Libya's unity government told to leave Tripoli after arrival

Libya's unrecognised authorities in control of Tripoli on Wednesday demanded that the head of a UN-backed unity government Fayez al-Sarraj leave just hours after he arrived in the capital.

In a televised address, the head of the Tripoli government Khalifa Ghweil said Sarraj's government was "illegal", asking him to leave the capital or to "hand himself in".

Sarraj, who was named prime minister-designate in December under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal, arrived at a naval base in Tripoli Wednesday following growing international calls for Libya's rival political camps to unite behind his administration.

"Those who entered illegally and secretly must surrender or turn back," Ghweil said. "We won't leave Tripoli as long as we are not sure of the fate of our homeland."

Sources within the Libyan army controlled by the Tripoli authorities toldThe New Arab that a state of emergency had been declared since the arrival of Sarraj on Wednesday.

Even before Ghweil's news conference had ended, forces loyal to his government began deploying in the capital and closing major roads.

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognised parliament to flee to the country's remote east.

Car bomb in Libyan oil port kills 7, wounds 11: guards spokesman

Reuters | Benghazi (Libya)

A car bombing at a checkpoint in the Libyan oil port of Ras Lanuf left seven people dead and 11 wounded on Thursday, a Petroleum Facilities Guard spokesman said.

Ali al-Hassi said the car had been in a queue at the checkpoint and exploded when it reached the front. The casualties included guards and civilians, he said

UN proposes unity government to end Libya conflict

The UN special envoy, Bernardino Leon, presented the proposed government in Morocco [Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP]

The UN envoy for Libya has announced a national unity government for Libya after months of talks between the North African country's two rival governments.
Bernardino Leon told reporters late on Thursday that the names of candidates for the national unity government have been decided.
Leon said the prime minister for the new government is Fayez Sarraj, a member of the Tripoli-based administration.
"We believe this list can work," Leon said of the names, which include three deputies for the prime minister - representing the country's east, west and south - and two ministers to complete a presidential council.
"All of them will work as a team," Leon said. He added, "This was not an easy task."

Negotiators who attended the peace talks representing the rival governments approved the names of candidates, but the parliaments for both sides must approve them, too.
Mohamed Eljarh, an analyst at the Atlantic Council's Hariri Centre for the Middle East, said this seemed "very unlikely" as there had been a lot of negative reaction on both sides.
Rival administrations
Libya has had rival administrations since August last year, when an alliance of militias from the city of Misrata known as Libya Dawn took over the capital, Tripoli.
The group drove out the internationally-recognised government, which now operates in the eastern city of Tobruk.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the proposal of a unity government in a statement issued by his media office, while urging the parties to accept and sign the agreement.
The statement said Ban "urges Libyan leaders not to squander this opportunity to put the country back on the path to building a state that reflects the spirit and ambitions of the 2011 revolution".
The foreign policy chief of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, also welcomed the announcement.

Stumbling blocks in the process have been the disbanding of militias as well as the removal of former general Khalifa Haftar - the military commander for the Tobruk parliament, which is recognised by the UN and the Arab League.
Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays said the new government, if approved, would face "immense challenges" in governing the country, which has been in turmoil since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in 2011.
"The two main factions only reluctantly agreed to the deal, and there has been so much bloodshed and political bad blood that there are many across the political spectrum who oppose it," he said.
"There are fighters and militias who are unlikely to obey the new government."
The government will also have to deal with the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which has gained a foothold in Gaddafi's former hometown, Sirte.
The country has porous borders and is awash with arms. It has also become a hub for smugglers who prey and refugees trying to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

UN mediates Libyan talks in Geneva

Talks between rival Libyan factions have started in Geneva with the aim of reaching a peace deal that could lead to the development of a unity government. The UN is hosting the talks in the Swiss city amid warnings they could be the last chance for peace in the oil-rich North African nation. Bernadino Leon, UN special envoy for Libya, said at the outset of the talks on Wednesday that he hoped armed factions would observe a ceasefire to support the process. Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Geneva, said several "important players" were not yet in attendance at the talks. The talks are supposed to bring together delegates from the self-declared government which took over the capital Tripoli last year, as well as the internationally recognised government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni - and the armed forces allied to the rival administrations. The new rulers of Tripoli said their legislature have postponed a decision over joining the Geneva talks until Sunday because of concerns about how the negotiations were organised. Door remains open Leon said the door would stay open and he was encouraged that several municipalities allied to Tripoli had decided to come. The initial talks may last until Friday and could resume next week if the Tripoli faction decides to join, he said. "We are proposing an agreement and we are proposing a new unity government to start solving their political differences," Leon said at a news conference. "The second goal is to stop the fighting." Libya has descended into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011 after a NATO-backed revolt, with rival governments and fighters battling for territory. The Tobruk-based internationally recognised government, which has lost control of much of the country, has pleaded for international help in combating the fighters. On Tuesday, three Libyan soldiers were killed and four others wounded in a suicide car bombing on a road checkpoint west of Benghazi, according to a military official. The Tobruk-based government's forces have been battling Islamist fighters for control of Benghazi for months.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

