In Aljmail, the Joint Force of the Military of Defence has arrested five individuals suspected of belonging to the ISIS group. The force clarified on September 30 that the detainees include two Tunisians, an African, and two Libyans.
In Jufra, the spokesman for the Libyan Army Mohammed Gununu said on September 29 they had depicted Wagner Group mercenaries’ work on fortifying Jufra airbase in over 31 locations.
In Sebha, the commander of Haftar’s forces in the south, Mabrouk Sahban, has ordered on September 29 suspension of flights to and from Sabha international Airport, without providing any reason.
On the international level, the Libyan High Council of State (HCS) and House of Representatives (HoR) said the Libyan Dialogue in Bouznika, Morocco had been positive and their two delegations had reached some sort of understanding on criteria for selecting individuals to hold sovereign positions as per (article 15) of Skhirat agreement.
ALJMAIL
- the Joint Force of the Military of Defence has arrested five individuals suspected of belonging to the ISIS group. The force clarified on September 30 that the detainees include two Tunisians, an African, and two Libyans. Sources said that four of the cell members were arrested in a security operation south of the city of Aljmail, near the Tunisian border, while the fifth was caught in an ambush on the highway.
BENGHAZI
- the Italian agency Nova confirmed on September 29 that the authorities in eastern Libya referred the Italian fishermen held in Benghazi to the military prosecutor. The agency quoted an official as saying that the Italian fishermen are to be transferred to the military court next month in Benghazi on charges of entering and fishing in Libyan waters without prior permission.
GHARDABIYA
- a Russian cargo plane carrying Syrian fighters landed in Libya’s Sirte province, controlled by Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan army said on October 3. The aircraft arrived at 11.00 a.m. local time (0900GMT) at the Ghardabiya Airbase, according to officials from the Sirte and Jufra operation department of the Libyan army.
JUFRA
- the spokesman for the Libyan Army Mohammed Gununu said on September 29 they had depicted Wagner Group mercenaries’ work on fortifying Jufra airbase in over 31 locations. Gununu said some of the fortified locations of Wagner Group mercenaries at Jufra airbase include a diameter of 25 km, in addition to locations inside the airbase near the runway.
SABHA
- Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) was roundly condemned on September 30 for preventing an Afriqiyah Airlines civilian flight from landing at Sabha airport. The LNA blocked the runway using military vehicles, forcing the control tower to turn the flight back to Tripoli’s Mitiga airport. It was the first flight from Tripoli to Sabha since flights were resumed last week;
- the commander of Haftar’s forces in the south, Mabrouk Sahban, has ordered on September 29 suspension of flights to and from Sabha international Airport, without providing any reason. The order comes merely days after its resumption of work and the arrival of the first civilian flight from Tripoli, after a stoppage of six years. In protest against this measure, the Airport Director, Mohamed Ouhaida announced the complete suspension of work at the Airport, stressing that the Civil Aviation Authority, along with the Airports Authority are the only two entities that have any authority to approve or prevent flights to and from the airport;
- the “Revolution of the Poor” movement in Sabha has called for a protest to demand the reopening of the city’s airport, which was reopened earlier this month, after six years of closure. The movement issued a statement, calling on “those who care” for the southern region to gather in front of the city’s theater, on September 28 morning, to protest against the closing of the only air outlet in the south.
TARHUNA
- the Public Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons, uncovered on October 4 an unidentified corpse in Tarhuna which, according to the authority, was discovered wrapped in a plastic bag and buried in an area known as Al-Butin, which is on the river road in Tarhuna city. The body was recovered after a report was received by a citizen in the area.
