with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to discuss with him “ways to end the political stalemate and prepare the country for inclusive national elections in 2023,” according to Bathily. “I also discussed with Mr. Dbeibah that it is the responsibility of all actors to establish conditions conducive to holding elections, starting with adopting a solid constitutional framework,” the U.N. envoy said via Twitter. “We also reviewed the government’s role in ensuring the security of the elections.”
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Libya’s Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush spoke on the phone with her Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammar to congratulate him on his new role as successor to Othman Jerandi after the latter was dismissed by the Tunisian presidency on February 7.
- The General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, received on Tuesday, February 07, in his office in Benghazi, the British Joint Forces Commander, General Jim Morris. The meeting was attended by the UK Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall.
- The Chief of the General Staff of the Interim Government of National Unity forces, Lieutenant General Muhammad Al-Haddad, discussed with the Commander of the UK’s Standing Joint Force Headquarters Major General Jim Morris, “joint cooperation and means of support in the fields of training and military and security consultations between the two countries.”
- The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, in a statement on Monday, February 06, that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will receive the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, on Tuesday afternoon, at the ministry’s headquarters. According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Bathily’s visit to Cairo comes to discuss the crisis in Libya and ways to resolve it in a way that allows for consensus between the various parties in the country, with the aim of holding comprehensive parliamentary and presidential elections.
