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Gulf Arab states welcome truce announcement in Libya

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The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has welcomed a ceasefire announcement in Libya, the UAE news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

GCC Secretary General Nayef Falah Mubarak al-Hajraf called on all parties “to adhere to (this) constructive step, to urgently engage in political dialogue, and to work through mediation of the United Nations to reach a permanent and comprehensive solution to end the fighting and conflict in Libya,” WAM reported.

Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tripoli announced the ceasefire on Friday and the leader of a rival parliament in eastern Libya also appealed for a halt to hostilities.

Severe COVID-19 cases rising at faster pace in Libya

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The number of COVID-19 infections in Libya has risen to 9707, with 8487 active cases, after the registration of 244 new positive cases on Thursday.

The death toll has risen to 173 while the recoveries have reached 1047.

COVID-19 cases in Libya have risen more than 15-fold in less than two months, spiking from 571 in June to more than 9,000 today, the Red Cross said Thursday.

More than half a million people need healthcare assistance as conflict, COVID-19, and economic collapse threaten to plunge hundreds of thousands of civilians deeper into chaos, said the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Libya: NOC welcomes the reopening of oil ports

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The National Oil Corporation (NOC) welcomed the statement of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Presidency Council supporting NOC’s proposal to resume production and export of oil and to freeze sales revenues in NOC accounts in the Libyan Foreign Bank. Revenues should remain frozen until a comprehensive political agreement is reached in line with the recommendations of the Berlin Process.

” Full transparency and effective governance are required as well as the return of security management of oil facilities to NOC’s exclusive control.” The NOC stated.

” NOC reiterates its call for all oil facilities to be freed from military occupation to ensure the security and safety of its workers. Once this has been done, NOC should be able to lift force majeure and re-commence oil export operations.” the NOC added.


Williams welcomes agreement in today’s declarations by Fayez Al-Serraj and Aguila Saleh

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The Acting SRSG to Libya Stephanie Williams warmly welcomed the points of agreement in the declarations issued today by President of the Presidency Council Fayez Al-Serraj and Speaker of the House of Representative Aguila Saleh — which demonstrate the courage which Libya is in urgent need of during these trying times — and which call for a ceasefire, in the hope that this will be taken up quickly by the 5+5 Joint Military Commission, with the departure of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libyan soil. 
 
The Acting SRSG urged the rapid implementation of the two leaders’ call for the resumption of oil production and export according to the directions outlined in the two statements.  
 
Williams reiterates that “Depriving the Libyan people of their oil wealth is a sign of unacceptable stubbornness on the part of the local and international actors involved.” She said.

  Williams called for all parties to rise to this historic occasion and shoulder their full responsibilities before the Libyan people.

 The Acting SRSG also noted that the two initiatives have created hope for forging a peaceful political solution to the longstanding Libyan crisis, a solution that will affirm the desire of the Libyan people to live in peace and dignity.

Gazette: oil worker trapped in Libya for 5 months

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According to the British Gazette, the overseas oil worker, Paul Rookes, a technician for Libyan company Taknia, has been trapped in the Libyan desert since the coronavirus crisis hit five months ago. 

Paul has been working in the offshore fabrication industry, power industry, and oil industry since the early 1980s, the newspaper stated

Paul is unable to get a domestic flight from the desert to Mitiga Airport, in Libya’s capital, Tripoli. To top it off, Paul’s wages have been stopped as a result of the crisis. He said his local MP – Chancellor Rishi Sunak – and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are aware of his position but has yet to get answers as to how his situation can be resolved.


Libya’s GNA calls for ceasefire, resumption of oil production and exports

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In a new initiative to end the Libyan conflict, the Chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayez Al-Sarraj, has given orders for the Libyan army forces under the Government of National Accord to implement an immediate ceasefire and end all the hostilities in Libya.

According to Al-Sarraj, the immediate ceasefire would mean demilitarizing the city of Sirte and Jufra region while police forces of both sides to the conflict set up the security arrangements to secure both areas, adding that the final goal of the ceasefire is to restore full sovereignty over the Libyan soil and expel foreign forces and mercenaries

He stressed the importance of resuming production and exports at the oil fields and ports, “provided that the revenues are deposited in a special account for the National Oil Corporation at the Libyan Foreign Bank and that they are not disposed of until after reaching comprehensive political arrangements, in accordance with the outcomes of the Berlin Conference, in a manner that guarantees transparency and good governance and with the help of the UN mission and the international community.”

He has also confirmed its call for presidential and parliamentary elections in March.

In the same context, the head of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, called for the city of Sirte to be a temporary headquarters for the new Presidential Council, “which would bring together all Libyans and unite them.”

