Libya News and Interests

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Libya: Haftar forces launch push against militia in oil crescent
Haftar's forces in bid to regain control of Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra oil terminals in Libya's northeastern oil crescent.


Forces allied with Haftar control most of eastern Libya and are opposed to an internationally recognised government based in Tripoli
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The self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar have mobilised to drive out rival groups from the country's northeastern oil crescent, according to security forces in Ajdabiya.

Haftar's LNA announced on Sunday a "major offensive" after his forces lost control on Thursday of the Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra oil terminals - located about 650km east of Tripoli - to armed groups that attacked the area.

The LNA's air force on Sunday also told residents in the oil crescent to stay away from "areas where the enemy gathers, munition stores and sites with military vehicles".

"Fighter [planes] are carrying out raids against terrorist positions and gatherings in the operational military zone stretching from Ras Lanuf to the edge of the city of Sirte," the air force said on its Facebook page.

The LNA controls most of eastern Libya and is opposed to an internationally recognised government based in Tripoli, which has itself condemned Thursday's militia attacks.

Ibrahim Jadhran, who heads the Petroleum Facilities Guard, said in a video on Thursday that he had formed an alliance to retake oil terminals seized by Haftar's forces in September 2016.

Jadhran controlled the terminals for years following the 2011 overthrow and killing of long-time Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, but were eventually forced out by the LNA.
'National disaster'

The Red Crescent in Ajdabiya, 150km east of Ras Lanuf, on Friday said it received 28 bodies, without specifying to which group they belonged.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Saturday said a storage tank had been "significantly damaged" due to the armed incursions into Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra.

It called for the "immediate and unconditional surrender" of Jadhran's militia to "prevent an environmental disaster and further destruction of key infrastructure".
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Khalifa Haftar forces capture key Libya oil terminals

The NOC on Thursday said it had halted oil exports from Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra because of the violence.

NOC chief Mustafa Sanallah warned that if oil exports from these terminals remain at a standstill it could cause a "national disaster".

Libya's economy relies heavily on oil, with production at 1.6 million barrels a day under Gaddafi.

The 2011 uprising against Gaddafi saw production fall to about 20 percent of that level, before recovering to over one million barrels a day by the end of 2017.

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Attack Shuts Major Libyan Oil Ports, Slashing Production
US News & World Report· 5 days ago
BENGHAZI, Libya/LONDON (Reuters) - The major Libyan oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider were closed...


https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...ider-ras-lanuf


The major Libyan oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider were closed and evacuated on Thursday after armed brigades opposed to the powerful eastern commander Khalifa Haftar stormed them, causing a production loss of 240,000 barrels per day (bpd).

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To visit Libya in recent months is to encounter a country holding its breath, caught in the throes of abeyance and a deep foreboding.
It is a lawless place, riddled with criminality and flare-ups of fierce fighting in the south and east.
Oil revenues have fallen due to recent factional clashes and elite plunder has everyday Libyans struggling for subsistence amid deep economic crisis.
Overlaying all of this is a lingering political stalemate. Formal authority is split between a feeble, internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital of Tripoli and eastern institutions dominated by Field Marshal Khalifa Hiftar, who once served under the former Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi but later had a falling-out. But much of the country’s west and south escapes the control of these rival authorities.

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Renewed fight over Libya’s oil threatens entire country
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ori...roduction.html

Smoke and flames rise from an oil storage tank that was set on fire amid fighting between rival factions at Ras Lanuf terminal, Libya, June 18, 2018.

n the morning of June 14, with just a couple hundred armed men driving a dozen pickup trucks, Ibrahim Jadran, the commander of the so-called Petroleum Facilities Guard, took over two of Libya’s main oil exporting terminals used by the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) — Es-Sidra and Ras Lanuf. The terminals are located in eastern Libya near Jadran’s hometown, Ajdabiya, where his tribesmen of al-Magharba tribe are concentrated and seem to have helped him.

The NOC was forced to declare a state of force majeure, suspending oil exports and evacuating its employees from both terminals and surrounding areas.

