libya crisis

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said his country offered "absolute support" to Libya when he hosted Libyan President Mohammad Younes Menfi. Algeria is ready to help Libyans "make their country's voice heard" and "to bring aid and assistance to Libya ... to solve some problems that have arisen," Tebboune said after a meeting between the two men. He was quoted in a presidential statement published by Algerian media that did not elaborate on the "problems" he was quoting. But Libya is struggling to emerge from…

If Libya's national elections scheduled for December are delayed, the war-torn country will return to "square one" and unrest in 2011, the speaker said, with a new rival government likely to set up in the east. The election is seen in the West as a critical step in efforts to create stability in Libya, which has been in chaos since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011 against Muammar Gaddafi. Libya, a major oil and gas producer, was divided in 2014 between an internationally recognized government in the…

Two more mass graves have been discovered in the city of Tarhuna, freed from the forces of putschist general Khalifa Haftar, Libyan authorities said on Wednesday. According to a statement from the government's institution for searching and determining missing individuals, two more mass graves were discovered in the countryside and work is underway to determine more graves. Authorities did not say how many bodies were found in the graves. According to official sources from Libya, Haftar's forces and…

The Libyan military will continue to maintain the critical path of Misrata-Sirte, despite the fact that militias loyal to Putist general Khalifa Haftar do not follow the terms of an agreement, according to a statement. General Abdulhadi Darah, spokesman for the Libyan military's Sirte-Juffra Joint Operations Center, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that pro-Haftar forces have not complied with the terms of the agreement reached after the 5 + 5 military commission on June 20. He noted that the pro-Haftar forces…

The latest disagreements over reaching a compromise to hold elections in Libya in December threaten the roadmap on the way to finally ending a decade of chaos in the war-torn country, analysts say. Seventy-five delegates from the war-torn North African country aired their differences at crazy rallies in Geneva last week. But despite an extra day of unplanned talks, they remain divided over when to hold elections, what elections to hold and on what constitutional grounds - a blockade that threatens to…

When the world powers met in Berlin on Wednesday to seek lasting peace in Libya by ensuring that the conflict-torn North African country stays steady on the road to general elections on December 24, Turkey is represented by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu under the motto "Libya belongs to the Libyans." Representatives of Libya's caretaker government joined US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of France, Turkey and Egypt in UN-sponsored talks. While Russian Foreign Minister…

The US envoy to Libya said that Washington was in talks with certain actors about the withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-torn country before the planned elections in December. Richard Norland told reporters that part of the importance of Libya's choice was to ensure that a fully empowered, credible and legitimate government could force foreign actors to withdraw their troops. "It will be a very important development and ... very effective, but we do not suggest that we have to wait until next…

Officials representing Turkey, Russia and the UN discussed the Libya issue at a meeting in the Russian capital Moscow on Monday. Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's special envoy to the Middle East and Africa, Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and Jan Kubis, UN special envoy to Libya, met in Moscow on Monday, according to a statement from the Kremlin. At the meeting, they stressed the need to strengthen international initiatives under UN supervision to support the forthcoming elections in Libya.…

Qatar promised to continue supporting Libya's internationally supported political process, which aims to end the decade-long conflict and foreign interference. "We support UN-sponsored political processes in the hope of preserving Libya's territorial integrity and preventing foreign interference in its affairs," Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said during a visit to the Libyan capital. "Our exchanges have been fruitful, especially in support of the transition process in…

Libya's foreign ministry said its joint consular committee with Egypt had resumed work after an eight-year hiatus on Wednesday. The committee held its 13th session in the Egyptian capital Cairo on May 4-5, the ministry said in a statement. During the discussion, it was discussed to facilitate the processing of visas for citizens of the two countries, simplify entry procedures and abolish entry fees. Among the most important topics on the agenda were also the aspects of joint co-operation in the…