BANI WALID
- May 22, the 444th Brigade of the Tripoli Military Region said that it had established a security wall extending from western Tripoli, as far as Bani Walid. In a statement on its Facebook page, the Brigade stated that this wall comes under an unprecedented security plan, indicating that its members have spread within a geographical area extending to hundreds of kilometers.;
MURZUQ
- May 23, a video clip, which was posted on social media, showed a group of mercenaries intimidating the residents of Murzuq and threatening them with displacement, stressing that they will not leave the city and will remain in control. This came against the background of the residents of Murzuq’s calls and demands for the Government of National Unity (GNU) to postpone the activation of the city’s reconstruction fund temporarily, until those families who were forced to leave can return, emphasizing the immediate necessity to expel the armed Chadian mercenaries.;
SIRTE
- May 20, the Minister of State for Displaced Affairs and Human Rights, Ahmed Al-Mahjoub, visited on Wednesday the Bin Sina Teaching Hospital in Sirte, during which he received the first dose of the vaccine against the Coronavirus. During the visit, Al-Mahjoub met with the general director of the hospital, Ali Al-Zarqa, in the presence of the heads of medical departments and the director of the Primary Health Care Office Sirte, and the executive supervisor of the vaccination campaign;
SOUKNA
- May 22, the Libyan Army said that Khalifa Haftar’s forces killed a young man called Ali Mohammed Jumua in Soukna area, Jufra, where Russian Wagner Group and Sudanese Janjaweed mercenaries are operating along with Haftar’s forces. The spokesman for the Sirte-Jufra Operations Room, Abdelhadi Drah, told reporters that the young man was killed in the center of Soukna by gunshots fired by a fighter for pro-Haftar battalion 77 of brigade 128 before midnight.;
AL-HAWAMID
- May 19, unemployed youths from Al-Hawamid area, western Libya, who hold higher and intermediate degrees held a protest at the Eni Gas Company site, adjacent to the Ruwais Gas Electricity station, demanding their rights to enable them to work, since most of them hold scientific degrees in the company’s field of work. The protesters issued a statement included their demand to find job opportunities for the unemployed youth in the area, giving the company a period of three days from Monday, otherwise the sit-in will escalate until the demands are considered;
ILLEGAL MIGRATION
- May 22, Libyan Navy personnel rescued Saturday 261 illegal immigrants from different African countries off the coast as they were making the perilous journey to European shores on a dinghy. The Libyan Navy said on Facebook that its patrol rescued the immigrants after receiving a distress call, adding that they had been disembarked at Tripoli Naval Base before being sent to the Anti Illegal Immigration Center, where they would receive the needed care before repatriation each to their home country.;
- The spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya, Safa Msehli, said that the Libyan Coast Guard had intercepted more than 680 migrants off the Libyan coast on Sunday night,May 16, returning them to Libya.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu May 22 held talks with the UN Envoy to Libya Jan Kubis, in which they discussed the latest developments in the Libyan arena. Kubis arrived in Antalya, Turkey, on Friday, for a two-day visit to talk over the Libyan situation with Turkish officials. A statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the visit, which comes in response to the Turkish Foreign Minister’s invitation, was to advocate the international community to take further steps in support of Libya’s new interim government and the political process in the country.
- The German ambassador to Libya, Oliver Owcza, held a virtual meeting with a number of members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) May 21. Owcza stated on his Twitter account that a useful exchange of views was put forward regarding the upcoming weeks of the forum, adding that he was impressed by the commitment of the members of the LPDF to focus on the main issues, the transparency of the process and the adherence to the set deadlines.
- May 20, the Head of the Presidential Council, Mohammad Menfi, accompanied by the member of the Presidential Council, Abdullah Al-Lafi, received the Ambassador of the European Union to Libya, Jose Sabadell. The meeting dealt with the common issues between Libya and the European Union, which require continuous cooperation, especially illegal immigration. During the meeting, Menfi stressed the cooperation to secure the southern Libyan borders and implement development projects in the southern regions, as it is essential to combat illegal immigration.
- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced that it is due to hold a virtual two-day meeting for the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) May 26 and 27 to complete the legal committee’s proposal on the constitutional basis for the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled to take place on December 24.
- May 18, the International Police Agency, Interpol, announced it had seized 17 tons of hashish in Niger, destined for Libya with an estimated street value of 37 million dollars. The amount seized in Niger came under the scope of operations carried out by Interpol, over the past several months and is the largest successful operation in the seizure of drugs in the history of West Africa. It is reported that Niger police also seized an undisclosed quantity of hashish on its way to Libya last March.
- The United Nations (UN) envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, held discussions with the British Minister for the Middle East and North African Affairs, James Cleverly, on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the roadmap approved by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF). Kubis and Cleverly stressed the importance of holding the national elections as expected on December 24, as has been stipulated in the road map, and accelerating the withdrawal of mercenaries and all foreign forces from Libyan soil.
- The Tunisian Ministry of Defense announced May 18 the loss of more than 50 migrants from a sunken boat carrying approximately 90 immigrants 30 others were rescued from the same boat which set sail from Libya. According to the official Spokesman for the Tunisian Ministry of Defense, Mohamed Zikri, initial information has reached authorities regarding the sinking of a boat, which occurred near the Maskar Oil Field off the coast of the southern city of Zarzis, according to Agence France Presse.
