By Mary Louise Kelly
In April 2016, former President Barack Obama singled out the “worst mistake” of his presidency: his administration’s lack of planning for the aftermath of the 2011 military intervention in Libya. Read More
Author - ab_mnbr
By Abdullah Ben-Ibrahim
The fate of chief of Dignity Operation Khalifa Haftar, who has been admitted to a Paris hospital, remains in limbo after several identical sources reported his “death” on Friday, but his aides and supporters denied this. Read More
As the Arab League holds its 29th summit in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, few doubt that the 67-year-old organization is facing one of the most difficult periods in its history. Read More
By Declan Walsh
Pulverized buildings daubed with the names of fallen fighters line the ghostly seafront in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city. Land mines and booby-trapped bodies are scattered across the rubble. At night, men huddle over bonfires piled with broken furniture. Read More
By Karim Mezran
The situation in North Africa is developing in unexpected directions. Challenged by the Libyan crisis and the consequent threats that derive from its instability—continuing violence, expanding terrorism, and flourishing organized crime—it could be reasonably expected that a more assertive cooperation would incur among the North African countries. Read More
As Libya’s war economy persists, prospects for the restoration of functioning central governance become more distant, concluded a Chatham House report published today. Read More
By Jamie Merrill,
The British government has been ordered to hand over a top secret Metropolitan Police file that recommended charges against a senior MI6 officer for his role in the alleged illegal rendition and torture of opponents of Gaddafi. Read More
By Karim Mezran and Erin Neale
The situation in Libya seems irrevocably stalled. The internationally recognized government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and the Abdullah al Thinni government in al Beida—supported by the legitimately elected parliament of 2014, now residing in Tobruk—are as distant as ever. Read More
By Emily Estelle
Libya’s would-be strongman suffered a stroke and was transported to Paris for medical treatment on April 10. Read More
Foreign militia groups in volatile Libya a growing threat
On March 13, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya issued a statement of concern at ongoing violence in Sabha, a city in Libya’s impoverished south where a flare-up in tensions since late January has to date killed at least six civilians. Read More
Haftar reportedly slipped into a coma after suffering a stroke, but a spokesman denies the claims and says he’s well. Read More
By Jack Detsch
Guns and bullets to train two companies of Libyan soldiers are gathering dust in a German warehouse as the Donald Trump administration holds off on delivering the weapons to the violence-plagued North African country. Read More
By Arianna Nunez
Since the ousting and subsequent killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s oil production has remained below capacity. Read More
By Associated Press
Libyan militias, including some affiliated with authorities, are holding thousands of prisoners in prolonged arbitrary and unlawful detention that includes torture, the United Nations said Tuesday. Read More
By Nadine Dahan
Armed groups across Libya are holding thousands of civilians in arbitrary detention, with many subjected to torture, the UN reported on Tuesday, a legacy analysts said stemmed from ousted Gaddafi. Read More
The country lacks an electoral law, political freedoms and security. What could go wrong? Read More
By Hannah George
The Libyan Investment Authority filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a London court in what could be the beginning of a flurry of cases against major banks.
The Libyan Investment Authority filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a London court in what could be the beginning of a flurry of cases against major banks.
