NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- The Chairperson of the Indian National Commission for Minorities (NCM), Iqbal Singh Lalpura, informed media that the commission has rescued 12 Indians stranded in Libya, who were taken to the country by one of the agents in a fake job racket, The Hindu newspaper reported. The commission also thanked the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Embassy in Tunisia for helping in its task.
- In its monthly report, the European naval operation IRINI has announced that it monitored 25 suspect flights out of 1,131 flights to Libya during February, explaining that it carried out 9 visits on ships with Master’s consent out of 434, and investigated 271 merchant vessels via radio calls out of 8,647, according to the European External Action Service (EEAS).
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday, February 27, 196 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the past week. “In the period of 19 – 25 Feb 2023, 196 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya.,” IOM said in a statement via Twitter.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Libya is unable to restore its state, pointing out that the situation there creates many problems in Africa’s coastal and Sahara regions. In his speech at the G20 meeting in New Delhi, Lavrov indicated that the G20 is not interested and has not addressed in its meetings, since its establishment in 1999, the situation in countries such as Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, which witnessed adventures and interventions from Western countries.
- The head of the State Council, Khaled Al-Mishri, accused the head of the National Oil Corporation, Farhat Bengdara, of giving the UAE many concessions in the oil sector that it “does not deserve,” stressing that it has thus controlled the oil sector “in an inappropriate way.” Al-Mishri stressed, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Mubasher channel on Monday, that the UAE continues to play a negative role in Libya, and “disgraceful and humiliating interference” in the oil sector.
- Head of the High Council of State (HCS), Khaled Al-Mishri, discussed Wednesday the briefing of UN envoy to Libya before the Security Council and his new proposal for holding elections, in a meeting with the French ambassador to Libya, Mustafa Maharaj, according to HCS statement. Al-Mishri and Maharaj meeting, held in Tripoli, centered on the latest political developments in Libya, especially with regard to the constitutional path, said HCS statement.
- Informed Libyan sources reported that Abd al-Hamid Dbeibeh, Prime Minister of the interim Government of National Unity in Tripoli, is working at an accelerated pace to normalize relations with Israel through Abu Dhabi. “Dbeibeh asked Aviv for US support to continue in the government in exchange for normalization and opening relations.”
- U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs in UN, Robert Wood, has said his country fully supports the proposed elections-enabling mechanism as UN envoy to Libya outlined in his remarks to the Security Council on Monday. “The United States is hundred percent committed to helping you (UN envoy to Libya) succeed,” he said in the UN Security Council meeting.
- UN envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily has told the Security Council that he decided to launch an initiative aimed at enabling the organization and holding of presidential and legislative elections in Libya in 2023. “In this regard, I plan to establish a High-level Steering Panel for Libya,” Bathily remarked in the Security Council’s meeting on Libya.
- Chairman of Libya’s High Council of State, Khaled Al-Mishri, held talks on Sunday, February 26, with Tobias Björn Bacherle, a member of German parliament (Bundestag) at the Council’s headquarters in Tripoli. According to a statement by the council, Al-Mishri, Bacherle and the latter’s accompanying delegation discussed developments in the political process related to holding Libyan elections.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have discussed the bilateral cooperation, Palestine, Libya, Afghanistan and the issue of Iran’s nuclear development on the sidelines of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
- The outgoing Government of National Unity (GNU) has revealed the details of Rome’s meeting between the Libyan military chiefs of staff and the Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Michael Langley. Libya’s East and West chiefs of staff, Lieutenant General Abdul Razeq Al Nadhouri and Lieutenant General Muhammad Al Haddad, assured the AFRICOM Commander of moving forward to unify the Libyan military institution, forming a joint force as a first step to protect the borders, and adopting a national project to absorb young people and integrate them into state institutions.
- Flights between Athens and Benghazi will launch on Thursday, the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Tuesday, March 01. The Athens-Benghazi-Athens flights will be carried out by air carriers Air Mediterranean and Marathon Airlines, with the first flight scheduled for March 2 by Marathon Airlines. Greece’s Consul General in Benghazi Stavros Venizelos will board this flight, it was noted.
