The Illegal Immigration Agency (IIA) has spent more than 87 million dollars to provide food, drink and health care to illegal immigrants in Libya within the various shelters nationwide. According to a report prepared by the IIA and published by the New Arab online newspaper, most of this amount is now an accumulated debt to private catering services companies as a result of no government budget being allocated to the IIA to spend on the inmates in these shelters. The newspaper quoted the media spokesperson of the IIA as saying that 30,000 immigrants entered the shelters last year, of which 17 thousand were repatriated in cooperation with the international migration organization.
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The Media Office of Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous Operation declared on Friday a general state of alert among their security forces in Sirte after monitoring movements of armed groups in the east of the city, without specifying their identity. The Media Office announced in an urgent statement that the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous forces erected security barriers at the entrances and exits of the city in anticipation of any possible attack. Earlier, officials from Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous Operation held the Presidential Council responsible for the lack of logistical support to aid the performance of security personnel. They also blamed the Presidential Council for negligence to follow-up treatment of the wounded fighters of the operation and families of martyrs.
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The spokesman of Dignity Operation, Ahmed Al-Mismari, has declared that his leadership will not hand over the senior field commander in the Special Forces, Mahmoud Al-Werfalli, to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Al-Mismari said in a television interview on Thursday that the Military Police had released Al-Werfalli on bail, adding that they are not considering handing him over to the ICC at all. "Handing him over to the International Criminal Court is out of the question," said Al-Mismari, adding that the Libyan military law is a strict one. Al-Werfalli had previously stated that he had surrendered himself to the military police in the eastern city of Marj, following calls from the ICC to arrest him.
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The head of the youth movement of Awaqir tribe, Al-Jarah Al-Aqouri, declared that the coastal road east of Benghazi had been reopened. Al-Aqouri said in a press statement that they had reopened the blocked roads after mediation with the Special Forces Commander of Khalifa Hefter forces, Wanis Bukhamada, who pledged to intervene and secure the release of the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry of Presidential Council, Faraj Aqaim, as soon as possible. Protesters from the Awaqir tribe closed Thursday the eastern entrance to the city of Benghazi and the gates of Barsis, Tanslookh and Munqar, which link Benghazi to surrounding cities and towns to the east on Thursday in protest of the continued detention of Faraj Aqaim.
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The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said Friday that a fire broke in the second turbine of Al-Zawiya Oil Refinery, adding that smoke from the fire billowed the sky with several non-fatal suffocation cases among the workers. The NOC added in a statement that firemen and security personnel managed to put out the fire and take the workers to a healthcare center, denying hydrogen sulfide leakage.
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The former head of the Libyan Stock Market, Suleiman Shahoumi, said on his Facebook page on Thursday that the assets of the Libya Investment Authority (LIA) are seriously threatened by host countries. Shahoumi stressed that serious measures are being prepared by those countries, especially Britain, to use Libyan funds, in reference to the intention of the House of Lords to put in place legislation allowing the government to use Libyan funds to compensate the victims of terror attacks by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), during which the latter used weapons and ammunition obtained from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
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A member of the Reconciliation Committee between Tawergha and Misrata, Abdul-Nabi Bu Arrabeh, said on Friday that the Tawerghan IDPs in the district of Qarara Qatif near Bani Walid town are suffering from a shortage of tents. He stated that the number of families arriving there is increasing after a surge in the numbers on Thursday and Friday, adding that they need for extra tents to shelter them from cold and rain. Bu Arrabeh said that since Thursday evening, they have been trying to prevent many families from returning to their homes in Tawargha, noting that the children, women and the elderly who are in the open have exceeded a thousand families. He added that it is likely that number of families in the camp will begin to decline with the start of the school exams, which are due to begin next Sunday.
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The Head of the Media Office of Libyan Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Arbad, said on Friday that the ministry is following the case of Ahly Benghazi and Tahadi football players who are currently detained in Italy. Arbad added that Foreign Minister, Mohamed Siyala, held discussions with the Italian Interior Minister, Marco Minniti concerning the two players’ case last Wednesday in the Italian capital, Rome. Arbad confirmed that Minniti had informed Siyala of his understanding and readiness to find a solution to the football players' issue. According to Arbad, Italian authorities had detained players from Ahly Benghazi and Tahadi football clubs in 2014 on charges of human trafficking after arriving in Italy by sea.
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that since early January they have provided psychological and psycho-social support to 400 illegal immigrants in Libyan shelters. The IOM stated on their official website that they seek to help migrants cope with the distressing experiences through psychosocial relief activities such as art, singing and sport. The IOM added that they will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in Libya and seek to improve long-term assistance and protection to all groups in the country.
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Investment and Economic Development Committee at Tobruk municipality held last Thursday a meeting with a US-based company for spatial development framework (SDF) in Tobruk. The meeting discussed saw signing a partnership contract between the firm and the municipality for several projects including expanding Tobruk's port and building a runway for freighters at the city's airport.
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