Reporters Without Borders published on Tuesday the World Press Freedom Index for the year 2021, which includes 180 countries.
Libya was ranked 165 in the world, down by one point from last year, with a score of 55.73 points.
According to the report, journalists and media are victims of the armed conflict in Libya which has taken a heavy toll on journalists and media for years, with many reported cases of censorship, violence and intimidation.
A high-profile visit by Libya’s new interim prime minister, complete with economic accords, has cheered Turkey up, but Ankara’s interests in the war-torn country remain far from guaranteed amid a flurry of rival diplomacy ahead of Libya’s elections in December, stated Al-Monitor.
To make the most of the transition process by the Dec. 24 elections, Turkey has pinned hope on Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, who took office in mid-March. Dbeibeh received a red-carpet welcome in Ankara on April 12-13, unlike Mohammed al-Menfi, the head of Libya’s new presidency council, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to greet without a ceremony last month. Fourteen ministers, along with the chief of general staff, accompanied Dbeibeh in the talks, framed as a meeting of a High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between the two sides.
On the economic front, the two sides set a target of $5 billion in bilateral trade, up from about $3 billion at present, and agreed to resume talks on a free trade deal. Turkey’s Ronesans Holding signed deals to build a new terminal at the Tripoli airport, three power plants and a shopping mall. Aksa Enerji also signed a deal for a power plant construction.
Al-Monitor added that the talks involved discussions on ways to revive $18 billion Turkish construction projects interrupted by the eruption of Libya’s civil strife in 2011, resolve a long-standing problem of unpaid debts to Turkish contractors and encourage Turkish participation in reconstruction projects in Libya. Dbeibeh met also with Turkish businesspeople, pledging that Libya would prioritize Turkish companies, given their long experience in the country.
But can Dbeibeh guarantee the future of Turkey’s strategic interests in Libya?
By framing the talks as “high-level strategic cooperation,” Ankara treated Dbeibeh as the head of an elected government rather than of a nine-month interim administration tasked with uniting Libya’s fractured institutions and taking the country to elections. Dbeibeh’s signing of deals in Ankara quickly drew objections from the eastern forces of Khalifa Hifter. Moreover, Dbeibeh needs funds to implement the accords, but the parliament has yet to approve the 2021 budget.
According to Al-Monitor,Turkish companies do stand a good chance in Libya’s reconstruction, but Libya’s turmoil has meant that accords could stay on paper. In August 2020, for instance, a deal was reached to settle problems stemming from unfinished construction projects, under which the relevant Libyan parties were required to negotiate solutions with the Turkish contractors by Dec. 24, 2020. The issue remains stuck, even after the settlement period was extended to March 24.
Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) declared force majeure on Monday on exports from the port of Hariga and said it could extend the measure to other facilities due to a budget dispute with the country’s central bank.
Daily lost income “may exceed 118 million dinars ($26 million)”, NOC said in its statement.
Arabian Gulf Oil Co (AGOCO), the NOC subsidiary which runs Hariga, said on Sunday it had suspended output because it had not received its budget since September. Its Hariga port manager and an oil engineer said production had been reduced.
NOC said the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) had refused to finance the oil sector for months, adding that “this painful reality may extend to the rest of the companies”.
Libyan oil output was halted for much of last year after eastern-based forces in the country’s civil war blockaded oil terminals, causing NOC to declare force majeure on all exports.
The Libyan Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina announced on Sunday that its Embassy in Tripoli will resume the issuing of visas.
The embassy said the Libyan citizens can apply for entry visas to Bosnia through its embassy in the Siyahia district of Tripoli, starting Monday, April 19, 2021.
The embassy added that the decision came thanks to joint efforts, meetings and coordination between it and the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointing out that the two countries agreed to provide all facilities to the citizens of the respective countries in order to support cooperation of mutual interest, especially in the field of tourism, trade exchange, investment and developing cooperative relations.
Following Libya news in recent weeks has been inspiring. The message of positivity from the new unity government has offered a refreshing change from the country’s typical fare, according to the online news outlet, Middle East Eye.
