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Thread: Libya News and Interests

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    Forces loyal to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have said that they had taken one of the last remaining strongholds of an al-Qaeda-linked group in the eastern city of Benghazi.

    Haftar's self-declared Libyan National Army (LNA) "liberated all of Qanfouda", an area 15km west of the centre of Benghazi, spokesman Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

    Two other LNA officials confirmed to AFP news agency that Qanfouda, the scene of fierce fighting since June against Ansar al-Sharia, had fallen.
    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/0...074100867.html


    ^ Bengazi Militia -unknown

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    https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/01/...nfouda-report/

    Sent from my Lenovo K52e78 using Tapatalk

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    Default Russian support for Haftar to shift governance eastwards/collapse Tripoli's GNA

    key Points

    *The inclusion of Haftar in the peace process would probably hasten the collapse of the current UN-backed government led by Fayez Serraj.
    *Although potentially positive for stability, Haftar's inclusion in the LPA would probably come too late given his current military and political power, particularly with the support of Russia.
    *Russian and EU support for Haftar is likely to push Libyan governance eastwards, away from Tripoli. Western militia opposition to Haftar is likely to remain intractable, ensuring a high likelihood of further fighting, particularly in the capital.
    http://www.janes.com/article/67643/r...ked-government

    On 11 January, Libyan militia leader General Khalifa Haftar met Russian officials aboard a Russian aircraft carrier off the coast of Tobruq, in eastern Libya. On 6 February, the EU Council of Foreign Ministers tacitly approved the inclusion of Haftar in a future Libyan government.

    During the Tobruq meeting, Haftar secured Russian support in exchange for unspecified basing rights in eastern Libya, Al Jazeera reported on 22 January. This has prompted increased diplomatic activity from the European Union (EU) outlining an increased role for Haftar in the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) that underpins the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). This probably reflects an effort to dissuade Russia from backing the general as a new authoritarian leader for Libya.

    Haftar commands the Libyan National Army (LNA), an umbrella group of militias affiliated to Libya's eastern parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR). He has previously signalled an ambition to lead Libya. Both Haftar and the HoR have refused to recognise the UN-backed GNA, based in the capital Tripoli. The HoR's recognition is required for the GNA to establish its legal legitimacy in Libya, and in its absence the GNA has failed to pass a budget or make key appointments. Haftar is likely to believe that he can take power militarily, or at least force a settlement on his own terms, particularly following his September 2016 capture of the eastern oil sector, which accounts for two-thirds of Libya's oil exports.

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    A Libyan man checks a building used by the Islamic State fighters after it was captured by Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government, in Sirte, Libya August 22, 2016

    Islamic State militants have shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya's political divisions after defeat in their former stronghold of Sirte, security officials say.

    The militants, believed to number several hundred and described as "remnants" of Islamic State's Libya operation, are trying to foment chaos by cutting power and water supplies and to identify receptive local communities, the officials said.

    They are being monitored through aerial surveillance and on-the-ground intelligence, but Libyan officials said they cannot easily be targeted without advanced air power of the kind used by the United States on Jan. 19, when B-2 bombers killed more than 80 militants in a strike southwest of Sirte.

    For more than a year, Islamic State exercised total control over Sirte, building its primary North African base in the coastal city. But it struggled to keep a footing elsewhere in Libya and by December was forced out of Sirte after a six-month campaign led by brigades from the western city of Misrata and backed by U.S. air strikes.

    The jihadist group lost many of its fighters in the battle and now has no territory in Libya, but fugitive militants and sleeper cells are seen to pose a threat in a country that has been deeply fractured and largely lawless since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

    The threat is focused south of the coastal strip between Misrata and Tripoli, arcing to the southeast around the town of Bani Walid and into the desert south of Sirte, said Ismail Shukri, head of military intelligence in Misrata.