In a statement sent to Al-Monitor, the NOC estimated losses at “tens of billions of dollars” before adding that the burning of at least two oil depots at the terminals will take “years and even more costs to repair and return production to normal sustainable levels.” The statement also warned of “catastrophic environmental” consequences on the region due to leaking and burning oil.

NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla condemned the attack in a recorded video message broadcast on NOC's website June 14, calling Jadran an “outlaw who cost Libya in 2013 more than $100 billion.” Back then, Jadran and his men had taken over the terminals, suspending oil exports from 2013 to 2016, before he was forced to flee after the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Hifter, took control of the oil ports.

Sanalla pointed out that Libya “will lose daily production of about 400,000 barrels per day as lost exports, and if the status quo continues, the estimated cost will be about $880 million a month.”

He concluded by saying, “This is a national catastrophe and the outlaw [Jadran] should be forced to leave the terminals.” Indeed, the loss is huge and very detrimental to any economic progress or stability since oil is the main source of revenue for the militia-dominated country.

Jadran said in a recorded video June 14 that the bulk of his force is made up of former Petroleum Facilities Guard members and other groups, including the notorious Benghazi Defense Brigades, which is a loose coalition of Islamist groups formed to counter Hifter’s LNA in Benghazi before he chased them out in July 2017 by taking over the entire city in eastern Libya.

Jadran also claimed that some of Libya’s Tebu men, a minority of nomads roaming southern Libya with a concentration in Sebha, are among his fighters. Nevertheless, Tebu’s social leader Ahmed the First denied this while threatening Jadran with “legal action for abusing our tribe’s reputation.”

The attack apparently surprised Hifter, whose forces were busy clearing Derna from al-Qaeda and Islamic State fighters since the LNA launched its offensive to retake the coastal town in northeastern Benghazi on May 8.

Continuing the fight in Derna is likely to deplete and weaken any capabilities the LNA managed to amount to counter Jadran let alone force him out of the terminals. And leaving Derna after it is almost fully conquered could mean Islamist remnant forces inside the city might gain the military momentum again and launch their counter attack, which is likely to be very costly for the LNA, in both men and equipment.

In the wider political scene in Libya, the attack is likely to have serious negative repercussions after an atmosphere of hope prevailed in anticipation of the Dec. 10 elections set by UN envoy Ghassan Salame and agreed on in the latest inter-Libya talks hosted and supported by France in Paris on May 29.

In the military sense, Jadran cannot launch such daring operations alone and he likely has some support from inside and outside Libya. Technically speaking, his group consists of a gang with little military capacity and know-how fighting in a desert, which is difficult even for professional armies, let alone for groups of this size and capability.

Besides, the terminals area is hard to defend for many reasons. Its proximity to the seashore makes it open to sea attacks, as Jadran lacks any sea-mounted military equipment. The nature of its installation — which is highly flammable — makes it a hazardous place to use military force where any tank could be hit at any time. It is difficult to control such a place, especially after most of the NOC’s professional firefighters have already left.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mesmari announced on June 17 that LNA’s air force has gone into action in the areas around the terminals all the way to Sirte, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) to the west, warning civilians to be careful.

It is a matter of time before Jadran and his forces are ejected from the areas. But the repeated phenomena of gang attacks against the country’s main lifeline will always be a looming threat as long as no central government is in place with full power over the entire territory of Libya. The Government of National Accord in Tripoli can hardly do more than issue statements of condemnation, which it did, but that will not help retake the oil terminals or enable NOC to resume oil exports.

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https://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/li...-official-says
The CEO of the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) Ali Sassi, said the damage caused by attacks and vandalism on power plants and cables as well as other GECOL belongings since 2011 reached 1.5 billion dinars.

Sassi said in a presser on Sunday, after the release of three Turkish workers after 8 months of kidnap, that GECOL is being informed of the assaults and is now in contact with Turkish ENKA Company to talk it into resuming Ubari gas power station.

“Load shedding was due to the suspension of Ubari plant as the Turkish workers were abducted and Mafatih power plant in Al-Khumus last week (It lost 500 megawatts for the network due to the fire. Repairing work is underway.) The company was going to save 1000 megawatts a day if it continued.” Sassi added.

