Monday, October 3, 2016

the Washington times report about Libya: ( Libya once again braces for chaos as Islamic State retreats )

the Washington times is highlighting the victory of  the GNA forces in sirt and the sequences of that particular transformation;



Sirte, LIBYA — From the second floor of a school, Abdallah Karim, 20, gazes at downtown Sirte, at buildings blown apart, streets littered with broken glass and rubble — his hometown reduced to a field of ruins.
Still, he says, he enjoys the view.
“I really don’t care about the destruction of my city. Look, over there, my house was there,” said Mr. Karim, a fighter from the Defense Misrata brigade, pointing to a destroyed building through the large window. “I don’t care. I just want the Islamic State men to be dead.”
The last holdouts of the jihadi group are clinging to a square half-mile area of this strategic coastal city, the Islamic State group’s “capital” in Libya and once its most formidable outpost outside of its base in Syria and Iraq. Misrata fighters, part of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord Forces, continue to make advances against the surrounded group.
Although the GNA forces expect to capture Sirte within the next month, the Misrata fighters say they are bracing for a wider war over who will rule Libya.
U.N. officials and private analysts anticipate that clash soon and are not sure Libya, as a functioning state, can survive it.


“Every day is a step further in the de facto partition of the country,” said Mattia Toaldo, a Libya analyst for the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in the United Kingdom.
Speaking Tuesday in Geneva, Martin Kobler, the U.N. special envoy to the Libyan crisis, issued a stark warning that the country is at risk of descending once again into chaos.
“Unfortunately, we are now facing a political impasse ,” Mr. Kobler told a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council. “The risks of increased tensions in the capital should not be underestimated.”
The Islamic State’s hold on Sirte, the hometown of longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and a key oil exporting center, began to loosen after the U.S. and Britain stepped up support last month in the four-month drive to oust the militant group. Each country sent advisers to provide intelligence.
The Obama administration has authorized airstrikes on the city since August. One strike destroyed the Ouagadougou Conference Center, a showcase of the Gadhafi regime that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, used as its local headquarters.
But the retreat of the Islamic State fighters has exposed other deep fissures in Libya, with the government in Tripoli facing a serious challenge to its legitimacy.
By the beginning of September, the Misrata fighters thought they had won and soon would be able to lay down their arms. But then came Gen. Khalifa Haftar and his “Libyan National Army.”
On Sept. 11, the former Gadhafi general and his forces took control of the main refineries of the coastal region known as the Oil Crescent — including the oil terminals and ports of Ras Lanuf, As-Sidra, Brega and Zueitina — in the name of the rival government based in the eastern Libyan city of Bayda.
During the takeover, the pro-GNA Petroleum Facilities Guards, led by Ibrahim Jedran, disarmed on orders from the eastern tribal leaders. These chiefs had been meeting secretly with Gen. Haftar and the eastern government to mobilize Operation Sudden Lightning to take control of facilities in the oil-producing area. The result: a standoff between Gen. Haftar and the forces of the GNA, whose authority is rejected by the country’s eastern tribes.
Fears of a new offensive
Observers fear GNA forces will go on the offensive to recapture the terminals.
The facilities give Gen. Haftar a big advantage because he now controls the oil revenue from them. The Oil Crescent holds 60 percent of Libya’s oil resources.
“Given the tensions that Haftar’s move has provoked, a military attempt on the terminals is certainly possible,” wrote Claudia Gazzini, a senior analyst on Libya for the Crisis Group, a think tank based in Brussels.
Ms. Gazzini said crude in the Gulf of Sirte accounts for about 80 percent of Libya’s total oil exports, by far the country’s top source of revenue. “From a political and military point of view, these developments are a huge setback to the authority of the U.N.-backed fledgling government in Tripoli,” she said.
Gen. Haftar has nominated military officials — who don’t answer to the unity government — instead of civil officials to run cities such as Benghazi, Ajdabyia and Shahat, further weakening the GNA’s authority.
The general, who once served under Gadhafi, sounded defiant in written responses to questions posed Wednesday by The Associated Press. He rejected the authority of the unity government in Tripoli, attacked Mr. Kobler, the U.N. envoy, for “meddling” in the country’s affairs and said Libya would be better served by a leader with “high-level military experience.” He said much of Libya’s turmoil was the result of armed gangs and Islamist militias dominating the government in the country’s western half.
GNA forces fear that Gen. Haftar will ride the momentum of his capture of the oil region to push farther to the west.
“Now, Haftar’s planes are close enough to conduct airstrikes on our men in Sirte,” said Ibrahim Beit el-Mal, head of the military council of Misrata, echoing other security officials who say Misrata is also vulnerable.
Security officials also believe the general wants to strike now while the Misrata fighters are worn from battling in Sirte.
“We expect a bigger war against Haftar soon,” said Adel Glidam, a Misrata Red Crescent volunteer whose father died fighting in Sirte. “He wants to fight because he knows we are physically weak and morale is low because of the war in Sirte.”
Haftar forces are in Harawa region, less than 45 miles from GNA forces.
For the first time since the Libyan civil war in 2011, when the death of Gadhafi unleashed tribal rivalry and conflict, there is no buffer between the factions. In the past, it was Mr. Jedran’s Petroleum Facilities Guards and then the Islamic State that occupied the territory between the feuding Libyan factions.
A political agreement seems highly unlikely, analysts say. To GNA supporters — and especially Misrata fighters — Gen. Haftar represents a return to the bad old Gadhafi days, and his rise to any official position in the country is a red line.
“What Haftar did [seizing the oil facilities] shows that he has no respect for Libya and that he wants to be a dictator,” said Ali Abu Sitta, a moderate member of Misrata’s municipal council.
Fayez Sirraj, prime minister in the Tripoli unity government, said this week that political reconciliation is vital to preventing even more bloodshed after the looming defeat of the Islamic State. He said GNA officials were open to negotiations.
“As a Presidential Council, we are open to all political factions. I have no reservations. Anything that helps solve the Libyan crisis and that can open bottlenecks, we are ready to meet anyone,” Mr. Sirraj told the Reuters news agency.
He struck a conciliatory tone about the seizure of oil facilities but added, “Whoever protects the oil must be under the umbrella of the Presidential Council.”
On the other hand, Gen. Haftar’s followers contend that he is the only Libyan truly fighting Islamists in the country. Islamic State fighters may be on the run, but other jihadi groups and the Muslim Brotherhood are deeply entrenched in GNA-controlled areas. The Brotherhood’s Abdussalam Kajman is a deputy leader of the Presidential Council, or Cabinet, led by GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
“We don’t like the GNA because it is controlled by the Islamists who destroyed Libya in 2011 during the revolution,” said Ali al-Wershefani, a Petroleum Facilities Guards member who joined Gen. Haftar’s forces. “Nowadays, I can say 75 percent or more of Libyans desire Gadhafi to come back again, and therefore they support Haftar today.”