A fierce battle for control in Libya's desert

South Libya - In Libya's southwest Saharan desert, near the vast el-Sharara oil field and the borders with Niger and Algeria, a fierce struggle for control of the small oasis town of Ubari and its surrounding area has dragged on since September. This desert conflict illustrates the shift of tribal allegiances in the country's post-revolution fight over resources and power, now cast within the larger national context of Libya's two competing governments and their agendas as the country slides deeper into civil war. "We are taking out dead bodies. Our challenge is how to get help inside the town, and to get people out," Mahmoud al-Araby, head of the Red Crescent Society in Ubari, told Al Jazeera. Along with his volunteer emergency health staff, he has been exiled to the nearby town of al-Ghoraifa. "We have brought out nine dead bodies so far," he said. "And they were decomposed when we got them." RELATED: Libya's Benghazi sees battles for control The battle of Ubari is between the historically semi-nomadic Tuareg and Tebu tribes, both indigenous to Libya's southern desert, with kin stretched across neighbouring countries. Both peoples coexisted under a truce called "Midi-Midi" as they found themselves marginalised by Muammar Gaddafi's favouritism towards Arab tribes. During the 2011 revolution, many Tuareg fighters backed the regime, which had promised them rights and rewards upon victory, while the Tebu supported the rebellion. But Tuareg and Tebu guns were never turned on each other. Today, the truce has been broken, with the tribes violently pitted against each other in Ubari. On the Libyan Tuareg side, their kin from countries such as war-ravaged Mali and groups like Ahmed al-Ansari have joined the fight, with support from the Misratan Libyan Dawn forces. Meanwhile, there are claims that Tebu from Chad have joined the Libyan Tebu, which has support from the Libyan Dignity government in Tobruk, based in the far northeast. Misrata, currently in control of the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC), has a military presence now stretching through Libya's west and to the south. With the Misratans changing their alliance to the Tuareg, there are accusations that external forces with their own larger motives are at play. On November 5, local Tuareg fighters, backed by Misratan forces, wrested control of Libya's largest operational oil field, el-Sharara, from the Zintan and Tebu security guards who had patrolled the perimeter over the past three years. The Spanish consortium Repsol operates from there. Armed Tuareg militias stormed the facility. They looted equipment, they fired shots, they were intimidating towards staff, and the facility subsequently closed because of the attack. They then left in a number of vehicles and drove towards the Algerian border. Some members returned, and the Misratan 'Third Force' claimed they had control of the Sharara facility. Geoffrey Howard, analyst with Control Risks "Armed Tuareg militias stormed the facility. They looted equipment, they fired shots, they were intimidating towards staff, and the facility subsequently closed because of the attack," Geoffrey Howard, an analyst with Control Risks, told Al Jazeera. "They then left in a number of vehicles and drove towards the Algerian border. Some members returned, and the Misratan 'Third Force' claimed they had control of the Sharara facility." The fight in Ubari has blocked the pitted road past the installation, and goods and workers can only be flown to the enormous desert site. White plumes of smoke rise above Ubari near the oil site now heavily guarded by Tuareg fighters and the Misratan military; the tall oil flares have been extinguished by members of the Zintan tribe, who blocked a valve to the pipeline hundreds of kilometres closer to the sea. Oil comprises 95 percent of Libya's economy. Before the revolution, production was about 1.6 billion barrels per day (bpd), and after Gaddafi's overthrow it bounced back to 1.4 billion bpd. But last year, as Libya's political fortunes worsened and heavily armed groups ruled the streets, oil production took a sharp tumble when disgruntled workers and federalists, led by Ibrahim Jadhran, took control of three of Libya's largest oil terminals in the east. This past summer, Jadhran sided with Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani's government, and output has risen again to 800,000 bpd. However, el-Sharara remains offline. The largest oil refinery at Ras Lanuf is shut, with the other, at Zawiyah, gravely affected by fighting. This translates to long lines of cars at petrol stations throughout Libya, and skyrocketing gas prices on a lucrative black market. "The last few months have been a surprise mainly because Libya has managed to produce so much oil despite all of the political insecurity," Richard Mallinson, an analyst with Energy Aspects, told Al Jazeera. "The oil numbers and the rest of Libya, with its politics and violence, have gone on opposite trajectories. "What seems to happen is that all the various factions are still able to draw government salary payments, whatever side they are on, and thus have an incentive to allow oil production to continue, so the revenue can continue," he added. "Then the victorious would take it all." The southern Libya border is ripe for smuggling people, gasoline, food, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs; it is suspected that weapons and fighters also flow across. "The French are worried about the strengthening of terrorism in south Libya - it is kind of a Club Med for terrorists," one western diplomat told Al Jazeera. After the Libyan revolution, many Tuareg fighters moved south into Mali with weapons, and fought alongside the group Ansar Dine. Now many of these young men are returning to Libya. Concerned French troops have moved closer to the Libyan border, and the United States has built two drone bases in neighbouring Niger. One concern is the possibility of weapons flowing to extremist groups like Ansar al-Sharia in towns in Libya's northeast. "All the fighters in Benghazi and Derna belong to tribes," said rival Prime Minister Omar al-Hassi, who acknowledged an "uneasy alliance" between his government and Ansar al-Sharia. "Many tribes fight because they lost their boys. Now they are united because they fight [against retired Libyan General Khalifa Haftar, allied with the 'Dignity' government]. You will find very few extremists - most are very normal and have nothing to do with extremism." RELATED: Libya: The war nobody can win Issa Senussi, a Tuareg political activist who appears to advise the Misratan command in Sebha, echoes Misratan complaints about their former revolutionary allies, the Tebu, and their control over checkpoints and Libya's lucrative border trade. "We need to drive the Tebu out of Ubari. This is the only way to make peace," Senussi told Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, Misratan intelligence agents and fighters have gathered in a dilapidated former safari hotel in Germa, down the road from Ubari. "We will move into Ubari to keep the peace between the two tribes," one of the men said. Rejab Agey, a Tebu elder from the nearby town of Murzuq, has been present at recent tribal negotiations in the Ubari valley. "We have no problem with the Libyan Tuareg. They are in their houses, and in valleys where they keep their camels. All southern tribes went to Ubari to broker a peace," he said. "But the Libyan Tuareg have no control over extremist groups like Ahmed al-Ansari, and the Misratans refuse to talk." Adam, a Tebu policeman from Ubari, agreed: "We were discussing how to stop the war. The Tebu were offering to get rid of all battalions, and that citizens should be in the police and the army, no matter if they are Tebu or Tuareg. The Tuareg refused." One Tuareg elder trying to forge peace is Mohammed from al-Aweinat, close to the Algerian border. "We are killing and destroying each other for nothing," he said. "Everyone has a different agenda. Myself, I am looking for an open dialogue, looking to bring back an agreement that was signed many years ago, and trying to protect the south in general. "The Tuareg and Tebu can once again become two hands in the desert," he said. "This is our goal."