“Countries would also like to indulge in some of the business opportunities presented by this new government, its big budget and its expansive redevelopment vision,” added Middle East Eye.
Exactly why business opportunities are anticipated from this caretaker government, which has a nine-month mandate and is officially tasked only with organising elections in December and unifying institutions, is another fluttering red flag. In fact, this new government is the biggest in Libya’s post-revolutionary history, with a massive budget of nearly 100bn dinars ($22bn) and an expansive agenda, with lots of talk of reconstruction but little mention of elections.
The prime minister is from a family synonymous with using government building projects to enrich themselves – it’s how they made a fortune in the Gaddafi era – and has pieced together a 33-minister government for which Dbeibeh claims to have made only one appointment himself. The rest were made by other MPs.
Middle East Eye added that the great fear of Libyans now is that Libya’s unity government is unified only by the promise of a flood of corruption. It’s the same promise that has papered over the competing visions of Turkey, Russia, the UAE and Egypt, who still have boots on the ground.
What does this mean for the US and Europe?
Although they should be relieved at having shepherded Libya this far, they should not believe that the job is done. Keeping up the pressure for progress – on both Libyans and intervening states alike – will mark the difference between repeating the last five years, and finally moving on.
The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) announced on Sunday that it granted the second instalment of a LD 5 billion loan to commercial banks in order to help ease the bank clearance process and the country’s bank liquidity crisis.
During Sunday’s meeting, the CBL Governor, Siddiq Al-Kabir, met with several directors of departments in the Central Bank of Libya.
The meeting covered the conditions of commercial banks, discussed and followed up several issues, the most important of which is the liquidity situation in commercial banks and clearing between bank branches.
The United Nations Security Council has given the green light for the deployment of 60 UN ceasefire monitors to Libya and called on the country’s new unity government to prepare for free, fair and inclusive elections on December 24.
The resolution also called on Libya’s newly appointed Government of National Unity (GNU) to prepare for “free, fair and inclusive national” elections later this year in December.
“Free, fair and credible elections will allow the Libyan people to elect a representative and unified government and reinforce the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya,” the resolution says.
It further called to “ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and the inclusion of youth.”
Jan Kubis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s special envoy for Libya, urged Libyan lawmakers on March 24 to pass necessary legislation by July “at the latest” so that the elections can be held as planned, and Friday’s resolution says the legislation should be in place no later than July 1.
In the meantime, “a forward presence” will be formed in the capital, Tripoli, “as soon as circumstances permit.”
In statements to Tabadul Channel, the media adviser of the Libyan House of Representative (HoR), Fathi Al-Mraimi, said on Thursday that the state’s draft budget referred to the HoR for approval is full of mistakes and attracted lots of notes.
According to Fathi Al-Mraimi, these mistakes have been corrected by relevant authorities of the government and the HoR, and the budget will be discussed during a plenary session scheduled for next Monday in Tobruk.
The media adviser added that the delay in it endorsing the 2021 budget law was mainly due to changing the budget from the one prepared by the outgoing Faiez Serraj Government of National Accord (GNA) to suite the new Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba-led Government of National Unity (GNU) and its increased number of its ministries.
A victims’ campaigner has claimed to MPs that a secret deal between the UK and Libya blocked a compensation package for IRA attacks during the Troubles, according to the BBC news.
Kenny Donaldson said he spoke to a senior Libyan bank official who is “vociferous” that the matter is closed.
He said he was told “a diplomatic outcome” was reached years ago.
“There is a reason why compensation is not being pursued,” he said.
Campaigner Jonathan Ganesh said: “Our government has disgraced victims. They fought for trade deals more than they fought for victims.”
DUP MP Gregory Campbell, a member of the committee, said the government had “behaved exceptionally badly”.
He added: “The current position is untenable and unjustifiable and they need to hear that message.”
Last month the government said it was unable in law to use £12bn of Libyan assets frozen in the UK to make payments.
Campaigners said, however, freeing those assets should be conditional on a compensation package for bereaved families and victims.
The government is also using £5m a year in tax revenue from the assets for other things.
It has told victims to pursue Libya themselves and to apply for payments from the new Troubles pension scheme.