    One group of 60-80 militants is operating around Girza, 170 km (105 miles) west of Sirte, another group of about 100 is based around Zalla and Mabrouk oil field, about 300 km southeast of Sirte, and there are reports of a third group present in Al-Uwaynat, close the Algerian border, he said.

    Some fighters were based outside Sirte before last year's campaign, some fled during the battle and some have arrived from eastern Libya where they have been largely defeated by rival armed factions.

    "They work and move around in small groups. They only use two or three vehicles at a time and they move at night to avoid detection," said Mohamed Gnaidy, an intelligence official with forces that conducted the campaign in Sirte.

    Those forces published pictures in the wake of last month's U.S. strike showing hideouts dug into the sand, temporary shelters camouflaged with plastic sheeting and branches, stocks of weapons and satellite phones.

    "This area is very difficult so it's hard for our forces to deal with them," said Shukri, pointing to satellite images of steep rocky banks and tracks in the sand southwest of Sirte. "The only solution to eliminate them in this area is through air strikes."

    ATTACKS ON INFRASTRUCTURE

    Mohamed Gnounou, a Misrata-based air force spokesman, said the militants had been monitored for 45 days ahead of the U.S. strike. "It confirmed a large number of individuals who were preparing something new in this place, as well as developing a strategy to head to new areas." The areas included rural districts near the coastal cities of Al Khoms and Zliten, between Misrata and Tripoli, and the region around the southern city of Sabha, he said.

    Islamic State fighters had received logistical help from civilians and had paid some of them to help cut off power and water supplies, including by sabotaging a water link to Tripoli in the Great Man-made River system built by Gaddafi, and attacking electricity infrastructure near the southern city of Sabha, where there have been long blackouts in recent weeks, said Gnounou.

    "Daesh (Islamic State) destroyed more than 150km of electricity pylons in the south between Jufra and Sabha. These acts fuel crisis and frustration in Libya, as well as giving an opportunity for gold diggers who smuggle through the open borders and make easy money from Daesh," he said.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-li...-idUSKBN15P1GX

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    Mayors from Libya's desert south to northern shores fear a deal struck between Tripoli and Rome to fund migrant holding centres in the north African country will simply shift Europe's migration crisis onto Libyan soil.

    The Mediterranean sea between Libya and Italy has become the main crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Last year Italy recorded its record number of migrant arrivals.

    The deal foresees European Union money for holding centres in towns and cities along the main human trafficking routes criss-crossing Libya, as well as training and equipment to fight the smugglers.

    "Our priority is to support our own sons instead of allowing for illegal migrants in centres," said Hamed Al-Khyali, mayor of the southern city of Sabha, a migrant smuggling hub.

    "If the Europeans want to allow them stay, they can have them in their own lands, which are larger, but not in Libya because we have our own problems to take care of."

    smuggling gangs to develop entrenched networks. They typically demand thousands of dollars from migrants for a risky journey across the desert before cramming them onto ill-equipped boats for a perilous crossing of the Mediterranean. An estimated 4,500 migrants drowned in 2016.

    ome migrant detention centres already exist in Libya. A U.N. report in December said migrants in Libya were exposed to widespread abuse in the centres, which are generally controlled by armed groups though some have official status. The report also said some local officials were collaborating with the smugglers.

    'DANGEROUS STEP'

    Hussein Thwadi, mayor of the western coastal city of Sabratha, the departure point most frequently used for Mediterranean crossings by smugglers in Libya right now, said keeping migrants in Libya would be a "dangerous step".

    But the authorities in eastern Libya, which oppose the U.N.-backed government and control swathes of the south used by the human traffickers, this week rejected the Italian-Libyan deal.
    http://www.thestar.com.my/news/world...umped-on-them/

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    12/16


    the Benghazi Medical Center has been rocked by a blast in the surgery department of the building.

    Sources from the center said two explosive devices went off simultaneously in the surgery section and caused a lot of damage to the building but no human casualties.

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    car bomb near the city's Jala hospital,(Bengazi) which destroyed several vehicles, scattered the body parts of victims and shattered windows in nearby buildings.