Friday, September 30, 2016

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT; Libya: Civilians trapped in Benghazi in desperate conditions as fighting encroaches

The Amnesty International Report about Libya:




30 September 2016, 17:49 UTC

Fears are growing for hundreds of civilians who are trapped in a Benghazi neighbourhood which faces intensified fighting after several months under military blockade, Amnesty International said today.

The organization has gathered testimony from some of the 130 Libyan families and hundreds of foreign nationals who have been trapped for months in the residential district of Ganfouda, in south-west Benghazi. All entry roads are blocked by the fighting or Libyan National Army forces, and food, water and electricity supplies have been cut off.

“Time is running out for civilians in Ganfouda, who are being left to die trapped by the fighting. While bombs and shells continue to rain down on them, civilians are struggling to survive on rotten food and dirty water. And the sick and wounded must make do with dwindling supplies of expired medicines,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
"Time is running out for civilians in Ganfouda, who are being left to die trapped by the fighting. While bombs and shells continue to rain down on them, civilians are struggling to survive on rotten food and dirty water"
               Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Director of the Middle East and 
                         North Africa Programme at Amnesty International


“As the airstrikes intensify and the fighting moves ever closer, many people are too afraid to leave their homes. We are urging all parties to the fighting in Benghazi to respect international humanitarian law and allow unfettered access to humanitarian relief for civilians in need. Those who wish to leave must be protected from any attacks based on where they are from or their perceived political affiliation.”

A military offensive named Operation Dignity was launched in mid-2014 by former General Khalifa Haftar against Islamist militias and armed groups in Benghazi, which later formed a coalition known as the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (SCBR). During fighting in the city, both sides have committed serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, in some cases amounting to war crimes.

