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EU renews call for end to Libya fighting

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– The EU on Tuesday demanded an end to fighting in Libya and said it was “determined” to enforce a UN arms embargo on the North African country.

As defence ministers from the 27 EU countries held video talks on the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on European security, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell renewed a call to halt fighting in Libya.

The EU’s new naval mission to block the flow of arms to Libya by sea got under way last week and Borrell, in a statement issued in the name of all 27 countries, vowed to make it work.

“The European Union remains determined to see the UN arms embargo in Libya fully respected,” he said.

He said further efforts were needed to “ensure the full and effective implementation” of the embargo, particularly through Libya’s land and air borders.

Operation Irini now has a French frigate patrolling the eastern Mediterranean to look for arms shipments, backed up by aerial and satellite surveillance.

Borrell said that in view of the escalating violence, the EU was renewing its call for a truce.

“The European Union demands that all parties act responsibly and immediately cease the fighting all over Libya,” he said in his statement.

Libya receives essential medical supplies

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The United Nations International Emergency Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, that it has provided 82 tons of medicines and basic life-saving supplies aimed at covering the needs of approximately 120,000 women and children in Libya.

UNICEF said the aid is aimed at strengthening the ‘health-care’ and ‘nutrition services’ in Libya, particularly for more vulnerable members of the population.

It indicated that it is seeking to improve the health services in the country to avoid unnecessary diseases and fatalities amongst vulnerable groups, particularly women and children.

A new school in Ain Zara

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UNICEF has completed the rehabilitation of Al-Zohoor School in Ain Zara Municipality in south Tripoli, providing access to improved education environment for nearly 800 girls and 950 boys.

On the occasion of the official completion, an inauguration ceremony took place on May 10, according to a UNICEF statement.

UNICEF said that the school original building was destroyed and heavily damaged in 2019 in the war led by Khalifa Haftar’s forces on Tripoli.

It added that the renewal happened under the umbrella of the two-year work plan between the Ministry of Education in Libya and UNICEF, saying that the school underwent full five-months maintenance before reopening.

This school is one of three schools that have been rehabilitated in Tripoli by UNICEF this year.

“Rehabilitation is also underway in two other schools in Tripoli which will bring the number of benefiting students to nearly 3573 children. School rehabilitation is funded by generous contributions from European Union.” UNICEF said.

UNICEF said last January that the escalation of violence due to Haftar’s attacks in and around Tripoli had taken a devastating toll on children’s education, with five schools destroyed and 210 schools shuttered, pushing over 115.000 children out of school in the Ain-Zara, Abu Salim and Souq Al-Jumua areas.

It called on parties to the conflict in Libya to protect children at all times, stop attacks against schools and to refrain from violence including indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Haftar’s forces continue to target civilian infrastructure, including schools, such as the attack on a school in Abu Salim that led to massive damage.

Italian Foreign Ministry to hold meeting on Libya

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The Italian Foreign Ministry is going to hold a meeting on Libya on Wednesday, according to Aki News Agency, which added that the meeting will be via video conference to follow up on the Berlin conference conclusions.

Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio said arms flow to Libya should stop after the start of the European Union’s Operation IRINI to monitor arms embargo in the country.

Di Maio called for commitment to the humanitarian truce and political process in Libya, as per the Berlin follow-up tracks, saying Rome was ready to host the next follow-up meeting, following the first one held in Munich, to help resolve the Libyan conflict.

Several Italian officials expressed dismay at the attacks of Khalifa Haftar’s forces on areas near Italian ambassador’s residence in Tripoli, saying they were deliberate and spoke of Haftar’s weakness and despair.

The member of the Presidential Council Ahmed Mitig criticized Italy’s stance regarding Haftar’s attack on Tripoli, saying Rome “doesn’t know what it wants in Libya and has lost an important ally in the Mediterranean”.

Council of Europe: Malta must rescue migrants at sea, not return them to Libya

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Maltese authorities must respond rapidly and effectively to all distress calls that they receive regardless of whether or not the boats are found in their territorial waters, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela on May 5.

The letter was released to the public on Monday. Mijatovic asked in the letter for an investigation into all credible accusations of delays and lack of intervention and to act on the basis of what the investigations find.
The commissioner also called on the Maltese government to ensure no action is taken by Malta that would result in the return to and disembarkation in Libya of persons rescued or intercepted at sea.

”This includes ensuring no one is returned to Libya by Maltese authorities, refraining from issuing instructions to private vessels to disembark rescued persons in Libya, and not handing over responsibility to the Libyan Coast Guard or related entities when the foreseeable consequence of this would be disembarkation in Libya,” Mijatovic wrote.

Guterres: Austerity measures deepened the suffering of the Libyan people

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In his report on Libya to the Security Council yesterday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said although prevention and preparedness measures taken with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic were introduced by authorities with the support of the United Nations, Libya remained at an extremely high risk.

The situation was compounded by increasing levels of fighting and insecurity, political fragmentation and a weak and overstretched health system.

The pandemic led to a loss of income for segments of society, food shortages and an increase in the price of basic commodities.

In addition, measures to restrict the spread of COVID-19 hampered access to humanitarian aid and the movement of medical and humanitarian personnel.

The ongoing conflict and the current pandemic further weakened the already tenuous economic situation in Libya.

The Libyan National Army-supported blockage of oil exports prompted the Government of National Accord to take austerity measures to reduce spending, including payroll reductions.

The austerity measures will further exhaust coping mechanisms at a time when the population is facing tremendous additional economic pressures owing to COVID-19.

Antonio Guterres: “the lack of audit review of the Central Bank of Libya narrowed opportunities for the unification of the two branches”

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In his report on Libya to the Security Council yesterday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the Libyan National Army’s oil blockade and reminded Member States of the commitments they made at the Berlin Conference. He also covered the economic situation in Libya.