He explained that they are also contacting the South Korean companies to convince them to return to work in the suspended projects in Tripoli, adding that after the Turks’ abduction, the Korean government banned its nationals from travelling to Libya.

The three engineers were abducted in November 2017 while on their way from Ubari airport to the city’s gas power plant, where they had been working. They were released Saturday but without saying who their kidnappers were.

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Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Metig, on Saturday threatened to close the land border with Tunisia, if the “harassment” of Libyan travelers on the Tunisian side continues.


border of Ras Ajdaiibya, Tunisia

The statement also said the Metig’s instructions were issued following of “harassment by outlaws” of Libyans while traveling through the Tunisian area of Ben Gerdane in southern Tunisia towards the border.

Ben Gerdane is a trade center near the border. According to the source, Libyan security prevented Tunisian cars from transporting smuggled goods, such as electrical appliances and foodstuffs, to Tunisia. As retaliation, Tunisia started harassing Libyans travelling by cars towards Libya.

The border crossing between Libya and Tunisia was closed repeatedly for various reasons in the past. The crossing is about 600 km southeast of the capital Tunis, and only 200 km west of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
http://www.libyanexpress.com/libya-v...nst-travelers/

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A hundred or more people are feared dead after a rubber boat carrying migrants capsized Friday off the Libyan coast, Libya’s navy said, hours after European Union leaders hailed a deal on migration that could see more migrants prevented from making the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

A rescue operation is ongoing, but the bodies of three children have been retrieved, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Qassim said.

The International Organization for Migration said only 14 migrants had been rescued so far.

“The bodies of three children under the age of 5 have been retrieved. How many missing or dead total, we don’t know for now,” IOM spokeswoman for Libya, Christine Petre, told CNN.

Doctors are providing medical assistance on site, and additional staff have been deployed, Petre said. “IOM is providing humanitarian direct assistance at the disembarkation point, including water and food,” she said.

Separately, an estimated 345 migrants were returned Friday to Libyan shores by the Libyan coast guard, IOM said.

Close to 10,200 migrants have been taken back to Libya so far in 2018, Petre said. More than 2,000 were returned by the Libyan coast guard last week.

EU ‘abdicating responsibilities’

Aid group Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières, urged EU leaders Friday to “show some basic decency” by committing to search and rescue operations for those in trouble at sea — and then taking them to a place of safety, rather than Libya.



Libyan deportation centers are rife with abuse, rights groups say, and a CNN undercover investigation last year revealed cases of migrants being sold at slave auctions.


Italy’s new populist government has stirred controversy this month by closing its ports to ships rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte welcomed the European Council deal Friday, saying it took “long negotiation, but from today Italy is no longer alone.”
Uptick in crossings

Under the deal agreed early Friday at the European Council summit in Brussels, the European Union will look into setting up migration centers in countries outside Europe to assess migrants’ claims for protection as well as secure centers on European soil.

The proposed “regional disembarkation platforms” would be in North African nations such as Libya, with the aim of breaking the business model of human traffickers who ship migrants across the sea to Europe. However, it’s not yet clear whether those countries are able or willing to operate such a system.

EU leaders also agreed to intensify efforts to stop smugglers operating out of Libya or elsewhere, including greater support for the Libyan coast guard and for the Sahel region, through which many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa travel on their way north.

In addition, the deal includes more money for Spain and Morocco to stem migrants coming through the eastern Mediterranean route.

Despite the dangers, thousands of migrants — many fleeing conflict, poverty or oppression — continue to risk their lives on overcrowded and barely seaworthy boats in the hope of finding a better life on European shores.

While illegal border crossings into the EU have decreased by 95% from their peak in October 2015, there has been a recent uptick in certain routes across the Mediterranean, the European Council said.

As of June 6, some 33,400 migrants and refugees had reached Europe by sea this year, IOM said, most of them arriving through Greece, Italy and Spain. The estimated number of deaths stood at 785.
https://kplr11.com/2018/06/29/100-fe...-migrant-deal/

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^ Migrants arrive at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's

The Libyan coastguard, charged with patrolling the frontline of Europe’s efforts to halt irregular migration, has only three working patrol boats, which often stay in port for lack of fuel.

