...With or Without the World’s Support according to a major news magazine’s afternoon report today. Blockquotes/links from multiple sources follow, ending (approximately), with “While You Weren’t Looking, General Haftar Has Been Taking Over Libya”.
Starting first with AL-MONITOR‘s weekly Washington Lobbying email (anyone can subscribe, just gotta register), and continuing on with further perspectives that counterpoint most-googled news (note that the spelling of the general’s name varies among news sources):
With Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter’s forces marching on Tripoli, here’s a primer on the North African country’s murky lobbying presence in Washington. Hifter, a former CIA asset who once lived in suburban Virginia, has ties to several firms that can be expected to spring into action to defend him if his military advance descends into bloodshed.
Hifter's son, Khaled Khalifa Hifter, a captain in Hifter’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, hired Daniel Faraci’s Grassroots Political Consulting in November 2017 to "advocate the political and strategic interests of the Hifter family in the US Congress." The contract was terminated in late October after Grassroots was paid $100,000. And Libya’s eastern government, which is allied with Hifter against the UN-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, hired former Israeli military intelligence official Ari Ben-Menashe and his firm, Dickens & Madsen, in July 2016. Canada-based Dickens & Madsen, in turn, hired Kansas law firm Adams Jones around the same time.
Hifter’s chief of staff — and self-proclaimed governor of eastern Libya — Abdel Razek al-Nadhouri hired Keystone Strategic Advisers and former Serbian Ambassador to the United States Vladimir Petrovic to lobby in December 2017. Nadhouri paid the firm $450,000 upfront in November 2017; the contract was terminated in February 2018 (Keystone lobbyists only reported three meetings, all in January 2018, regarding “UN negotiations on Libya” with a staffer for then-Congressman Ted Poe, R-Texas, then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and a Rohrabacher staffer).
Separately, Libyan businessman Mustafa Eteer and his Tri-Star International Trading paid Mayer Brown $50,000 in the six months through January to hold discussions with “US government and United Nations officials and members of the media regarding developments in Libya and the formation of a democratic government.” Libyan oil tycoon Hassan Tatanaki, founder of the Libyan United Democratic Party, hired Yorktown Solutions and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer Daniel Vajdich for $30,000 per month in November. Read our complete Libya lobbying coverage here.
(cf. Warren: Ban American Paid Lobbying for Foreign Govts, Companies & Persons, - November 30, 2018 ).
Departing from the sources most read in dk, other reportage and perspectives include (bolding added):
■ April 4 africanews/APO group Joint Statement on Fighting Near Gharyan, Libya
The governments of France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States are deeply concerned by fighting near Gharyan, Libya and urge all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions, which are hindering prospects for UN political mediation. At this sensitive moment in Libya’s transition, military posturing and threats of unilateral action only risk propelling Libya back toward chaos. We strongly believe that there is no military solution to the Libya conflict. Our governments oppose any military action in Libya and will hold accountable any Libyan faction that precipitates further civil conflict.
We stand united behind UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Ghassan Salamé as the UN seeks to break Libya’s political deadlock, improve transitional governance, and chart a path toward credible and peaceful elections. All Libyan actors should work constructively with SRSG Salamé as the UN finalizes plans for the national conference planned for April 14-16.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth
■ 4 April 2019, Reuters UK U.S., France, others urge de-escalation of tensions in Libya
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The governments of France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States said on Thursday they were deeply concerned about fighting around the Libyan town of Gharyan and urged all sides to immediately de-escalate tensions.
“At this sensitive moment in Libya’s transition, military posturing and threats of unilateral action only risk propelling Libya back towards chaos,” they said in a joint statement released in Washington by the State Department. “We strongly believe that there is no military solution to the Libya conflict.”
■ 4 april 2019, Libya Observer (...Founded in Tripoli on April 2014) EU concerned about military buildup in Libya, urges all parties for calm by Abdulkader Assad
The European Union said it is deeply concerned by the military buildup underway in Libya and the escalatory rhetoric which seriously risks leading to an uncontrollable confrontation.
"We urge all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions and cease all acts of provocation. There can be no military solution to the Libyan crisis." The EU said in a joint statement posted by the EU Delegation in Libya on Facebook on Thursday.
The statement added that the Libyan people deserve to live in peace and security and that the current situation requires decision makers to act responsibly and finally put the national interest first.
The EU said it fully supports the mediating efforts of UN envoy [, Head of the UNSMIL,. ] Ghassan Salame including the meetings recently held in Abu Dhabi.
"The upcoming National Conference scheduled in a few days offers an historic opportunity for all segments of Libyan society to agree on the political roadmap that will end the transition." The EU added.
