Political Situation
The United Nations said eastern Libyan forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar have refused to grant landing permits for flights bringing U.N. staff to and from Libya, a statement said on Wednesday. (Reuters, Canada, 12.02.2020)
The Director of the North Africa and Middle East department of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Farnaud, has invited Libya’s Minister of Interior, Fathi Bashagha to visit France, in order to promote cooperation between the two countries. (Libya Observer, Libya, 12.02.2020)
30 members of the Libyan Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) have called on the UNSMIL not to put the constitution draft up for discussion in Geneva dialogue meetings or elsewhere. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
The UN Security Council was asked Tuesday to vote on a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Libya, in what would be the first binding text adopted since fighting flared in April last year. (Agence France Presse/France24, France, 11.02.2020)
Presidential Council member, Mohamed Ammari Zayed has told Turkish Ambassador to Libya that Haftar’s participation in international meetings is solely to buy time. (Libya Observer, Libya, 10.02.2020)
Talks between representatives of Libya’s warring parties in Geneva this week ended Saturday with no deal on a ceasefire but the UN has proposed a second round of negotiations for February 18. (Agence France Presse, France/The New Arab, UK, 08.02.2020)
Military/Security Issues
Artillery shells on Tuesday hit the center of the Libyan capital, which eastern forces have been trying to take in a near year-long war, residents said. (Reuters, Canada, 12.02.2020)
The administration of the Man-made River Authority has said that a sabotage attack on the eastern field of Al- Hasawna water system put three wells out of service. (Libya Observer, Libya, 12.02.2020)
Three students were wounded in a terrorist attack that targeted a school west of the Libyan capital Tripoli. The Libyan National Army said the bomb was placed inside a backpack and went off in a school in the city of al-Zawiya, 40 kilometers west of Tripoli. (Asharq Al-Awsat, Arabic international newspaper, UK, 11.02.2020)
Military police in the Libyan city of Benghazi have detained a terrorist named Mohamed Sobhi, who holds Egyptian citizenship and is a former officer of the Islamic State (IS) in the al-Naqleya district. (Egypt Independent, Egypt, 11.02.2020)
Economic Issues
After 22 days of closing oil facilities, the NOC estimates the losses to over one billion and 300 million dollars. The NOC indicated in a statement Tuesday that the closure of the Zawiya refinery would create problems related to the distribution and importing of fuel. (The Libya Observer, Libya, 12.02.2020)
Foreign Minister, Mohamed Siyala has expressed his government’s desire to bring Chinese companies back to Libya, hoping that the Chinese embassy in Tripoli would reopen as soon as possible. This came during a meeting with the Chinese assistant foreign minister on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
UNSMIL reported today that Libyan economic experts gathered under its facilitation in Cairo over the last two days agreed that the country’s fragmentation was hurting its economy and a commission needed to be set up for more detailed studies. They agreed to reconvene in early March. (Libya Herald, Libya, 11.02.2020)
UNSMIL Statement on the second meeting of the Libyan Economic and Financial Track (United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), 11.02.2020)
The United Nations expects eastern Libyan tribal leaders to submit their list of conditions to reopen blocked oil terminals, United Nations envoy Ghassan Salame said on Thursday, pressing for a resumption of oil exports. (Reuters, Canada, 06.02.2020)
The ticking time bomb that could crush oil markets (Oilprice, USA, 11.02.2020)
Humanitarian Issues
Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday that Italy’s renewed support for the Libyan coast guard is putting migrants in danger who are returned to squalid detention centers in the North African country. (Associated Press, USA, 12.02.2020)
Pope Francis will make an official trip to Malta on May 31, the Vatican said Monday, bringing the pontiff to one of the top disembarkation spots for migrants fleeing Libya. (Agence France Presse/France24, France, 10.02.2020)
Libyan families, which lost relatives in the war waged by Khalifa Haftar and his backers on Tripoli, lodged a lawsuit at the US District Court in Washington DC against Khalifa Haftar and the UAE for war crimes and violations of human rights. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
International Reactions