    11/22/2016

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    Fájl:The old covered market in Benghazi Libya

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    Wednesday 26 August 2015 18:06 UTC
    BENGHAZI, Libya - Benghazi has had a few turbulent years since the bloody overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

    Today, Libya’s second city looks vastly different from the Benghazi of four years ago, although conflict and violence continue to grip the birthplace of the 2011 revolution.

    Since General Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity a year-and-a-half ago, which aimed to root out what he called as “Islamist and terrorist forces” from the city and beyond, key pockets of resistance remain and fighting rages on.

    In May 2014, many city residents welcomed his announcement that he planned to boot out religious militias like Ansar al-Sharia and end a long season of murders and kidnappings.

    But Haftar has been unable to claim victory. After 16 months of war, 1,600 people are thought to have been killed and more than 100,000 people, or about a quarter of the entire Benghazi population, are internally displaced.

    Haftar claims to control 90 percent of Benghazi, but militants of the Shura Revolutionary Council, which is linked to Ansar al-Sharia and Fajr Libya (militias close to Tripoli's government), are holding out in strategic areas and are understood to be in full control of the city’s port and several of the city’s central neighbourhoods.

    Amid the chaos, the Islamic State group has entered the fray.
    In the Lithi ruins

    In March, Haftar was named the supreme commander of Libyan army, which is formally linked to the Tobruk-based government chaired by Abdullah al-Thinni. But with an arms embargo in place, Haftar has not been able to adequately arm or train his men for the battle against the militias.

    The Ministry of the Interior has set up a special force that supports Haftar along the frontlines and makes up part of a mosaic of forces in the field: government military forces, in conjunction with some smaller Salafi militias against Ansar al-Sharia, and citizen brigades have taken up arms to defend the city.

    Despite this, the situation is deadlocked and there are 11 open frontlines in the city alone, according to fighters in Benghazi.

    Haftar militiaman

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    Bengazi aerial view


    Bengazi traffic

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    With the future of the Assad regime now well in hand, the Kremlin has turned its attention to another former Soviet client in the Middle East - Libya.

    The “Libyan Political Agreement” negotiated under UN supervision and announced on December 17, 2015, was supposed to herald the formation of a unity government for Libya and begin the process of stabilizing a country that has been torn apart by four years of civil war. It did neither. Instead, the two rival governments, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HR) and the Tripoli headquartered General National Congress (GNC), have continued their rivalry.

    Both sides continue to function as the government of Libya; conduct separate foreign policies and, in many cases, field rival ambassadorial appointments. In the meantime, the Government of National Accord (GNA), which was to have replaced the two rival governments, has failed to establish its authority. Its territorial control is largely limited to a former naval base outside the city of Tripoli, and it is continuing to steadily lose what little authority it had. The GNC originally endorsed the GNA, although in recent months it has turned against it. The HR never accepted the GNA, even though its formal approval was a precondition of the original agreement.

    Part of the impetus for the UN brokered agreement was the success of Islamic State (IS) in establishing a foothold in Libya. The Libyan branch of IS was officially formed on November 13, 2014. There were three separate branches of IS in Libya, corresponding to the three historic divisions of the country when it was under Ottoman rule: Cyrenaica in the east, Fezzan in the south and Tripolitania in the west.

    The group’s genesis was in the Battar Brigade, a militant group of Libyans that were fighting against the Assad regime in Syria during 2012. In early 2014, about 300 veterans of the Battar Brigade returned to Libya and organized the Islamic Youth Shura Council (IYSC). Bolstered by recruits from other jihadist organizations, the IYSC took control of the Libyan city of Derna. Starting in early 2015, Islamic State gradually expanded its territory to also take control of the city of Sirte. This was the largest city controlled by Islamic State outside of its Iraqi-Syrian domain. At one point, it even appeared that if IS was defeated in Syria and Iraq, Sirte might become the organization’s new capital.