The EU urged all parties to seize the opportunity of the visit of UN Secretary General António Guterres to engage in a spirit of compromise in order to avoid further bloodshed and build a better future for all Libyans.
EU delegation in Libya is the only international body that has issued a statement about the escalation in the country, while the UNSMIL has not yet issued any comments.
However, Ghassan Salame said on his personal Twitter account that he calls on Libyans not to receive the UN Secretary General with provocative military operations….
and World Bank: Foreign exchange controls in Libya yielded positive results by Safa Alharathy
The World Bank said in a report published Monday on Libya, entitled "The Economic Outlook for Libya in 2019", that the decision to impose a fee on the sale of foreign currency by 183 per cent contributed to reducing speculation, smuggling, and in bringing down inflation rates, as well as taming increasing prices in the country.
The proceeds of fees on the sale of foreign currency have achieved a budget surplus by nearly 3.9 per cent of GDP; the first time for five years, according to the World Bank report.
and 3 April HoR calls for postponing release of Libyan assets abroad
The HoR has called on the international community to postpone the release of Libyan assets abroad until the formation of a unified government and the conducting of presidential and legislative elections.
The MPs demanded in a statement Tuesday, the relevant institutions and members of the Security Council and the United Nations mission to assume their responsibilities and reject the resolution to release the Libyan frozen assets.
"The unfreezing of Libyan assets aboard will expose them to misconduct and looting," the statement read.
The HoR claimed to have information that European countries are seeking with Libyan parties to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council regarding the release of Libyan assets aboard, describing it as a dangerous step.
and PC reviews file of Libyan airplanes seized abroad by Safa Alharathy
Member of the Presidential Council, Mohammed Amari Zayed, followed up Tuesday with the aviation officials the file of the Libyan aircraft seized in abroad for unpaid financial obligations.
Amari commended during the meeting the efforts exerted by United Aviation Company to retain Bombardier Challenger 850, saying it will provide fresh impetus to complete the work on restoring the rest of Libyan planes seized abroad.
The meeting discussed the legal and regulatory procedures necessary for operating the retained aircraft and putting it back to service, according to the Media Office of Presidential Council.
Other issues were also discussed in this regard, such as reviewing the plan and timetable for the recovery of the rest of the planes and their entry into operation.
and IOM: Libya isn't a safe haven for immigrants
The [International Organization for Migration [established 1951, an intergovernmental organization that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers. In September 2016, it became a related organization of the United Nations...] said Libya cannot yet be considered a safe port, saying it is present at the disembarkation points to deliver primary assistance to migrants that have been rescued at sea.
In a statement on Tuesday, IOM added that following the migrants' disembarkation, they are transferred to detention centres under the responsibility of the Libyan Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) over which the Organization has no authority or oversight.
"The detention of men, women and children is arbitrary. The unacceptable and inhumane conditions in these detention centres are well documented, and IOM continues to call for alternative solutions to this systematic detention." The statement remarks.
It indicates that the number of migrants returned to Libyan shores has reached over 16,000 since January 2018...
and see ReliefWeb 20 March, below.
■ 3 April 2019 Reuters Eastern Libya forces move west, skirmish south of Tripoli by Ayman al-Warfalli, Ahmed Elumami,
Eastern Libyan military forces have moved to western Libya and were briefly locked in a skirmish with a rival force south of the capital Tripoli, an eastern official and residents said on Wednesday, in an escalation between rival camps in the oil producer.
The advance took diplomats and analysts by surprise, exploiting their focus on neighboring Algeria where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday after protests, to the relieve of Western countries valuing stability there.
Libya — in trouble since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 — is divided between the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and a parallel administration allied to Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar has turned into major player in the North African country, enjoying the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates which see him as bulwark against Islamists. His opponents see in him a new Gaddafi….
and Reuters Canada brief, Eastern Libya forces, moving west, say Tripoli key to national dignity reportd by Ayman al-Warfalli & Ahmed Elumami, written by Ulf Laessing, editedg by William Maclean
Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar are preparing a mission to “liberate the homeland from terrorism”, a force spokesman said on Wednesday, suggesting the capital Tripoli was a desirable destination.
Ahmed Mismari did not say directly whether his force would move on Tripoli in western Libya, which is controlled by the internationally recognized government opposing a parallel administration in the east.
But he said the Libyan National Army (LNA) was gathering forces for a possible mission “to liberate the homeland from terrorism.”
“We do not want Tripoli for the power or money, we want Tripoli for sake of the dignity and prestige of a strong state,” he told reporters.
■ 3 April 2019 PBS Newshour Italy rebuffs ship with 64 migrants rescued in sea off Libya
MILAN (AP) — Italy’s interior minister said Wednesday that he won’t offer safe harbor to 64 migrants rescued off Libya by the German humanitarian group Sea Eye.