Two years on, the Libyan National Army under Khalifa Haftar’s command has continued to carry out repeated air strikes on areas under SCBR control in Benghazi - namely Ganfouda and other smaller pockets in the city - endangering the lives of civilians. General Khalifa Haftar’s forces have also restricted entry to, and departure from Ganfouda, leaving many people pinned down by airstrikes.

Mohamed, a resident of Ganfouda, told Amnesty International that airstrikes and artillery shelling have intensified and moved closer over the past week. He spoke of the desperate need for humanitarian supplies, especially for children.

“Children look like skin and bones because of the lack of food and poor nutrition… If they could just drop us some food for the children or get them out of here, even if that meant leaving the rest of us, that would be fine,” he said.
" Children look like skin and bones because of the lack of food and poor nutrition"
He described how the flour, rice and oil available had all expired, and how lack of cooking fuel meant they had to cook in a wheelbarrow filled with coal. Mohamed has a kidney problem, but the medicine he needs to treat this has run out.
Mohamed took in eight other families who fled the fighting and around 45 people, including 23 children, are now living in terribly cramped conditions in his house.

“There are no fighters amongst us: we’re just normal civilians,” he said.

He described how constant, indiscriminate shelling and lack of electricity, which has been cut for over two years, leaves them huddled at home in the dark. “It’s like we’re in prison,” he said.

“We just want a safe way to leave,” said “Waleed”, another resident trapped in Ganfouda, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.

“I have two sons, one is three and a half and the other is two years old. There is no baby milk or food for them. I have to fill bottles with water and fool them into thinking it’s milk.”

As well as the lack of basic supplies which make daily life so difficult, people are also living in constant fear of airstrikes and shelling, with many saying they are too scared to leave their homes. One of the civilians Amnesty International had been in contact with inside Ganfouda, Tarik Gaoda, was killed on 1 July 2016 alongside his 80-year-old father. They perished as a result of a fatal air strike, according to an eyewitness who did not want to be named for security reasons. 

“Planes are patrolling the skies and people are scared to even walk outside because any area where they see movement, they strike. Even a mosque was hit by shelling a few months ago,” said “Hassan”.

“There are constant airstrikes, and we don’t leave our houses at all,” said “Khadija”, a woman trapped with her four young children including a 10-month-old girl who she was forced to give birth to at home because of the fighting. She has no baby powder or medical supplies for her daughter, and the lack of clean water is becoming a serious concern.

 “All the warring parties must take all feasible precautions to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the fighting in Ganfouda and other parts of Libya in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” said Magdalena Mughrabi. 

“Indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks are prohibited by international law and every effort must be made to distinguish between military targets and civilians or civilian homes and buildings.  Artillery and other imprecise explosive weapons with wide area effects should never be used in the vicinity of densely populated civilian areas.”

Amnesty International has expressed concern for an estimated 130 detainees who were abducted by the armed group Ansar al-Sharia in 2014 and are also trapped under fire in Benghazi. Recent media reports, which have not been independently verified, suggest that as many as 20 detainees may have been killed in airstrikes, with photos of their dead bodies shared online.

Hundreds of foreign nationals, including Sudanese, Chadian and Bangladeshi migrant workers are believed to be amongst those trapped in Ganfouda. According to media reports, at least five Sudanese nationals were killed in an airstrike in mid-August. Ganfouda residents interviewed by Amnesty International have also said that foreign nationals were amongst those killed in recent airstrikes.

“ We’re living like animals”

“We’re living like animals,” said “Samir”, another resident and former judicial police officer who lives in Ganfouda with his wife, three sons and a one year old daughter. He has also taken in three other families who were displaced by the conflict– bringing the number of people living in their household to 24, including 14 children.

“Our house has been hit and damaged by three tank shells. One hit the bedroom, another the stairs, while the third shell hit the kitchen but did not explode. The shell is still there and intact,” he said, adding that at least six families have had loved ones killed in airstrikes in August. Two of the families were from Chad.

Lack of a phone signal in many parts of Ganfouda has made it difficult for those trapped to make contact with the outside world, meaning their relatives do not know whether they have survived.

Civilians are also scared that they may be subjected to attacks based on their perceived support for SCBR forces, after a tribal leader affiliated with Operation Dignity stated at the end of August that any person over the age of 14 should not be allowed to leave Ganfouda alive.

“All sides should be facilitating the delivery of aid and granting civilians who wish to leave the area safe passage. Civilians should not be used as human shields, and those who wish to leave must be protected from arbitrary detention, torture or any other abuses, “said Magdalena Mughrabi.