    The Islamic State in Libya steadily lost ground over the course of 2015. A rival jihadist organization, the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, succeeded in expelling IS fighters from the city. Further east, Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to Khalifa Hiftar, with assistance from French Special Forces, succeeded in expelling IS militants from the city of Benghazi. IS, however, continued to retain control of Sirte.

    On August 1, 2016, in response to a request for assistance by Fayez al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the U.S. launched Operation Odyssey Lightning to help government-aligned forces push IS out of Sirte. AFRICOM, which was charged with the mission, conducted “495 precision airstrikes against Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, heavy guns, tanks, command and control centers and fighting positions.” The operation was officially ended on December 16.


    sailor signals an AV-8B Harrier pilot assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) to stop aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) during Operation Odyssey Lightning, Aug. 11, 2016.

    On January 19, however, the Obama administration, in one of its last acts before stepping down, dispatched four B-2 (stealth) bombers to attack two Islamic State training camps in the Libyan Desert, 28-miles southwest of the city of Sirte. It’s estimated that 80 IS jihadists. There are between 200 and 1,000 IS militants still operating in Libya, either in cells in Libya’s major cities or dispersed in the country’s desert south.
    ++
    While the immediate threat of an Islamic State takeover of Libya is, for now, contained, Libya is no closer to a resolution of its civil war than it was a year ago. In the east, the Libyan National Army (LNA), under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Hiftar, has emerged as the region’s principal power broker. The LNA supports the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and operates under its authority. Hiftar is supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and, increasingly, by Russia. The U.S. has repeatedly urged Hiftar to accept the authority of the GNA. He has refused to do so.

    The Field Marshall is an enigmatic and controversial figure in Libya. A former general in Muammar Gaddafi’s military, he took part in the coup that brought the Libyan strongman to power in 1969, only to break with the Libyan leader in the late 80s. He has longstanding ties with Russia, having received training there in the 1970s, but paradoxically also with the CIA. Hiftar came to the U.S. in 1990, along with 300 of his former soldiers, under a CIA sponsored U.S. refugee program. He lived in Virginia for almost 20 years, and in the process also became a U.S. citizen.

    Hiftar’s Libyan National Army has succeeded in gaining control of most of eastern Libya and the main operating oil fields there. In September, the LNA took control of four critical oil export terminals in the Gulf of Sirte, Ras Lanuf, As Sidra, Zueitina and Marsa el Brega, as well as the El Sharara and El Feel oil fields, two of Libya’s largest, giving him control of almost all of Libya’s onshore petroleum production. On December 20, the Libyan National Oil Company announced that it had reopened oil pipelines from its western oil fields capable of delivering 270,000 barrels of petroleum a day (BOPD), a 50 per cent increase over its current production.

    By January 2017, for the first time since the beginning of the civil war, all nine of Libya’s major oil terminals were delivering oil, boosting production to 700,000 BOPD. Libya’s National Oil Company has announced plans to increase production to 1.2 million BOPD by the end of the year. If successful, the production increase will largely offset the OPEC mandated production cuts announced in the autumn of 2016. Proceeds from oil sales have been deposited into the Libyan Central Bank and are theoretically under the control of the GNA.

    Arrayed against Hiftar, and his Libyan National Army, is a broad assortment of rival militias ranging in orientation from jihadist to so-called moderates, although what that latter term actually means in Libya is anybody’s guess. The most prominent group is the Misratan militia. Based in the Libyan city of Misrata, the group at one point numbered more than 230 different organizations fielding around 40,000 fighters. It’s unclear what its current strength and membership is. It was members of the Misratan militia that led the effort to oust Islamic State from Sirte.

    The Misratan militia supports the Tripoli-based General National Congress, and has been a stalwart opponent of both Hiftar and his Libyan National Army. Moderate groups within the Misratan Militia originally supported the GNA, but of late have become more ambivalent in their support. The LNA and the Misratan Militias have repeatedly clashed over the last four years. The Islamist groups that make up a significant portion of the Misratan Militia’s strength oppose Hiftar’s secularist and anti-jihadist policies, especially his belief that all Islamists are de facto jihadists, and have opposed any role for Hiftar in a national unity government.