The people brought to safety from a rubber dinghy off the coast of Zuwarah, west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, included 10 women, five children and a newborn baby, the group said. Sea Eye said on Twitter that its rescue ship, the Alan Kurdi, picked them up after Libyan authorities couldn’t be reached.
Sea Eye is asking Italy or Malta to open a port to the ship.
“A ship with a German flag, German NGO, German ship owner, captain from Hamburg. It responded in Libyan waters and asks for a safe port. Good, go to Hamburg,” Salvini said.
Both Italy and Malta have refused to accept ships that humanitarian groups have patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, leading to numerous delays in getting rescued migrants to land while European countries haggle over which will take them in.
Sea Eye said another 50 migrants it has been searching for since Monday remain missing.
■ 3 April 2019 MinneapolisStarTrib/AP UN chief visiting Libya after talks with Egypt's el-Sissi
CAIRO — The U.N. chief says he is visiting Libya to prevent a major confrontation between rival authorities in the country.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Wednesday that Libya was at the center of talks with Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the end of his two-day visit to Cairo.
He says he hopes that a meeting between Khalifa Hifter, leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army, and Fayez Sarraj, head of the U.N.-backed government earlier this year in Abu Dhabi will be an important step to guarantee unifying Libya's institutions.
Guterres's visit to Libya comes two weeks before a U.N.-brokered national conference aimed at uniting the country and charting a roadmap to elections.
■ 2 April 2019 TheHill Trump taps career diplomat as ambassador to Libya
Pres. Trump on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Richard Norland to be the next ambassador to Libya, seeking to fill a key State Department posting in a country still reeling from the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
Norland has worked as the foreign policy adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2016 and previously served as the ambassador to Uzbekistan and Ukraine. He has two Master’s degrees, from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the National War College, and is the recipient of a Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
The U.S. does not currently have an ambassador in Libya, though Peter Bodde serves as the Chargé d’Affaires to the Libya External Office in Tunis. Bodde previously served as ambassador to Libya until the end of 2017…
...Libya is currently torn between a United Nations and U.S.-backed government in Tripoli and another movement headed by General Khalifa Haftar that is based in the eastern part of the country.
The State Department says on its website it is committed to providing “targeted assistance” to Libya to help with “political reconciliation” and “securing Libya’s territory,” among other goals.
■ 2 April 2019 Libya Observer Head of Libya's HCS urges African Union to put pressure on parties hindering political process
The Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khalid Al-Mishri has urged the African Union (AU) to expand cooperation with Libya and pressure those who are impeding the political process.
The remarks came in a meeting for Al-Mishri and the Head of the AU Commission Moussa Faki in Tripoli, where they went over the latest developments in Libya.
HCS's media office said Al-Mishri talked with Faki about the need to allow Libyans to have a referendum for the constitution then follow that with elections to establish democracy in the country, urging the AU to expand cooperation and pressure the hindering parties to the political process.
They also discussed the preparations for the Libyan National Conference to be held in Ghadames in mid-April under the auspices of the UNSMIL, welcoming the AU as an observer at the conference.
The officials also talked about illegal immigration and helping reduce the negative foreign interventions in Libya.
Faki told Al-Mishri that the AU hopes that the solution to the crisis comes from Libya not from overseas, telling him of the proposal to have a National Reconciliation Conference.
Faki arrived in Tripoli on Monday and met with Al-Sarraj, telling him of the AU's proposal for the reconciliation conference in Addis Ababa next July.
Despite the drawn-out political instability plaguing the country, a negotiated rise to power for Haftar is not the answer.
In Libya since the fall of Muammar al-Qaddafi, years often pass without much change as political deadlock continues and the economy decays. Then a moment of opportunism triggers a chain reaction. One such chain reaction has taken place this year, begun by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s military advance into southern Libya and seizure of key oil fields….
Oil-rich Libya, torn between a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an alternative administration and institutions in the east, could see the years-long political crisis solved this month by the creation of a single government, according to eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar leads a self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) with a base in the eastern city of Benghazi. LNA is the main opponent of the UN-backed Libyan government based in the capital Tripoli in the west.
“Libyans will have a single cabinet this month,” the English version of Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat quoted Haftar as saying...
■ 29 March, Time Captain Feared For His Life As Rescued Migrants Hijacked Ship Taking Them Back to Libya By MAGGIE MICHAEL, VANESSA GERA and STEPHEN CALLEJA / AP
■ 28 March 2019, TRT World (Turkey) Is Libya's Khalifa Haftar provoking a full-blown conflict in Tripoli?
Haftar's forces have given a strong indication that they might march on Tripoli. The international community must take diplomatic action to prevent armed conflict.