Italian-Libyan operational Security Room for the first time-watchdog operations in Tripoli

Italian authorities reveals unprecedented step to comprise a Libyan-italian operational room based in Tripoli and is tasked to monitoring Libyan coasts and seal the borders, the operation is to be done by means of drones and training of special Border Guard Teams. These are the main objectives of the Italian-Libyan operations room, which has just switched to Tripoli.

The goal is to stem illegal migration from Africa to Europe through Libya, and to encountering traffickers and also Islamic terrorism! The relation between trafficking and terrorism is so strong since the normal refugees do not need to unless in exceptional cases - dangerous cutthroats, it is equally certain that the soldiers of the Caliph SIGN profitable business tramp steamers with crime. human trafficking and terrorist infiltration will therefore be subject to audits, evaluations and operational strategies. All, of course, yet to be agreed and defined in detail.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Hifter postpones talking about his intention to run for presidency in Libya



Commanding general of the army, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar said he only recognizes the authority of the House of Representatives, though Libya needs to «have a high-level military experience leader», refusing to talk about the offer to take over the presidency, pointing out that Libya needs security and political and social stability first.

Marshal Khalifa Haftar avoided to directly respond to a question, by the US-Associated Press whether he would run for presidency, saying: «The country needs political stability, security  and social stability first, and will not answer this question until these things come true» and added that the capital « abducted by armed gangs, and in a state of chaos due to the presence of the Islamic militia factions ».

The Commander in Chief of the Army accused the United Nations envoy Martin Kobler to intervene in Libyan affairs, after seeking to arrange a meeting between Hfter and OS in order to discuss the formation of the Libyan army.

The first Italian military force launches its work in Misrata




Cairo - the center gate
Italian sources revealed that elements of the military force to participate in the process of «Hippocrates» reached Misurata last week, and has already begun in the exercise of its functions.
Newspaper «Il Redattore» reported that the Italian soldiers arrived on board the «San Marco» ship Wednesday, September 21 th, indicating that it originated in «to La Spezia» base to the island of Sicily, where they brought with them other soldiers were waiting for them.
Italian soldiers will take the field hospital, which Italy has announced that it Schidh aid to Libyan patients in the city of Misrata, noting that Defence Minister Italian, Roberta Pinotti, has already announced that this task includes the participation of 100 paratrooper troops make up the «protection force» and take turns in three shifts a day to ensure the safety of Protection the hospital staff.
The team fitted 65 hospital doctors and health workers, in addition to 135 people for logistical support.
Italian newspaper said that the field hospital No. 1, which was established by the Air Force with a capacity of 12 beds, will be dismantled with the completion of the hospital (2), which accommodates 50 cases, pointing out that the presence of the carrier air «C27J», which is based in Misurata airport-based , will allow the transfer of critical cases to other hospitals.

One week deadline for the usurpers of private and public properties




Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar (Internet)
The Commander in Chief of the Libyan army, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, gave a deadline one week only that is not extendable to those who are raping private or public property, to ahead to the nearest police station to hand over any property they possess outside the scope of the law and provide all relative information by the first of October.

The Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar warned those who committed an assault and the acquisition of property of individuals or the state that the armed forces and security authorities will not hesitate to use their authority and power to remove it and return it to its owners and to take strict measures to punish the aggressors.

Marshal Khalifa Haftar issued an order to all troops and support units and security , which confirmed the rhythm of the maximum strict legal sanctions against the perpetrators of these attacks to reassure citizens the fact that the property is protected by the competent authorities in the state.


Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally




Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally, (born 28 May 1952) is a Libyan politician who served as the interim Prime Minister of Libya for seven and a half months during the Libyan Civil War, chairing the executive board of the National Transitional Council from 5 March to 23 October 2011.[5][6] He also served as the Head of International Affairs.[7] As of July 2012, Jibril is the head of one of the largest political parties in Libya, National Forces Alliance.[8]

Toward the end of the conflict, Jibril was increasingly referred to by foreign governments and in media as the interim prime minister of Libya rather than as the chairman of the executive board, the title used to describe him on the NTC's website, but it was unclear whether this was an official title or simply referred to his position as the provisional council's head of government.[9] Jibril's government was recognized as the "sole legitimate representative" of Libya by the majority of UN states including France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Iran, and Qatar.