“We don’t get any support, either from inside the country or from overseas,” said Ayoub Kacem, spokesman for the navy which oversees Libya’s coastguard, adding that the force’s only vessels have been on loan from Italy since 2010.

In a country wracked by violence since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising that destroyed Libya’s navy, officials say European powers have abandoned them — despite their efforts on Europe’s behalf to prevent migrants crossing their territory.

Colonel Abu Ajila Abdelbarri, who captains one of the coastguard’s patrol vessels, said they regularly break down.

“These are old boats, not even designed for search and rescue… their capacity is very limited,” he said, warning that the service was on the point of “total collapse”.

Kacem said the European Union, which Thursday was holding a crucial summit overshadowed by deep divisions on how to tackle irregular migration, had “failed in its commitments”.
https://www.channelstv.com/2018/06/2...over-migrants/

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After tightening his grip on eastern Libya, military strongman Khalifa Haftar now wants to extend his influence across the west where the UN-backed unity government is based, experts say.
http://www.africanews.com/2018/06/30...nquering-east/



One of the most powerful players in the Libyan conflict, the 75-year-old field marshal heads the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) allied with a rival authority in the east.

He has been bolstered by a string of military victories in eastern parts of the country, which has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Barely a week after seizing key oil export terminals from a rival militia, his forces on Thursday announced the “liberation” of Derna, the last eastern city beyond his control, from radical Islamist militias.

“The LNA has once again proved its capability to operate on multiple fronts and achieve military success,” said Mohamed Eljarh, chief executive of research firm Libya Outlook based in the country’s east.

Haftar’s enemies are ultimately his biggest advantage, he added.

“With their ill-informed and ill-organised military adventures, they make it easy for Haftar to justify the expansion of the LNA into the western and southern regions,”

Eljarh said.

‘Overestimates his strengths’

Until 1963, Libya was a federal union divided into three administrative states — Cyrenaica in the east, Tripolitania in the west and Fezzan in the south — fault lines that remain to this day.

In recent years, Haftar — whose forces have been backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia — has repeatedly vowed to “liberate the capital”.

But any push westwards is likely to face resistance particularly from armed groups in the western city of Misrata that are among the country’s most powerful and hostile to Haftar.

Haftar’s “triumphalist declarations on his supposed victory against terrorism suggest that he may be carried away by the recapture of Derna and underestimate the road ahead”, said Karim Bitar, an expert at the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris.

“Even the external powers that support him sometimes feel that Haftar overestimates his strengths and that nothing will be possible without a political rapprochement”.

Accused by his opponents of wanting to establish a new military dictatorship, Haftar refuses to recognise the authority of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

His relations with the authorities in Libya have always been complex.

Haftar served under Kadhafi but later fell from grace when he was captured by Chadian troops during Libya’s fruitless 1978-1987 conflict with its neighbour.

He languished in jail until the United States managed to secure his release and offer him political asylum.

He lived in the United States for more than two decades, giving rise to accusations of CIA links, before returning in 2011 to take part in the NATO-backed uprising.

Three years later, he declared war on jihadists in second city Benghazi, prompting Libya’s then-government to accuse him of trying to stage a coup.

‘In a hurry’

An agreement struck in Paris in May between four Libya leaders including Haftar and GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj to hold elections in December has done little to calm tensions.

After Haftar announced he was handing over the recaptured ports to the eastern authorities, the GNA urged the UN Security Council to block any “illegal” oil exports.

“Haftar is arrogant because certain states encourage him by promising him their support,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at The University of Paris VIII.

Haftar’s rivals accuse him of turning his back on the commitments he made in Paris.

“It is hard to see how Libya is capable of holding free and fair elections under current conditions,” said Ethan Chorin, a consultant and former Tripoli-based US diplomat.

“The various negotiating parties do not recognise one another and have limited influence on the ground — Haftar being the notable exception,”

he said.

Haftar’s camp insists that its goal is not control of oil but to bring the GNA to the negotiating table.

In particular it wants the sacking of central bank chief Seddiq al-Kabir, whom the eastern authorities accuse of financial support for their rivals.