Today Libya is fragmented and polarised, mired in instability and insecurity. In many respects, it is considered to be a failed state, lacking a unified, representative and legitimate government, and unable to exercise nationwide authority or hold a monopoly over the use of force. The struggle for control of Libya’s oil resources is a significant driver in the ongoing conflict.
Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA), has indicated his intention to capture Tripoli, the capital that hosts the internationally-recognised legitimate government of Libya, namely the Government of National Accord (GNA).
Haftar enjoys political and logistical support from Egypt, UAE, France, Russia and others. It is believed that such support stems from the economic fruits of the oil-rich Eastern Libya. It is with such international backing that Haftar has dominated the eastern part of the country and ventured recently to establish a foothold in the region of Sebha. Haftar has consistently refused to recognise the legitimacy of the GNA.
In September 2017, on the sidelines of a gathering of global leaders at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Ghassan Salame, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Libya, presented his action plan to end the ongoing civil war.
The first step involved convening political actors from Libya’s major factions, specifically the eastern-based HoR and the western-based, internationally backed GNA, to discuss the terms of the LPA. The political agreement, also known as the Skhirat agreement (LPA), was signed in December 2015. A wide range of Libyan representatives, including members of the HoR and GNC, as well as prominent public figures from Libyan political parties and civil society, attended the signing. The resulting political agreement led to the establishment of a single Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez al- Sarraj...
■ 25 March 2019, France24 Reporter's notebook: the Nigerian migrants flown back from Libya
In July 2018, a video from a group of 32 Nigerians desperate to escape a detention centre in Libya made its way to The Observers newsroom in Paris. The United Nations' International Organisation for Migration (IOM) sent a team to the centre and helped put the group on a voluntary return flight to Lagos. The Observers’ Derek Thomson went to Nigeria in March to meet the men who made the video, and other Nigerians who were ready to risk everything for a better life in Europe...
■ 20 March 2019 ReliefWeb Libya: Report on nutrition screening findings in Sabaa detention centre Report from Médecins Sans Frontières
Libya: Alarming rates of malnutrition and inhumane conditions in Tripoli detention centre
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 — Tripoli/London
Refugees and migrants arbitrarily held in Sabaa detention centre in Tripoli are suffering from alarming rates of acute malnutrition, while some were recently locked in a small room with only 0.7m2 of space per person, says international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
There are currently over 300 detainees in Sabaa, including more than 100 children under 18 years old. MSF calls on Libyan authorities and the international community to urgently address the inhumane and dangerous conditions in Libyan detention centres.
… nearly a quarter of people held in Sabaa detention centre are malnourished or underweight, with children being significantly more likely than adults to suffer from severe and moderate malnutrition.
The findings support numerous individual testimonies which state that people in the detention centre receive only one meal every two or three days, and that new arrivals to the centre can wait up to four days before receiving food.
On 21 February, MSF began providing emergency food rations in Sabaa to address the serious food shortages and improve the health of the population. On the same day, an MSF medical team discovered 31 people locked up in a small room measuring just 4.5 metres by 5 metres, allowing only 0.7 m2 of space per person.
There was no space to lie down, the room had no latrines and people were forced to urinate in buckets and plastic bottles. Despite repeated calls by MSF that they be relocated to a more appropriate space, people continued to be detained in this room for more than a week.
“What we see today in this single detention centre is symptomatic of an uncontrolled, unjustified, and reckless system that puts the lives of refugees and migrants at risk_,_” says Karline Kleijer, MSF’s head of emergencies.
“We’re talking about the basic necessities required to sustain human life. If food, shelter and essential services can’t be provided in a consistent and appropriate manner, then these people should be released immediately by the Libyan authorities. The fact that Europe, too, is contributing to this suffering through policies that enable people rescued at sea to be forcibly returned to inhumane detention conditions in Libya is utterly unconscionable.”
“The UK Government has been a key supporter of European policies which seek to trap people in Libya, in appalling conditions,” said Vickie Hawkins, Executive Director of MSF UK. “Through funding and training of the Libyan coastguard, the UK supports the forcible return of those trying to flee the country to detention. And it has direct knowledge of just how bad conditions are in the detention system – the UK Government itself has described these as ‘appalling.’
"The UK Government therefore has a responsibility towards those who continue to suffer in Libya. It must lead by example, by speaking out against and reversing the policies which seek to trap people in detention under terrible conditions, and by urgently finding alternatives to prevent the suffering these policies cause.”….
...For more than two years, MSF has been providing medical care to refugees, migrants and asylum seekers held in detention centres in Tripoli, Khoms, Zliten, and Misrata that are nominally under the authority of the Libyan Ministry of Interior and its agency for combating illegal immigration...