Source: Al Jazeera

Libyan women struggle to join the workforce

Despite experiencing significant political and social instability in recent years, Libya is a country in which women are continuing to achieve above-average rates of higher education when compared to countries across the Middle East and North Africa. However, even when acquiring what is necessary to "make it", Libyan women still struggle to attain the same levels of employment, pay and access to senior positions as their male counterparts. Above all else, one thing is clear: Libyan women are highly educated. The majority of college graduates in the country are women, with 77 percent pursuing higher education courses, compared to 63 percent of men, according to a September 2013 report by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). OPINION: Libya: The war nobody can win However, the problems seem to arise after graduation, with only 43 percent of women gaining official employment. "The issue is not education, it's that following on from education, we have this drastic decrease where a lot of women are not entering the formal workforce," said Alaa Murabit from her home in Zawiyah, a city in northwest Libya. Murabit is the founder of The Voice of Libyan Women, a non-profit organisation that works to improve political participation and economic empowerment for women. Murabit, a doctor, says there are a few reasons for this decrease, one of which is that many women choose to work from home in order to accommodate their families' needs. "Most women will choose jobs that allow for them to have a family life - they will start at-home businesses. Those who start these businesses, where they are making sweets or have a sewing business, that's not seen as part of the formal economy; they are not officially part of the Libyan work force. And it's a large group of women who choose to work that way," explains Murabit. According to recent figures, only 20 percent of women in Libya take part in civic or political activity of any kind. Of Libya's working women, 73 percent choose careers in education or medicine. Hikmat Kmishi is the coordinator of Women for Democratic Transformation (WDT), a Tripoli-based network that encourages prospective female politicians. She affirmed that women tend to work in two main sectors. "Most women become doctors or teachers. We certainly don't have many female politicians," explains Kmishi, who holds cultural factors responsible for this trend. A lot of times when customers have issues, they will say 'I want to talk to the manager,' but they don't realise I am the manager, and it's usually satisfying for me to tell them that. - Assia Amry, manager, Aramex "Women are not traditionally in the public sphere, and while they are given jobs, rarely are they put in decision-making positions. It's the mindset, people still think women can't do a lot." Kmishi is one of many women who think that cultural practices are negatively affecting the female workforce, and it's a factor that arises for Libyan women in various sectors. Assia Amry works for Aramex, a global logistics and transportation provider. She is the manager of their Tripoli branch. She grew up in the US but moved to Libya in June 2012 with her father, who had been part of an anti-Gaddafi dissident movement. "My team are all men," says Amry. "At first I think they were amused at the idea of being led by a woman, but [they] eventually accepted it … and it's great." Amry explained that while there are some women in managerial positions in Libya, senior roles are overwhelmingly awarded to men. As a result, female employees can at times be overlooked. "The biggest challenge is with customers," she said. "A lot of times when customers have issues, they will say 'I want to talk to the manager,' but they don't realise I am the manager, and it's usually satisfying for me to tell them that." The number of women working in Libya's private sector is low at nine percent, but not necessarily because women are actively being discouraged to enter the work force, according to Amry. "It's not because in Libyan culture, women are taught not to achieve, or work; I just think Libya, in all aspects, is evolving… Libyan women are go-getters, they are looking for opportunities." Beyond pre-existing social factors, Libya's ongoing political turmoil has restricted freedom of movement for women across the country and in turn, discouraged women from entering politics. Noor El Huda Gleasa, 23, is a communications manager for Creative International Associates, an NGO that facilitates voter education and promotes civic engagement. She works across 16 different cities in Libya. "If a woman wants to work in politics or in a job that's in the spotlight, the security issues they face are much more severe than men," Gleasa told Al Jazeera. "It puts women in an incredibly difficult position." Similarly, Hanan Salah, the Libya Researcher for Human Rights Watch, pointed out that the ongoing conflict and lack of security across the country is the main issue affecting Libyan women's ability to work. Inside Story - Is Libya heading for chaos? "There have been several instances this past year where, due to the complete lack of law and order in parts of Libya, various militias and individuals are taking matters into their own hands by trying to prohibit women from travelling on their own without a male companion," Salah told Al Jazeera. "Some militias have been harassing women on university campuses. We have examples of women who have been forced to stop their studies because of the impunity that these militias and individuals are benefiting from." In short, the instability that has spread across Libya means that women's basic physical access to employment has been affected and this impacts the careers they pursue. "The reason a lot of women choose to be teachers isn't because they all had a particularly strong desire to be teachers, but it's because schools are everywhere and are easily accessible," Murabit said. "For women who don't have a husband or brother who will drive them everywhere, it's very difficult for them to have a corporate job downtown, because they would need transportation and Libyan public transportation is very poor." Murabit said this issue could easily be solved if the Libyan government invested in safe public transportation for women as well as establishing more locally based occupations. "There is a heavy reliance on what is a local and safe job, and these are primarily as educators, which is great for our future generations - but Libya now has an influx of teachers and not many women working in other fields." Women in Libya are now looking ahead to a new constitution that is currently being drafted by the parliament in Tripoli and is scheduled to be issued in December. While women's rights groups are pushing for a quota system to ensure they have a significant presence in the new parliament, the country's younger generation is determined to secure their place in Libya's future. "I really hope the new constitution is up to our standards," said Gleasa. "And if it's not, well, I know Libyan women won't stay quiet about it for long."