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    Field Marshall Khalifa Hiftar, Commander Libyan National Army
    ++
    On February 9, Mahmud Zagal, a commander of one of the Misrata militias, announced in Tripoli the formation of the Libyan National Guard (LNG). The size of the LNG is unclear, but it is believed to consist of various groups drawn from the Misrata militias. The LNG claims that it would not get involved in “political party and tribal disputes,” and that its main objective was to continue to fight against “the Islamic State jihadist group.” The group’s relationship with the UN-backed Government of National Accord is unclear as is its relationship with the Tripoli based General National Congress. The LNG is largely seen as a potential counterpoint to Field Marshall Khalifa Hiftar’s, Libyan National Army.

    The third major militia grouping is the Zintan Brigades based in the city of Zintan southwest of Tripoli. The Zintan Brigades are technically allayed with Hiftar’s LNA and are considered “moderates” within the Libyan political constellation, and have been fierce opponents of Islamist groups operating in Libya, particularly those aligned with the Misratan militias. The Zintan brigades have, however, maintained a truce with the Misratan militias and cooperated with them in the campaign to oust the Islamic State from Sirte.

    In addition to the LNA, Misratan Militias and Zintan Brigades, there is a range of other armed groups also operating in the country. In the deep desert, there are Tebu militias that control most of the region south of Sabha. In the southwest, there are Tuareg militias that control several oil fields in the area. Both groups have been supportive of the GNA, but neither can do much to aid the unity government. In addition, there are is a range of jihadist organizations that operate independently, although at times they have collaborated with various groups in the Misratan militias. These groups include Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

    At the moment, none of the major armed groups have sufficient strength to overcome the others. While the LNA and the Zintan Brigades collectively control a significant part of Libya, it’s not clear that the Zintan Brigades would support the LNA if renewed fighting broke out between the Libyan National Army and the Misratan Militias. With the Government of National Accord widely seen as being on its last legs and a new round of negotiations to create a new unity government imminent, all three of the main groups have a vested interest in cooperating in the organization, and subsequent division of power, in a new government.

    In the last nine months, the Kremlin has been ratcheting up its support of Khalifa Hiftar; describing him, as quoted in a Bloomberg report, as “a leading political and military figure,” and as someone who is “doing a lot to fight Islamic State terrorists and help the government restore control of oil production.” At the same time, Russia has criticized the UN organized unity government as ineffective and urged UN envoy Martin Kobler to find a prominent role for Hiftar in Libya’s government.

    Hiftar has been to Moscow twice in the past six months for high-level meetings with the Russian Defense and Foreign Ministers. On January 11, Hiftar toured the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which was anchored off the Libyan coast near Benghazi. During his visit, he held a video conference with Russian Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu. Russia has been providing military advice and training, as well as “military experts” to the Libyan National Army, but insists that it has observed the UN mandated arms embargo to supply arms to anyone other than for the UN sponsored Government of National Accord.

    During the Gaddafi regime, Libya was a major purchaser of Soviet and Russian arms. It’s estimated that the Libyan Revolution that overthrew Gaddafi cost Russia some four billion dollars in contracted arms deals. In addition, during the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union operated military bases in Libya, including access to the Okba Ben Nafi airfield (now Methega Airport), the former Wheelus Air Base operated by the United States in the 1950s and 60s. It’s possible that Russia is again looking for access to military bases in Libya, as well as restoring its influence with a former Soviet client.

    Libya is not Syria and Hiftar is not another Assad. Nonetheless, there are important and unmistakable parallels between the two countries. Both nations have been torn apart by a ruthless civil war, a war that has created spaces for jihadist organizations in general and Islamic State, in particular, to thrive. Both wars have created waves of refugees that are sweeping into Europe and creating domestic and political disruptions there. Both wars have destabilized their surrounding regions, drawn in jihadists from neighboring countries and facilitated the proliferations of arms to local militant groups.