TRIPOLI
- the Investigation Department of the Attorney General’s Office has ordered on October 4 the arrest of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, Abu Bakr al-Jafal, on charges of corruption. The Information Department of the Public Prosecutor’s office stated that the detention order for Al-Jafal came on the back of allegations of abuse of others finances and the wasting of public funds;
- security authorities loyal to Government of National Accord have arrested on September 29 the Minister of Local Governing Milad al-Taher and his deputy as well as the head of the Ministry’s burueau Saleh al-Sakloul over corruption accusations. The investigations bureau of the Attorney General’s Office also ordered arrest of the deputy education minister Adel Jumua over corruption in importing school desks.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- the Acting Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Libya, Stephanie Williams, has said that the UN mission was not aware of the “oil agreement” between Ahmed Maiteeq and Khalifa Haftar;
- the United States Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, arrived in Cairo to hold discussions in Hurghada on security in Libya. Norland offered his appreciation to Egypt for hosting the talks, which included representatives of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and others from Haftar’s side;
- the Libyan High Council of State (HCS) and House of Representatives (HoR) said the Libyan Dialogue in Bouznika, Morocco had been positive and their two delegations had reached some sort of understanding on criteria for selecting individuals to hold sovereign positions as per (article 15) of Skhirat agreement. The remarks came in a joint statement by the HoR and HCS in Bouznika after the end of the second round of the Libyan Dialogue, on October 4;
- the Libyan Dialogue’s second round between the delegations of the House of Representatives and the High Council of State kicked off on October 2 after being delayed three times over the last month. According to Maghreb Arabe Presse, the Libyan parties met on October 2 evening as part of the second rounds of the Libyan Dialogue that was hosted by Bouznika, Morocco, under the auspices of the UNSMIL;
- the UN Security Council unanimously agreed on October 2 to extend a resolution that authorizes European countries to intercept vessels suspected of smuggling migrants from Libya. Resolution 2546 proposed by Germany, provided for the extension for an additional period of 12 months, starting from October 2 to end on October 2, 2021;
- the EU announced on October 2 that it has removed Aqila Saleh, head of Libya’s Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR), and Nuri Abu Sahmain, former head of the internationally unrecognised General National Congress (GNC), from the list of individuals and entities subject to restrictive measures;
- the Libyan and Turkish Defense Ministers have discussed the latest developments in Libya, according to a statement by the Turkish Defense Ministry on October 1. The Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Libyan counterpart Salah al-Namroush met in Ankara on October 1 and the former reiterated that Turkey would continue to support Libyans in training and consultations in security and military fields;
- Chairman of the Presidential Council (PC), Fayez al-Sarraj discussed on September 30 with the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, during a phone conversation, the latest developments in Libya. The talks touched on international efforts to achieve peace in Libya, where both leaders agreed on the necessity to stop external intervention in the Libyan affairs and to give priority to national dialogue in order to achieve legislative and presidential elections as soon as possible;
- UNSMIL said delegations representing the Government of National Accord and Haftar’s forces as well as comprising police and military officers, concluded two days of security and military talks, facilitated by UNSMIL, in the city of Hurghada, Egypt;
- on September 30, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Russia of working to destabilize Libya and escalate tensions, saying in a presser in Greece that Washington and Athens are working to improve naval cooperation to block Moscow’s malign activities in the region;
- the United Nations and Germany are to hold on the 5th of October a ministerial meeting as a follow-up on the Berlin conference, held in January this year. The spokesman for the UN mission, Jean Alam, said in a press statement on September 29 that the meeting comes within the framework of the efforts made to ensure the fulfillment of the commitments made at the Berlin Conference on Libya last January;
- the Algerian Foreign Minister, Sabri Boukadoum, agreed during his meeting with Tunisian officials on September 28 to advance the Libyan political track with the aim of establishing a comprehensive and constructive dialogue between the Libyans themselves. Boukadoum said in a statement after his meeting with the Tunisian President, Kais Saied, at the Carthage Palace, that he had heard the Tunisian officials’ point of views about the situation in the region and the challenges it poses, especially the situation in Libya;
- the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Donmaz, said on September 28 that several Turkish investors have agreements in Libya to install power stations to be run with natural gas;
- UNSMIL has commended the positive and proactive attitude aimed at de-escalation of the situation in central Libya demonstrated at the security and military talks held by the two opposing Libyan sides in Egypt’s Hurghada. In its statement on September 28, UNSMIL said ‘‘on 28 Sep 2020, in Hurghada, Egypt, military and police teams from eastern and western Libya met and began security and military talks, in the framework of the ongoing (5+5) Joint Military Commission talks, with the facilitation of UNSMIL.