Source: Al Jazeera

One Libyan intelligence official killed, other kidnapped

General Yusuf al-Atrash, intelligence chief for Libya’s western city of al-Ujailat has been killed, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel late Sunday.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for his death.

Meanwhile, Libya’s deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Nuh was also abducted in Tripoli, a security official told Agence France-Presse

Tensions ran high in the capital following deadly violence over the weekend.

“The vice president of intelligence was abducted shortly after his arrival in Tripoli from a trip abroad,” the official, who wished not to be named, told AFP.

Former rebel commander Ala Abu Hafess told the channel he was in a car with Nuh when armed men ambushed them as they were leaving the airport.

Libya’s weak central government has struggled to rein in former rebel brigades that helped end former leader Muammar Qaddafi’s 40-year rule but have since grown into increasingly threatening militias.

In October, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was abducted for several hours by gunmen before being released unharmed.

A security chief claimed responsibility for the abduction and said he was “proud” of it.

Nuh’s and Atrash’s targeting came amid high tension in Tripoli where more than 40 people were killed and hundreds wounded when city residents rebelled against a militia.

The violence erupted on Friday when protesters, urged by local official to demonstrate peacefully against unruly militias, marched on the headquarters of a group from Misrata and were shot at from inside.

UN FINDS TORTURE WIDESPREAD IN LIBYA

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Torture is widespread in Libyan jails run by militias that toppled Moammar Gadhafi's regime in 2011, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.

U.N. investigators, who had periodic access to various detention centers, said there is evidence that 27 people have been tortured to death in the prisons, 11 of them this year, according to a report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Support Mission in Libya.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Support Mission in Libya said in a report released Tuesday that the problem is rampant in jails run by militias that triumphed in the eight-month civil war in 2011.

"In some cases, members of the armed brigades freely admitted, and even tried to justify, the physical abuse of detainees," the report said.

Last month, Libya adopted a new law that requires conflict-related detainees to be screened and processed within 90 days.

Conditions are improving for detainees held in prisons run by officers trained by Libya's Judicial Police, the report found. But many detention centers are still run by militias that have links to particular Libyan government ministries.

The U.N. investigators urged the Libyan government to accelerate the process of taking over the militia-run jails and installing trained police and corrections officers.

Some 8,000 detainees jailed since the eight-month civil war in 2011 are held without due process, the report said. They are usually held without access to lawyers and have only occasional access to families, the investigators found.

Torture "is most frequent immediately upon arrest and during the first days of interrogation as a means to extract confessions or other information," the report said.

HEAD OF LIBYAN ARMY BRIGADE KILLED IN ATTACK

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A spokesman for a Libyan national army brigade says the head of his unit has been killed and three soldiers wounded in an ambush en route to a southern city.

Brigade spokesman Ali el-Abed says his unit had been delivering army vehicles from Tripoli to the southern city of Sabha when they came under attack by unidentified gunmen around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from their destination.

A military official in Sabha, where the unit is based, says three assailants were also killed in the fighting Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

Abed says wounded from both sides have been transferred to hospitals in the capital Tripoli. The ambush occurred in the town of Kira, once a Moammar Gadhafi stronghold.

Tunisia arrests Libyan "terrorist" entering port with explosives

Tunisia said on Thursday police had arrested a Libyan "terrorist" trying to enter a southern port with explosives, as security forces wage a nationwide campaign against militants.

The Tunisian army and police said on Tuesday they were hunting more than 30 suspected al Qaeda-linked militants close to the border with Algeria, and President Moncef Marzouki travelled to the area to oversee the operation."The anti-terrorism task force ... arrested on Wednesday a terrorist Libyan trying to enter with a quantity of explosives in Port of Ktef in Ben Guardan," the interior ministry said.