    Both countries were former Soviet clients and, in both cases, Russia has aligned itself with military strongmen, while the U.S. and its allies have sought to identify moderate political forces around which it could build broader coalitions. In Libya’s case, unlike in Syria, the U.S. played a prominent role in overthrowing Gaddafi and in setting off the chain of events that would plunge Libya into civil war and political chaos.

    The lessons of Syria, and the resulting flood of refugees, have not been lost on the European Union (EU) either. Libya continues to be a significant source of refugees crossing the Mediterranean into Europe. About 10,000 refugees have already crossed over from North Africa this year, setting up 2017 to be a record year. The EU recently gave the Government of National Accord in Tripoli 3.2 million euros to expand its Coast Guard, even though the GNA controls very little of Libya’s coastline beyond the vicinity of Tripoli. A further 200 million euros are slated to help Libya and its North African neighbor’s better deal with “refugee-migration issues.” The term is “code” for a EU strategy of building and financing refugee camps in Libya to which to return rescued migrant-refugees.

    The EU has also given the Kremlin unmistakable signals that it would welcome Moscow’s help in finding a permanent political solution to the Libyan Civil War. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson went so far as to openly signal his support that, “Hiftar is in some way integrated into the government of Libya.” The Trump administration’s position on Libya isn’t clear yet. Washington has objected to the appointment of Russian backed, former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to replace Martin Kobler as the UN Representative to Libya. Nonetheless, Libya could well emerge as the first area of U.S.-Russian cooperation.

    Hiftar is by no means assured to emerge as Libya’s strongman. His control of eastern Libya and its oil fields, the support of the Libyan National Army, as well as Russia’s backing, makes him a strong contender; especially given the fragmentation and disunity of his potential opposition. Nonetheless, it’s unlikely that his opponents will willingly concede to his control of Libya, and such a gambit would likely precipitate continued fighting and bloodshed. In the meantime, Moscow spins its webs and bides its time.
    Follow Joseph V. Micalle
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph..._14705620.html

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    "What if" is the refugee of a scoundrel.. All you can point to is Bernie's Unanimous Consent votes-
    while I have article after article that showed Clinton's advocacy & organizational works is what got the "No Fly" from a passive UN resolution into a full fledged regime change.Some from her very own State Dept.

    It was Clinton who wanted to make Qadaffi a military target/it was Clinton who counseled for the war
    to a "reluctant Obama" ( as the NYTimes describe it), and it was Clinton who led the Arab League to acquiese
    It was Clinton who was the "51st% voice"- as Gates described her role in the National Security Council to finally go into R2P "humanitarian war" -and it was her who wanted him dead (military target)
    ++

    You've done a lot of writing on Libya,but you can't connect the dots to today's migration problem
    of Black Africans being robbed and starved in transit to Libya? Drowning in massive waves in the Mediterranean?
    You're a Toby-excusing the Clinton massa you supported for the needless deaths of your own people!


    Do your friends who travel to Libya regularly excuse your willful ignorance and betrayal of Sub Saharan & west Africa from the Sahel? Or do they realize you're too stupid to connect the dots from Libya 2011 to Libya 2014 ~ Present?

    You don't demonstrate a fucking clue about Libya after Qaddafi was killed.
    You told me yourself you lost interest - it's wasn't a political hot war covered by the media going into the election.
    Rand Paul and Bernie nailed her ass after the 2011 fiasco- and you were silent or making excuses in the presidential election

    I alone saw the rise of Libyan Civil War from 2014~ Present, and I alone covered it on DCJ#1 and DCJ#2.
    Your droppings had long dropped out, as the events on the ground inevitably devolved into full scale civil war.
    You went AWOL. It wasn't a sexy war anymore .it was just a grind to desrtuction and death

    You had plenty of time to add to that thread and to learn . But you didn't. You ignored the upcoming "blow back"
    The US was out of Libya by 2012 and you lost interest because Qaddafi was killed,and it wasn't a politically shiny object anymore.
    It was just a protracted civil war that left scenes like the drowned black Africans all over Libyan beaches
    ++
    Here's your girl on her victory tour in Oct 2011 when she was taking credit for
    her neocon "spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun" Libyan regime change.