The few remaining print newspapers in Libya are largely unable to publish print versions, as years of instability have taken a toll on the industry. This has forced hundreds of newspapers out of business. Read More
By: Andrew McGregor
Renewed fighting in southern Libya around the Kufra and Sabha oases demonstrates the difficulty of reaching anything more substantial than temporary and fragile political agreements in the region. Read More
By Aidan Lewis
Libyan citizens are to be asked for their views on the country’s future in a series of U.N.-backed public consultations aimed at breaking a political stalemate and preparing for new elections after years of conflict and division. Read More
By Haki Abazi
The danger of Libya turning into a wholly fragmented failed state, a long-term haven of chaos run by organized crime, is real. In such a state, Libya will threaten an already fragile regional stability and generate constant threats to stabilizing efforts. Read More
By Abdel-Rahman Ghandour
Sarah and Makene were wearing the same clothes. The same red gloves. The same little socks. They are bright, friendly seven-year old, girls. Makene is from Cote d’Ivoire and Sarah from Guinea. “We are new friends,” they said in unison. Read More
By Mat Nashed
The last time Arwa el-Shershary saw her three children — Dahab, Abd and Mohammad — was on Sept. 2, 2015. They were on their way to school when armed men stopped their vehicle in Surman, a city in Libya’s northwest. Read More
By Nadine Dahan
The missile struck its desert city target with deadly effect, killing two high-value al-Qaeda targets in what has become a grimly familiar event in the US “war on terror”. Read More
Libya’s presidential and legislative elections are likely to be delayed to 2019, as competing political factions in the east and west struggle to develop an acceptable constitutional framework. Read More
By Jamal Jawhar
Libyan demonstrators protested in Tripoli’s Martyrs Square on Friday, demanding the unity of state institutions and the termination of the transitional phase by holding a referendum before elections. Read More
In Benghazi’s historic center, many of the landmark Ottoman and Italian-era buildings have been wrecked by years of war. Read More
Leaders of the two most heavily armed towns in western Libya met on Wednesday for the first time since they fought for control of Tripoli four years ago, hailing the reconciliation talks as “historic”. Read More
(Above) Libyans in cues in front of a bank, for some dinars from their salaries (left) – Other Libyans dealing hard currency in the black market (right).
By Aidan Lewis
Libya’s conflict cannot be resolved unless the black economy and “predation of public money” are ended, the U.N. envoy to the country said, calling on international actors to target “big traffickers” with sanctions. Read More
Investment is needed to boost production capacity
By Chris Stephen
Oil analysts collectively raised their eyebrows in late November when news emerged from Opec that Libya had joined the organisation’s production cuts, reversing its much-touted expansion plans. Read More
By Michael Brendan Dougherty
If John Bolton hopes to use the Libyan intervention as a model for North Korea, he needs to rethink his plan. Read More
By Jonivan Jones
Almost all international disputes for several years have been linked to the war in Syria, and other problem regions have been rarely recalled. Read More
By Aidan Lewis and Ahmed Elumami
Communities drawn into conflict after Libya’s 2011 uprising have no choice but to reconcile if the country is to recover, said the mayor of a town that was left isolated following fighting four years ago. Read More
Lutrichia or “Lutchi”, as her friends call her, arrived in Libya from the Philippines in the mid-eighties. Since then, she has worked all over the country. Read More
By Paul Peachey & David Connett
A British-based dissident is being pursued through the courts by the UK’s elite crime agency over a plot to assassinate the former Saudi king in a hit ordered by the ex-Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, The Independent can reveal. Read More
By Daniel J. Graeber
Rights group says general elections can’t take place this year in the fractured political landscape.
Oil-rich Libya is risking economic opportunities with its fractured political landscape, Human Rights Watch said in calling for improvements.
Libya fractured along multilateral lines in the wake of civil war in 2011 that culminated with the death of long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi. After general elections in 2014, the country was split with two governments vying for control.
“Armed groups have, since then, kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, tortured, forcibly disappeared, and killed thousands of people, with impunity,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday. “The protracted conflicts have decimated the economy and public services, and internally displaced 165,000 people.”
Last week, the U.N. Support Mission in Libya expressed concern about ongoing violence in the southern city of Sabha, saying the conflict was putting the nation’s infrastructure at risk.
General elections are scheduled for this year, though Human Rights Watch said free and fair elections are unlikely in the current environment.
U.N. Special Envoy to Libya Martin Kobler said last year that Libyan oil production was on a clear road to recovery and the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State, or Daesh, was a shadow of its former self. Nevertheless, the “fundamentals of the Libyan economy remain flawed,” and general financial instability was an obstacle to reconstruction.
In January, the head of Libya’s National Oil Corp., Mustafa Sanalla, said production was linked to the nation’s recovery. Last week, he said any interruptions to NOC operations would be prosecuted.
Economists at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Libyan production is near 1 million barrels per day. It ground to a halt in the wake of the fall of Gadhafi’s government.
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Daniel J. Graeber has been a contributor to the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions series since its inception, writing on war crimes and international law. He has focused considerably on the legal aspects concerning the U.S.-led “war on terror” and various war crimes tribunals.
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