“Haftar is absolutely determined to weaken the balance around the GNA in Tripoli, not only by military means but also by administrative and economic means,” said Harchaoui.

“Haftar is an old man, so in a hurry,” he said.

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https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/2...tants-attacks/

CAIRO (Sputnik) - The Tobruk-based parliament in Libya on Wednesday accused Qatar of supporting militants that had attacked Libyan oil ports in June, local media reported.

According to the Libyan News Agency, the statement was made by the defense and national security committee of the House of Representatives, the Libyan parliament based in Tobruk.

In mid-June, militants with links to the Al Qaeda terrorist group attacked and captured the ports. In late June, the forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) started seizing the so-called oil crescent and soon declared full control over the area stretching from Tobruk to Sidr, including the port in Ras Lanuf. The LNA said control would be handed over to the eastern government based in Tobruk instead of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

According to the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), the militants’ assaults on the ports resulted in Libyan oil production cuts amounting to 400,000 barrels per day. Moreover, two oil storage tanks, located in the ports, were destroyed. Production then came to a near halt after the capture by the LNA.

The Tobruk government and the UN-recognized GNA have been the two main entities governing Libya since the GNA was established in 2015. Prior to that, the west of the country was under the control of the General National Congress. The duality emerged in the aftermath of the overthrow of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 in the course of the Libyan conflict.

Qatar has been under diplomatic and economic blockade since June 2017 when the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain cut off diplomatic relations and communication with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. The Maldives, Mauritius, and Mauritania followed suit, while Jordan and Djibouti reduced the level of their diplomatic missions in Qatar. Doha has refuted the allegations.

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They declared force majeure and 850,000 bpd are stopped.

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US crude rises 20 cents, settling at $74.14, after topping $75 for first time since 2014

U.S. crude rose above $75 a barrel for the first time since November 2014 on Tuesday, after Libya declared force majeure on some of its crude exports.
Production at Syncrude Canada's 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, was hit by a power outage last month.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 32.32 million bpd in June, a Reuters survey showed, up 320,000 bpd from May.
he American benchmark broke through the threshold as the market grew increasingly concerned about a shortage of oil amid supply disruptions in Libya and Canada and as tough U.S. sanctions on Iran loom.

"You're starting to hear talk of oil shock. There is little confidence in the market that we're going to escape an ever-tightening supply and demand balance now," said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/03/oil-...own-looms.html

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According to sources from the area of clashes, Buazza was killed in the fighting as he was hit in the head by gunfire, then died in the hospital.

The fighting was prompted by a previous dispute by Al-Kikly and Buazza as the former accused him of a coup attempt, knowing that Al-Kikly heads a security apparatus of the Interior Ministry and his armed group controls Abu Salim and Al-Hadba areas in Tripoli.

Several injuries were reported by eyewitnesses, let alone material damage as well as blockade of several roads in the capital, including Airport Road.

They added that fighting ceased after Al-Kikly's armed group controlled the positions of Buazza.

No official numbers of deaths or injuries were recorded in the capital.

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Italy promises billions of euros to Libya if it accepts the return of migrants
http://www.euronews.com/2018/07/08/i...rn-of-migrants

Italy and Libya have agreed to reactivate a friendship treaty signed a decade ago that allowed migrants to be returned to Libyan territory.

"We agreed to reactivate the 2008 Italian-Libyan friendship treaty," said Libya's foreign minister Mohamad Siala in a joint press conference in Tripoli with Italian counterpart Enzo Moavero Milanesi.

He hailed the agreement reached during his first visit to Tripoli as "significant and promising".

The original treaty was signed by former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and Italy's then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, as they sought to turn a page on 40 years of stormy relations between the North African country and its former coloniser.

But the deal was suspended in February 2011, after the start of the uprising that saw Gadhafi forced from power and killed.

The original treaty envisaged unlocking 4.2 billion euros of Italian investment in Libya as compensation for colonisation by Rome.

In exchange, Libya would work to stop illegal migrants embarking from its shores -- and receive those sent back to it.

In Tripoli on Saturday the two ministers did not say if the text of the reactivated treaty had been amended.