    ++
    and here's the legacy of her warhawking.
    It wasn't "US policy" that inevitably did this -it was Clinton/Obama/Sarkozy/Cameron- that actors in the grotesque play called Liberation of Libya. Yet you blame everyone but the actual players involved.
    "US policy" my ass. You dodge all responsibility because you can't put the blame on HRClinton and company. You can't square the fact you voted for her,and the reality left on the ground is her work alone ( not Bernie) along with the other actors involved.


    Bengazi - July 2015

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    Default Libya News and Interests

    Quote Originally Posted by anatta View Post
    "What if" is the refugee of a scoundrel.. All you can point to is Bernie's Unanimous Consent votes-
    while I have article after article that showed Clinton's advocacy & organizational works is what got the "No Fly" from a passive UN resolution into a full fledged regime change.Some from her very own State Dept.

    It was Clinton who wanted to make Qadaffi a military target/it was Clinton who counseled for the war
    to a "reluctant Obama" ( as the NYTimes describe it), and it was Clinton who led the Arab League to acquiese
    It was Clinton who was the "51st% voice"- as Gates described her role in the National Security Council to finally go into R2P "humanitarian war" -and it was her who wanted him dead (military target)
    ++

    You've done a lot of writing on Libya,but you can't connect the dots to today's migration problem
    of Black Africans being robbed and starved in transit to Libya? Drowning in massive waves in the Mediterranean?
    You're a Toby-excusing the Clinton massa you supported for the needless deaths of your own people!


    Do your friends who travel to Libya regularly excuse your willful ignorance and betrayal of Sub Saharan & west Africa from the Sahel? Or do they realize you're too stupid to connect the dots from Libya 2011 to Libya 2014 ~ Present?

    You don't demonstrate a fucking clue about Libya after Qaddafi was killed.
    You told me yourself you lost interest - it's wasn't a political hot war covered by the media going into the election.
    Rand Paul and Bernie nailed her ass after the 2011 fiasco- and you were silent or making excuses in the presidential election

    I alone saw the rise of Libyan Civil War from 2014~ Present, and I alone covered it on DCJ#1 and DCJ#2.
    Your droppings had long dropped out, as the events on the ground inevitably devolved into full scale civil war.
    You went AWOL. It wasn't a sexy war anymore .it was just a grind to desrtuction and death

    You had plenty of time to add to that thread and to learn . But you didn't. You ignored the upcoming "blow back"
    The US was out of Libya by 2012 and you lost interest because Qaddafi was killed,and it wasn't a politically shiny object anymore.
    It was just a protracted civil war that left scenes like the drowned black Africans all over Libyan beaches
    ++
    Here's your girl on her victory tour in Oct 2011 when she was taking credit for
    her neocon "spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun" Libyan regime change.



    ++
    and here's the legacy of her warhawking.
    It wasn't "US policy" that inevitably did this -it was Clinton/Obama/Sarkozy/Cameron- that actors in the grotesque play called Liberation of Libya. Yet you blame everyone but the actual players involved.
    "US policy" my ass. You dodge all responsibility because you can't put the blame on HRClinton and company. You can't square the fact you voted for her,and the reality left on the ground is her work alone ( not Bernie) along with the other actors involved.


    Bengazi - July 2015
    Who are you talking to anyway?

    Sent from my Lenovo K52e78 using Tapatalk

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    Nigerian returnees from Libya narrate tales of rape, abuse, violence


    African migrants stranded on a boat coming from Libya wait for rescue services, near Sfax, on the Tunisian coast, on June 4, 2011. Between 200 and 270 migrants fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Libya went missing on June 2 off of Tunisia, while nearly 600 others were rescued alive after their boat capsized.