Tunisia has become increasingly concerned about attacks the authorities blame on armed Islamists.

Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda Party, said on Thursday "terrorism has no future in Tunisia"."Now is not the time for dialogue with terrorists who carry a weapon," he told a news conference. Ghannouchi has in the past said he supported dialogue with hardline Salafist groups.

Police say radical Islamists were behind the assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid in February, which triggered the biggest street protests in Tunisia since the 2011 overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled for more than two decades.

Ex-Gaddafi PM in critical state after torture in Libya: Lawyer

Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, the last premier of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is in critical condition after being tortured in a Libyan prison, his Tunisian lawyer said on Wednesday.


The lawyer did not provide any further details nor reveal his sources for fear they could suffer reprisals.Mahmudi "is in critical condition as a result of the torture he has suffered," said Mabrouk Kourchid, adding that "he could die".
Mahmudi fled to neighbouring Tunisia in September 2011, shortly after rebels seized Tripoli and effectively put an end to more than four decades of Gaddafi;s iron-fisted rule.
He was arrested there and extradited to Libya last June, despite warnings from rights groups that he could face the death penalty.
He went on trial in November for what the prosecutor general's spokesman said were "prejudicial acts against the security of the state and financial crimes."
In July, Mahmudi protested his innocence to journalists visiting his prison.
"I am not guilty, not guilty, not guilty," he told reporters during a visit organised by the authorities in an apparent bid to quash rumours he had been tortured.
A physician by training, Mahmudi was loyal to Gaddafi until the end, serving as premier from 2006 up to the final days of his regime.
Along with Seif al-Islam, the toppled dictator's most high-profile son who is also on trial, Mahmudi is one of the few remaining keepers of the many state secrets under Gaddafi, who was captured and killed by rebels in October 2011.

Algeria hostage-takers 'aided by Libyan Islamists'

Libyan Islamists provided logistical support to the militants who seized an Algeria gas plant before they were killed in a bloodbath which also left 37 foreigners dead, well-informed sources said.

"Logistical support was provided from Libya," a source close to extremist groups in Libya told AFP.
The source did not specify the exact nature of such aid but acknowledged that Libyan Islamists were responsible for establishing contacts between the captors and the media.
International media groups, including AFP, were able to get from Islamist circles based in eastern Libya telephone numbers of the kidnappers as they last Wednesday overran the In Amenas gas plant in the deep Algerian desert.
"There were no Libyans in the group which led the attack," the source said but recognised that there were "contacts" between the captors and Libyan jihadists.
The source also said that Libyan Islamists had no organisational link with the group, "Signatories in Blood", that led the four-day siege of the gas complex.
The group is led by one-eyed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the founders of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM ). Belmokhtar left Al-Qaeda in October to create his own group.
Since the fall of the regime of Moamer Kadhafi in October 2011, Libyan Islamists have gained influence and inherited a large military arsenal from the conflict that ousted and killed the former Libyan strongman.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Monday the Islamist militants who carried out the attack on the gas plant had crossed from northern Mali.
He said they had planned the attack for nearly two months, much before France's intervention in northern Mali.
The militant group had said that their attack on the gas complex was in retaliation for French intervention in northern Mali.
Thirty-seven foreigners were killed in the attack on the remote gas plant, some of them executed with a bullet to the head, Sellal said.
He said that a total of 29 militants were also killed and three captured in the siege, which ended in a final showdown on Saturday after Algerian special forces stormed the sprawling gas complex.
Algeria has said its special forces managed to free 685 Algerian and 107 foreign hostages, most of them on Thursday, during their first rescue operation.

U.N. chief ‘alarmed’ by Libya fighting, calls on Libyans to resolve Bani Walid standoff peacefully

The U.N. chief expressed alarm on Monday by the fighting in and around the Libyan city of Bani Walid, and in particular the reports indicating growing civilian casualties due to indiscriminate shelling.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that all parties should be reminded of their obligations under international humanitarian law. He called on all the Libyan authorities and those in Bani Walid to “begin immediately a process to resolve the Bani Walid standoff peacefully.”

On Sunday, about 500 protesters broke into the grounds of Libya’s parliament building to demand an end to violence in Bani Walid, a former stronghold of the late Muammar Qaddafi that is being shelled by militiamen from a rival town.

Militias, many from Misrata and aligned with the Defense Ministry, have been shelling the hilltop town of 70,000 people for several days. State news agency LANA said on Sunday that 22 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the fighting.

“The Libyan authorities must be able to extend Libyan sovereignty and state control and services throughout the territory of Libya,” Ban’s statement said.

Ban urged all Libyans to work together to strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of state institutions across the country.

“The state and those militias acting in its name also have a responsibility to the people of Libya to act fully in accordance with international law, in particular international human rights law. All those involved in the fighting in and around Bani Walid should be aware that the international community is closely monitoring the situation,” the statement read.

Ban expressed his belief that the situation in Bani Walid could be resolved in a peaceful manner “that preserves the rights of all Libyan citizens and permits the state to exercise its responsibilities there.”

Libya’s new rulers have held elections but have struggled to impose their authority on a country awash with weapons a year after Qaddafi was killed and the fighting in Bani Walid underscored how tenuous their control remains.