In a statement on Friday, Saleh called on “everyone to immediately cease fire and all combat operations throughout the country.”

He called for an official security police force from Libya’s various regions to secure Sirte, “in preparation for the unification of state institutions as a basic consensual stage of construction, provided that the military arrangements are completed in accordance with the 5+5 negotiating path under the auspices of the UN mission and whose conclusions are committed upon agreement and official announcement.”

“The ceasefire cuts the way to any foreign military interventions and ends with the expulsion of mercenaries and the dismantling of militias, in order to achieve the restoration of full national sovereignty,” Saleh added.

“The production and export of oil should resume and its revenues should be frozen in the account of the Libyan Foreign Bank, and should not be used until after reaching a political settlement in accordance with the conclusions of the Berlin Conference and the Cairo Declaration, and with the guarantee of the UN mission, the US administration, and the countries that support peace and stability in Libya, in order to achieve justice and transparency,” he continued.

For its part, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya welcomed the cease-fire agreement in Libya, activating political process.

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“Libya’s humanitarian crisis deepens, talks needed”

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Libya’s humanitarian crisis is worsening, compounded by the halt of oil operations, blockade of ports, and spread of COVID-19, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday.

ICRC President Peter Maurer voiced hope that a flurry of diplomatic activity, including a visit earlier this week by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, would restart a political peace process.

Maurer spoke on return from the divided North African country where he held separate talks with Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the internationally-recognised government, and General Khalifa Haftar.

The ICRC provides clean water to hundreds of thousands of people in the eastern city of Benghazi, evacuates bodies from the battlefield, and delivers medicines and protective equipment to health facilities across Libya.

“We have seen reserves depleted, family incomes are used to survive, it has been accentuated by the offensive on Tripoli, it has been further accentuated by COVID, by oil limitations and stops,” Maurer told reporters.

Stored crude, condensate could be shipped from shuttered Libyan ports

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A limited reopening of Libyan oil terminals could allow the export of some crude oil and condensate stored at Es Sider, Brega, Zueitina and Hariga, but leaves a months-long blockade of the ports in place, oil engineers say.

East Libyan authorities said on Wednesday they would permit exports of the stored products in an effort to ease an electricity supply crisis that has resulted in increasingly lengthy power cuts.

The ports have been blockaded since January by east Libyan factions as part a wider conflict, leading to the loss of most of Libya’s oil production and billions of dollars in income.

A build-up of gas by-products at the terminals and a drop in local refining has led to shortages of fuel for local power generation.

The possible export of condensate and crude stored at Brega and Zueitina ports would allow some oil and gas production by Sirte Oil Co. to supply power stations, a local engineer said. Several petrochemical products would also be exported, he said.

Ongoing diplomatic pressure and appeals from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in the capital Tripoli over lost revenue and damage to idled facilities has failed to lift the oil blockade.

NOC, which handles all exports, is yet to comment on the move. It has also previously warned of a risk of accidents or attacks at the ports amid military mobilisation in the area.

Officials at Ras Lanuf said this week that products including highly flammable ethylene were safely stored, even though many workers have left the port due to the blockade and restrictions to counter the new coronavirus.

25,000 tons of ammonia gas stored in Libya’s Brega port

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The chairman of National Oil Corporation (NOC) has warned in a video that a disastrous explosion worse than the one in Beirut earlier this month is looming at Libya’s Brega port.

According to Mustafa Sanallah, 25,000 tons of ammonia gas is stored at the port, located 750 kilometers (466 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, which 20 days ago witnessed the use of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) during clashes.

Considering that the gas can explode if exposed to intense heat, Sanallah believes that the port is under high risk of a calamitous explosion. 

“It is very likely that the Beirut explosion will be repeated at Brega, Ras Lanuf and Sidra [ports],” cautioned Sanallah, adding the larger quantities of explosive material compared to the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that were stored in Beirut port could create a more catastrophic blast.

45 irregular migrants die in shipwreck off Libya

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At least 45 irregular migrants, including five children, died when their boat’s engine exploded in waters off Libya’s Mediterranean coast, the UN said Wednesday.  

The incident, which occurred on Aug. 17, was the largest recorded shipwreck off the Libyan coast so far this year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement. 

“Some 37 survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation.

“They reported to IOM staff that 45 others, including five children, lost their lives when the vessel’s engine exploded off the coast of Zwara,” it added. 

At least 302 migrants and refugees have drowned on this route so far this year, and the estimated number of fatalities is likely much higher, according to the statement.  

The two organizations also called for a review of states’ approach to the situation after the incident in the Mediterranean, adding “there is an urgent need to strengthen the current search and rescue capacity there to respond to distress calls.”