ITALY-FRANCE: Several international issues and especially Libya were on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting between Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio and his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian. A statement issued by the French foreign ministry shortly before the working dinner between the two said they would concentrate on several international issues, ”especially Libya, after the Berlin Conference. They will reiterate the link between our two countries on the weapons embargo as well as the implementation of a ceasefire.” (ANSAmed, Italy, 11.02.2020)
ITALY-AUSTRIA: Italy is prepared to consider a resumption of maritime patrols in the Mediterranean, a senior official said, but diplomats said Austria is sticking to its objections, in a blow to European efforts to uphold a U.N. arms embargo on Libya. (Reuters, Canada, 11.02.20202)
GERMANY: German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said that Libya’s conflict is not just an African problem, calling for a greater role for the African continent in bringing peace to Libya. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
ALGERIA: Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has emphasized that the situation in Libya remains a source of concern for Algeria, saying that Libyans do not deserve all these afflictions. (Libya Observer, Libya, 10.02.2020)
EGYPT used the African Summit, where President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi handed the rotating chair to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, to underline the need for a balanced approach on Libya. (Ahram, Egypt, 11.02.2019)
EGYPT-ALGERIA: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune held talks on the sidelines of the African Summit in Addis Ababa. The two spoke about means to combat terrorism as well as the current Libyan crisis. (Asharq Al-Awsat, Arabic international newspaper, UK, 10.02.2020)
RUSSIA: Moscow hopes that Russia’s position will be considered in the resolution on Libya which will be submitted for voting at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya told TASS on Tuesday. (TASS, Russia, 12.02.2020)
CHINA: A Chinese envoy on Tuesday asked the United Nations (UN) Security Council to exercise caution on the issue of sanctions against Libya. (People’s Daily Online, China, 12.02.2020)
USA: The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland has reaffirmed his country’s support for the efforts of the Government of National Accord (GNA) to disband armed groups in Libya. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
UN: The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said on Monday that the international community’s commitment to ending foreign interference in Libya has not been achieved on the ground despite “the glimmer of hope” offered by the Berlin conference. (Libya Observer, Libya, 11.02.2020)
AFRICAN UNION leaders vowed on Monday to push peace efforts in Libya, a sign of the bloc’s desire to play a bigger role in resolving the continent’s conflicts. (Agence France Presse, France/The New Arab, UK, 11.02.2020)
Other sources (Turkey, Russia)
Turkey should stick to the commitments it made at the Berlin conference on Libya and avert the crisis in the North African country from becoming a proxy war, Marco Minniti, a member of the Italian parliament from the Democratic Party and former interior minister, stated. (Sputnik, Russia, 11.02.2020)
The growing antagonism between Turkey and Egypt has become a source of regional tension that could further destabilise the Middle East, Nicholas Saidel wrote in an article for the Wall Street Journal. With the five-year-old Libyan conflict becoming a flashpoint between the two countries, the feud could trigger another refugee crisis in Europe, “disrupt maritime commerce in the Mediterranean and lead to a resurgence of ISIS in Libya,” the article said. (Ahval, Turkey, 10.02.2020)
Libya’s U.N.-recognized government thanked Turkey on Sunday for its stance on Libyan issues. Speaking at a joint military commission representing Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) and eastern Libyan forces in Geneva, Mohammed Ammari Zayed, a member of the Presidential Council, thanked Turkish ambassador to Libya Serhat Aksen for the country’s support to Libya and its noble stance in helping protect civilians, the capital and government institutions. (Anadolu Agency, Turkey, 10.02.2020)
War in Libya litmus test for the EU (Daily Sabah, Turkey, 12.02.2020)
Turkey can fill the gap in EU strategy (Daily Sabah Turkey, 09.02.2020)
Links
‘Nightmare’ for Algeria and Tunisia if Haftar captures Libya capital, say analysts (The New Arab, UK, 11.02.2020)
Russia’s intervention in Libya: is it undermining the EU? (Vocal Europe, Belgium, 11.02.2020)
Turkey’s Latest Quagmire: Intervention in Libya (Counterpunch, USA, 10.02.2020)
Turkey and cloning Iranian militias (Asharq Al-Awsat, Arabic international newspaper, UK, 10.02.2020)
Europe needs boots on the ground in Libya (Politico, Belgium, 10.02.2020)
EU SITUATION ROOM