    Some Nigerian returnees from Libya have narrated their experiences in the hands of Libyan officials.

    Scores of Nigerians travel to Libya daily with the hope of landing in Europe by boat through the Mediterranean.

    An average of 109 Nigerians arrived in Italy daily in 2016 travelling the risky route.
    A lot more are, however, still trapped in Libya.


    Some of the returnees appealed to federal and state governments to provide job opportunities for Nigerian youth to prevent them from endangering their lives looking for greener pasture abroad.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Lagos, that they decided to leave the country because they were jobless.

    They said that they travelled to Libya with the hope of crossing to Europe through the Mediterranean in search of jobs.

    The returnees were among the 161 Nigerians who returned voluntarily from Libya on February 14.

    They were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) after being detained for several months in Libyan detention facilities.

    They arrived in Lagos singing songs of praise and beaming with smiles, thanking their creator for bringing them safely home.

    One of the returnees, Bridget Akeama, an indigene of Anambra, said her parents decided to send her to Italy when all hope of securing job after her school proved abortive.

    Ms. Akeama, who said she left Nigeria in August last year, returned with four months pregnancy.

    She said she was arrested while trying to cross to Italy from Libya by immigration officials.

    Ms. Akeama said: “Ever since then, I have been moved from one prison to another until I was taken to detention camp in Tripoli.

    “We were subjected to inhuman treatment while in prison, from the food we eat to the water we drink.

    “Most of the young ladies in detention camp were raped by Libyan officials and if you refused their advances, it will be hell for you.

    “Thank God I am back in Nigeria, I know all hope is not lost but it is painful that I will begin from scratch again with my unborn child.”


    Stanley Iduh, 34-year-old indigene of Delta, said that he was tricked by an agent popularly known as “Burger, that he would facilitate his journey to Spain through Libya.

    He said that when his hope of crossing into Spain was dashed in Libya, he decided to stay back and work in the Arab country.

    “I worked in Tile producing company and their salary was good but unfortunately I cannot save my money in the bank.

    “I lived with other Nigerians. I dug a hole in the ground to save my money.

    “Unfortunately, one day, some Libyans came, kidnapped us and inflicted punishment on us.

    “They asked us to call our relations back in Nigeria and tell them to send N300,000 as our ransom.

    “The $200,000 dollars that I saved, disappeared; they moved us to another place until we got to detention camp.

    “Nigerians should be discouraged from travelling to Libya because they are not treating us like human beings.

    “Our ladies were dehumanised by Libyan officials, it is very painful,” he said.

    Mr. Iduh, who said he sold the house left by his late father before travelling to Libya, urged the federal and state governments as well as wealthy Nigerians to create job for the youths.

    “It was because I was jobless for three years that I was cajoled to travel abroad to look for greener pasture.

    “I am back in the country after eight months, devastated and humiliated.

    “I have gone to look for greener pasture but here I am today; I have brought nothing green back home,” he said with tears running in his cheek.

    Paul and Marvellous Isikhuemhen are twin brothers who travelled to Libya in March and May 2016 respectively in search for greener pasture.

    Marvellous told NAN that they regretted travelling out of the country because of the bitter encounter they had in Libya.

    He said that though they secured a good job in a publishing house in Libya, “it was suffering and smiling’’ until they were given the opportunity to return home through the IOM.

    Mr. Isikhuemhen urged the Nigerian government to stop young ladies from travelling to Libya, saying they were molested by Libyan immigration officials.

    He said that most Nigerian ladies bribe Nigerian Immigration Officers to secure travel documents to travel to Libya.

    Mr. Isikhuemhen added that most of the children brought back home by these ladies had no fathers.

    “I can boldly tell you that the children you are seeing in their hands and those pregnant ladies are products of Libya immigration officers,” he said.
    http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/h...-violence.html

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