The First Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Emhimmed Shaib, has resigned. Sources from Tobruk-based parliament said Shoaib, an MP from the western city of Zawiya, submitted his resignation officially to the Presidency of the parliament, giving a number of reasons behind his decision. The sources did not disclose the reasons. Shoaib took part in the rounds of Libyan political dialogue as a member of the dialogue team of House of Representatives.
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The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, announced Thursday that the European Union will deport 15.000 African illegal immigrants from Libya in two months, adding before the Brussels summit that the process will end by February 2018. The EU along with the African Union is working with the International Organization for Migration as well as the Libyan authorities in order to return the stranded African migrants in Libya to their home countries.
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The Foreign Minister of Tunisia, Khemaies Jhinaou, has called for holding a fourth meeting for the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt along with Tunisia as per the initiative of the Tunisian President for ending the crisis in Libya, according to Tunisian Foreign Ministry’s statement on Friday. The meeting which was agreed on in the previous meeting in Cairo on November 15 will review the latest development in the Libyan issue, in addition to discussing ways to end Libya’s political dilemma in a comprehensive manner, building on the previous meetings in Algeria, New York and Cairo.
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The UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame has confirmed that the UNSMIL is working on returning to work from inside Libya at the beginning of January. Adding in a meeting with the Head of the Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sirraj in Tunisia that the international community is keen on leaving no political vacuum in Libya, Hence it remains supportive to the Libyan Political Agreement. He added that the international community also backs up the political process led by the UN in the aim to reach elections in Libya. Al-Sirraj, meanwhile, confirmed that his government supports the UN action plan led by Salame and the efforts to find a solution to the crisis via parliamentary and presidential elections.
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Ubari city in southern Libya threw a celebration after Al-Jumhouriya Bank had reopened its doors for clients for the first time since 2014. The bank was closed over security issues. Ubrai witnessed violent clashes in 2014 between armed groups from Tubu and Tuareg tribes leading to waves of displacement among the residents before reconciliation efforts helped brokering a truce that has been holding for three years now.
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Russia’s ambassador to Libya Ivan Molotkov said Friday his country is not in support for the commander of Dignity Operation forces Khalifa Haftar, adding in an interview with Sputnik that it is untrue that Russia is backing up Haftar in Libya. “We don’t support one side over the others,” he added. He also expressed his country’s readiness to lift the ban on arms exports to Libya after a united armed force is formed in the country, expressing Russia’s doubts that arms could fall in the hands of terrorists in the time being with a united military institution.
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The Defense Minister of the Presidential Council’s government Mihdi Al-Barghathi has stated that there are some Libyan parties who are attempting to confine the entire Libyan military institution to one person or one family in east of the country – in a blindingly obvious implication of Khalifa Haftar and his sons. Al-Barghathi added in a meeting with military officers and House of Representatives members in Al-Zawiya city that the initiative of uniting the Libyan army, for which many Libyans raised the bar of their hopes, is untrue. “Uniting the Libyan military institution necessitates the existence of one single government in Libya, in addition to putting an end to the political deadlock in the country.” He explained.
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The Libyan coastguards said one of the patrols in Al-Khums city in the central branch managed Friday to rescue 110 illegal immigrants from different African countries off the city’s shores. The rescued migrants included 25 women and seven children, who were reported as in terrible conditions, but were provided with the needed medical care before they had been sent to the Anti-Illegal Immigration Department’s shelter center in Al-Khums. Likewise, a coastguards’ patrol saved the lives of 47 illegal immigrants off Garabulli coast including 10 women and 21 children. The 47 immigrants were later sent to the Tripoli Naval Base before they were transferred to Tariq Al-Sikka detention center, where they received medical care and lifesaving assistance.
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The Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Abdelrahman Al-Sweihli said Libya needs not to lift the ban on arms amid the current absence of a strong government, adding in a meeting with the Swedish ambassador to Libya in Tripoli that more conflicts will take place in the country if the arms embargo was lifted. He also called on Sweden as the Head of the Sanctions Committee to support Libya, saying the HCS continues to back up the political process’s continuity until a balanced settlement of conflicts is reached, leading to amending the Libyan Political Agreement as per the UNSMIL Head’s action plan. He also denounced the media campaign against Libya that alleges there are slaves’ markets in the country.
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