According to Guterres , the sustainability of the economic situation in Libya is becoming increasingly tenuous, and the situation will be further exacerbated by COVID-19.

Since the blockage of oil exports imposed by the Libyan National Army on 17 January, the primary export of Libya was reduced from 1.2 million to 72,000 barrels per day, resulting in accumulated losses amounting to more than $4 billion.

To offset the diminished revenues, the Central Bank of Libya and the Government of National Accord attempted to impose long-overdue austerity measures, including cuts to the public service payroll and a reduction in fuel subsidies.

The blockage of oil exports also resulted in the shutdown of the country’s domestic oil refinery capacity, thereby requiring the National Oil Corporation to purchase refined petroleum products.

Although the Corporation had been providing sufficient refined fuel for commercial purposes, on 13 March, authorities in eastern Libya imported fuel from the United Arab Emirates to Benghazi, thus undermining the authority of the Corporation and marking the first time that fuel was imported outside normal Corporation channels.

The blockage of oil exports and the lack of agreement on a national budget caused delays in salary payments and a reduction in access to foreign exchange, leading to shortages and higher prices for goods. The branch of the Central Bank of Libya in Bayda’ stated on 9 March that it was unable to finance the parallel government beyond salaries, evidence of the growing reluctance of Libyan commercial banks to continue to finance questionable government bonds issued by the parallel Ministry of Finance in eastern Libya.

If left unaddressed, the prices of staple goods are likely to increase further, and tensions within the banking sector could lead to its collapse.

UNSMIL, in coordination with international financial institutions, continued its efforts to address economic issues, including the worsening banking crisis.

The UNSMIL-facilitated economic dialogue between the two branches of the Central Bank of Libya alleviated some stress on the banking sector, but workarounds are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

A lack of cooperation on the part of the Libyan authorities in facilitating the international audit review of the structure of the Central Bank also narrowed opportunities for the unification of that bank. Working groups, established during a second meeting of the economic track in Cairo in February, are working to find solutions, including by addressing deficiencies in development spending and revenue allocation.

Notwithstanding COVID-19, UNSMIL continues to address urgent economic issues, including with regard to resuming foreign exchange for basic commodities, facilitating public salary payments, ensuring adequate fuel supply, urging the disbursement of social benefits in exchange for a reduction in fuel subsidies and taking measures to support small and medium-sized businesses.

Libyan oil expert: international financial institutions will not provide Libya with loans

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The oil expert Muhamed Ahmed claimed in a statement to Tabadul that sovereign organs in the Libyan state avoid taking loans from international institutions as a pretext to justify their orientations with regard to their executive and monetary policies.

The expert considered that this failure in exploiting international financing opportunities as a result of the unconscious fear of wasting Libyan wealth is indeed an “obsessive-compulsive disorder”, which has wasted a lot of investment opportunities for Libya in favor of other countries.

Muhamed Ahmed admitted that the real problem is that the international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank refuse to provide loans to oil producing countries on the grounds that these countries do not need the international loan.

In fact, oil producing countries can obtain funding from the private financial institutions in return for their huge monetary reserves, which countries like Kuwait and Qatar have been making.

As far as Libya is concerned, the possibility of borrowing money from international institutions is “virtually non-existent”, Said Ahmed.

Not only because Libya has enough currency reserves -reducing its ability to borrow against those assets -, but also because the needs of other developing countries are much greater than the capacity of these international institutions.

Theoretically speaking, getting a loan from the World Bank is one of the best choices for Libya, said Ahmed. For instance, this loan would allow the State to maintain the structure of the nationalization of Libyan oil through providing additional financial resources for other development needs. “This funding will contribute to the development process, in addition to encouraging the private sector,” he added.

“Taking loans from international institutions would be the least threatening source in terms of corruption, according to the mechanisms used in the disbursement process, which are linked to the project implementation or structural reforms in accordance with the payments,” said Ahmed.

“Unfortunately, this is not available. So, these sovereign organs must stop hinting at a conspiracy theory in this regard.”He said.

He also pointed out that, in the future, the Libyan economy has no other way but to rely on external borrowing in order to maintain the state’s sustainability.

However, in light of the interference and fragmentation of the Libyan authorities, the real crisis in legitimacy would not encourage any international financial institution to risk financing any party in Libya.

In conclusion, Muhamed Ahmed stressed that international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will not provide any loans to Libya.

WHO: some treatments appear to be limiting severity of coronavirus

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The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of the COVID-19 respiratory disease and said the body is focusing on learning more about four or five of the most promising ones.

“We do have some treatments that seem to be in very early studies limiting the severity or the length of the illness but we do not have anything that can kill or stop the virus,” spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a virtual briefing, referring to the body’s so-called Solidarity Trial of drugs against the disease.

“We do have potentially positive data coming out but we need to see more data to be 100% confident that we can say this treatment over that one,” she added.

Ghat General Hospital receives protective supplies

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The Municipal Council of Ghat has provided Ghat General Hospital with essential protective supplies for equipping isolation places as a proactive measure to reduce the spread of Covid-19 among its community.

The supplies included face masks ,ventilators, beds, PPE equipment and sanitizing supplies to be used in these facilities.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Health handed over to the branch of National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), in Sabha, a B Cell Receptor (BCR) device, to enable it to conduct testing for the Coronavirus.

Other medical supplies and equipment were also sent for use by the Sabha municipal health service administration. The branch of the NCDC in Sabha explained that the device could diagnose approximately 100 samples in a relatively short time span.

It went on to say that this new addition to its branch would alleviate the difficulty previously encountered by the administration, by having to send its samples to Tripoli for analysis.