In a country where rumors abound, there were also conflicting reports over the weekend about the fate of Qaddafi’s son Khamis and that of the late autocrat’s former spokesman.

In Tripoli, an unarmed group of male and female protesters forced their way past security guards at the gates of the grounds of the parliament buildings, chanting: “There is no God but Allah, and President (Mohammed) Magarief is God’s enemy.”

It was the second time protesters have broken into the grounds of the assembly since it took power in the summer.

The first time was on Oct. 4 when a group of protesters who believed their town was underrepresented in a proposed Libyan government stormed the assembly as it prepared to scrutinize the prime minister-elect’s nominations.

In the port city of Benghazi anger boiled over on Sunday night where about 400 unarmed but angry protesters stormed the grounds of private Libyan satellite channel Libya al-Ahrar.

The protesters demanded that the channel air photographic evidence that Qaddafi’s son Khamis had been killed in battle. Libyan officials had announced he had been killed in fighting in Bani Walid but that has not been confirmed.

Demonstrators said they were furious over what they deemed a false rumor, saying it had helped fuel violence in Bani Walid and stir up tribal enmity.

Bani Walid was one of the towns that remained loyal to Qaddafi the longest. It remains isolated from the rest of Libya and former rebels say there are still pockets of support for the old government there.

Some officials said Qaddafi’s son Khamis had been captured in Bani Walid and died after being taken to Misrata. But there was no official written statement from the government on this, as with previous captures of former Gaddafi-era figures.

Khamis was reported dead on at least three separate occasions during last year’s conflict. A Syrian-based television station that supported Gaddafi said he had been killed in fighting southeast of Tripoli on Aug. 29, 2011.

Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur to stand down

Libya's Prime Minister-elect is to stand down after failing for a second time to win parliamentary approval for a new cabinet.

Mustafa Abu Shagur had called for the formation of an "emergency government", consisting of just 10 ministries.

The General National Congress (GNC) voted 125 to 44 against the proposal. Seventeen members abstained, according to a Libyan national television report.

The GNC now has three to four weeks to elect a new premier.

The national assembly was elected in July in Libya's first free elections in decades, following the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Principles

Mr Shagur's second and final offer consisted of just 10 ministries, as opposed to the 29 he offered last week.

Before the vote he told the GNC it was a proposal to lead Libya with no regionalism, and urged members to "assume its responsibilities at this historic time".

His initial cabinet line-up was rejected late on Thursday on the basis that it was not representative of important regions and lacked qualified members.

During the debate, protesters - mostly from the towns of Zawiya and Zuwara - stormed the Congress building in the capital Tripoli, calling for his resignation.

Mr Shagur had initially aimed for a unity government and what he described as "people with merit" to work with him.

However, he said that when he consulted with political parties, some had pursued their own agendas. Without naming them, he said one party had demanded 11 seats, and another had asked for nine.

Mr Shagur said he would not give in to pressure and political games.

"I will not abandon my principles and my convictions. I did not return to Libya [from years in exile] to become head of government, I came back to serve the country and its children," he said.

Mr Shagur studied at the University of Tripoli before moving to the US, where he earned a PhD and worked as an academic and optical engineer.

He returned in 2011 to become an adviser to the National Transitional Council, which was formed during the revolt that ousted Gaddafi.

In September, he was elected by the national assembly to be the country's next prime minister, in a run-off vote in which he narrowly beat Mahmoud Jibril - who served as interim prime minister following the overthrow of the regime.

Libya launches weapons collection drive

Hundreds of Libyans turned over their weapons at collection points in the capital and the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday following rallies which called for disarmament and the disbanding of militias.

A steady trickle of men surrendered their weapons to national army troops stationed in Tripoli’s Martyrs Square and in Benghazi’s Freedom Square, AFP journalists reported.

“We are astonished by the positive turnout,” said Colonel Hussein Abdullah Khalifa in Tripoli, adding that the initiative was galvanized by anti-militia rallies pressing for a united army held in Libya’s two largest cities this month.

Tripoli campaign organizer Ziad Hadia told AFP that “more than 100 people had turned in light, medium and heavy weapons as well as ammunition ranging from bullets to tank shells” in the first half of the day.

“We also received three heat-seeking missiles,” he added, while one person had come forward with a tank which is to be delivered to the army later at an undisclosed location.

In Benghazi, the army tallied more than 200 weapons, an AFP journalist said.

Those numbers represent just a tiny fraction of the arms that spilled out of the arsenals of toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi but it was seen as a step forward in a country where many cling to their weapons citing insecurity.

“To achieve security we must take the first step ourselves,” said Mustafa Abu Hmeid, a 23-year-old mechanic clutching a rifle, a treasured spoil of the 2011 conflict which ended in Qaddafi’s ouster and death.

Housewife Mariam Abu Swera expressed relief: “As long as there are arms on the streets, I can’t move freely or go about my normal life, so we really welcome this step.”

The collection drive is a collaboration between the national army and private television station al-Hurra, which drummed up support through its live broadcasts from Tripoli and Benghazi.

Organizers in both cities will raffle off prizes, including two cars, at the end of the day-long collection. They said the process was not a one-off event and would be repeated to include other cities.

A Sept. 11 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, including the US ambassador, was followed by mass anti-militia protests in the city, increasing pressure on Libyan authorities to tackle insecurity.

On Friday, hundreds of people rallied in Tripoli in support of a national army and against armed groups.

Benghazi consulate attack was planned, linked to al-Qaeda: U.S. intel

The top U.S. intelligence authority issued a public statement on Friday, declaring it now believed the Sept. 11 attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, was a “deliberate and organized terrorist attack.”

The statement, by the office of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, said the allegedly planned attack was linked to al-Qaeda, but stressed that “many unanswered questions” remained.

During the attack on two U.S. government compounds in the eastern Libyan city, four U.S. personnel, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed.

“It remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate,” Shawn Turner, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said in a statement, according to AFP news agency.

“We do assess that some of those involved were linked to groups affiliated with, or sympathetic to al-Qaeda.”

Turner said that in the immediate aftermath of the attack, U.S. agencies came to the view that the Benghazi attack had begun spontaneously following protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against a short film made in California mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

Turner said that as U.S. intelligence subsequently learned more about the attack, “We revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.”

Rice to resign?

A top Republican lawmaker demanded Friday that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice resign, charging she misled Americans over the assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Congressman Pete King’s intervention was the latest effort by Republicans to make the White House pay a political price over the fallout from the attack, according to AFP.

“I think Susan Rice should resign. She is America’s foreign policy spokesman to the world as ambassador to the U.N.,” the New York congressman told National Review Online.

King demanded the departure of Rice, a member of President Barack Obama’s inner circle, after she appeared on U.S. talk shows in the wake of the September 11 attack and dismissed suggestions it was a planned terrorist action.

“We don’t see at this point signs this was a coordinated plan, premeditated attack,” Rice said on “Fox News Sunday” on September 16.

“Obviously, we will wait for the results of the (FBI) investigation and we don’t want to jump to conclusions before then.”

Later Friday, on CNN, King said that Rice had been “irresponsible” to say there was no terrorist involvement in the Benghazi attack and argue instead that it evolved out of protests in the Arab world over an Internet video made on U.S. soil that denigrates Islam and its Prophet.

“The presumption should have been leaning toward it being terrorism,” said King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The White House quickly came to the defense of Rice, seen as a top candidate for the secretary of state post if Obama wins a second term in November.

Libyan leader vows his country will not be a burden

After voicing his condolences again for a militant attack on the US mission in the eastern city of Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, Libyan leader Mohamed al-Megaryef said in English to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "We will not be a burden."
The two were meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in the wake of more than a week of violent protests triggered by an anti-Islam film which saw tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets.
US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed in the September 11 assault on the Benghazi mission, along with three other diplomatic staffers, when the compound came under sustained heavy arms fire for several hours.
"I also seize this opportunity to reaffirm that what happened on 11th of September towards these US citizens does not express in any way the conscience of the Libyan people, their aspirations, their hopes or their sentiments towards the American people," he added, in a softly-spoken speech, mostly through a translator.
He said the attack in Benghazi "was a very painful, huge tragedy, not only for the American people and the families of the victims, but also for the Libyan people."
"The Libyan people lost a friend, lost someone who was very supportive of them, someone who was very supportive of our revolution and someone who was always there for them."
Clinton told the Libyan leader that she wanted to thank him for his government's efforts "to help find and bring to justice all those responsible for the attack.
"I'd also like to thank the Libyan people for the outpouring of support they have shown to not only Ambassador Stevens, but on behalf of the United States," she said at the start of their talks in an upscale New York hotel.
"Courage has been the defining characteristic of the Libyan people over these last two years," Clinton added.
"Courage to rise up and overthrow a dictator, courage to choose the hard path of democracy, courage to stand against violence and division in the country and the world. Mr President, that kind of courage deserves our support."
After the talks, a senior State Department official said the two sides had reviewed the efforts made to rein in the militias, to deal with shoulder-launched missiles and other excess weapons left over from the era of toppled tyrant Moamer Kadhafi.
Clinton "offered to intensify our support and help for the Libyan government in all of those areas," the official.
Megaryef, who is the head of the national assembly, said there were two main threats to Libyan security – the threat from extremists, and also from remnants of the Kadhafi era.
"Security is their government's absolute highest priority," the US official said, adding they also talked about economic challenges facing Libya as it seeks to diversify away from being dependant on petrochemicals.

Libya arrests 50 in connection to U.S. envoy’s killing

Libyan authorities have arrested about 50 people after last week’s killing of U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens in a mob attack in the city of Benghazi, Libya’s parliament chief said Sunday, saying it was planned by foreigners.

“The number reached about 50,” Mohammed al-Megaryef, president of the Libyan National Congress, told CBS News in an interview.

Stevens and and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday when suspected Islamic militants fired on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city with rocket-propelled grenades and set it ablaze.

Megaryef said “a few” of those who joined in the attack were foreigners, who had entered Libya “from different directions, some of them definitely from Mali and Algeria.”

“The others are affiliates and maybe sympathizers,” he added.

Megaryef said the government has learned the attack was not the result of a spontaneous outburst of anger over a U.S.-made anti-Islam movie which has triggered sometimes deadly protests in the Arab and Muslim world.

“It was planned, definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago. And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival,” he told CBS.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has said in a statement the attack was in revenge for the killing of the terror network’s deputy leader Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone strike in June.

Air traffic strikes

Meanwhile on Sunday, flights to and from Libya’s international airports in Tripoli and Benghazi were suspended due to a strike by air traffic controllers, said aviation sources.

The decision to strike was made at about 10:00 am without prior warning to airlines, the sources added, forcing a Tunisair flight to remain grounded at Benina airport in the eastern city of Benghazi.

On Friday, air traffic was temporarily suspended to Benghazi for what officials said were security reasons, following an attack three days earlier on the U.S. consulate in the city in which four Americans, including the ambassador, died.

Al-Qaeda says attack on U.S. consulate in Libya ‘revenge’ for death of its 2nd man

Al-Qaeda said the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was in revenge for the killing of the network’s number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, SITE Intelligence Group reported Saturday, as Libyan authorities have identified 50 people who were involved in the attack.

“The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mokhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet,” al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, quoted by the U.S.-based monitoring group, according to AFP.

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based offshoot did not claim direct responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans.

But it stressed that “the uprising of our people in Libya, Egypt and Yemen against America and its embassies is a sign to notify the United States that its war is not directed against groups and organizations ... but against the Islamic nation that has rebelled against injustice.”

The statement comes four days after al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a video eulogizing Libi, his late deputy and propaganda chief who was killed in a drone strike in June.

Mohammed al-Megaryef, the head of Libya’s national assembly, said on Saturday that the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was planned and “meticulously executed.”

Tuesday’s attack by armed men in the eastern city of Benghazi came amid a wave of protests in the Muslim world against a U.S.-made amateur Internet film deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

Suspected Islamic militants fired on the consulate with rocket-propelled grenades and set it ablaze on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States claimed by al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, Libyan authorities have identified 50 people who were involved in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, a security official said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

So far four people have been arrested and are being questioned, Libyan officials have said.

“We know of 50 people who were involved in the attack, we have names and we know who they are, but there could be more,” Abdul-Moniem al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee, said.

“Four have been arrested. Some of the others may have escaped via Benghazi airport, maybe to Egypt, but this not confirmed. We have given their names to all of the Libyan border entry points.”

A spokesman for President Barack Obama said on Friday officials had no evidence the attack was pre-planned, an assertion which has added to confusion over the incident.

Immediately after the attack, U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, were quoted widely in the media saying they believed the attack was well-planned and organized.

Israeli model asks Tony Blair to return favor and save Seif al-Islam Qaddafi’s life

The Israeli model and actress Orly Weinerman, who was romantically linked to the son of slain Libyan strongman, Seif al-Islam Qaddafi, has asked former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to help save his life, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

“Seif worked closely with Mr. Blair before he was captured,” Israeli Ynet News website quoted Weinerman as saying to the British tabloid The Daily Mail on Sunday.

“The two are old friends – it is time that Mr. Blair returned some loyalty. Mr. Blair is a man of God – as a Christian he has a moral duty to help a friend in need,” she added.

Weinerman, 41, urged Blair, currently the envoy of the Middle East Quartet diplomatic grouping, to get Seif’s accusers to “see reason.”

The Israeli model admitted that she was Seif’s girlfriend for six years after meeting him in London in 2005 through mutual friends. She said “the fact that Seif was prepared to involve himself in a loving relationship with a Jew is a measure of how open and civilized he is,” The Haaretz quoted her telling the tabloid.

Her parents, she said were against her converting to Islam, and her relationship with Seif came under a lot of criticism in the Israeli press.
“It was something we had to deal with,” she said.

The model, who left London and now lives in Tel Aviv, said of her former boyfriend: “he judged people for what they are, not what people perceive them to be. Seif never made an issue of my religion or the country I came from.”

Documents found during the Libyan uprising, meanwhile, support that Blair and Muammar Qaddafi were closely linked. A 2007 letter written by Blair offered suggestions to assist withSaif’s PhD at the London School of Economics. It has been reported that Blair has with met Qaddafi in the infamous ‘Deal in the Desert’ in 2004 to bring Libya in from the cold.

Seif and death sentence

Saif might be handed a death sentence if he is proved to be guilty for the death of protesters during last year’s uprising against his father.

Libya insisted the trial be held in the country despite International Criminal Court’s request for it to be held in The Hague.

Seif al-Islam too wants to be tried before ICC if justice is to be served, according to his lawyers.

“You should just ask Mr. Blair what a serious, honorable person he is. The ICC has let him down, and so has the international community. Killing him will achieve absolutely nothing, beyond punishing him for who his father was. Absolutely everything must be done to save him,” said Weinerman.

Meanwhile, Libya has rebuffed accusations that he was mistreated.

According to an Algerian journalist who spoke with Al Arabiya, Seif’s guard told him last June that “Seif is being treated in accordance with Shariah teachings that preserve the detainee’s dignity.”

The guard said Seif’s cell is “a large room with a bathroom and a courtyard where he can walk and sit under the sun. He exercises daily.” He added that Seif has asked for some religious books to read, and he has been provided with English books by some of the international organizations that visited him.

Seif has been held by a local militia in Zintan, 136 km southwest of the capital Tripoli. The militia arrested him in the Libyan desert on November 19, 2011. Libya decided to put him on trial, defying a demand by the International Criminal Court which issued an arrest warrant and demanded to try him on war crimes.