Western war on Libya

The Russian chief negotiator in intra-Libyan talks has said that Russia wants to renew infrastructure and energy contracts it signed with Libya under deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Russia Plans to Renew Gaddafi-Era Contracts With Libya
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708041056168356-russiaplans-gaddafi-libya-contracts/

Russia wants to renew infrastructure and energy contracts it signed with Libya under deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Russian chief negotiator in intra-Libyan talks has said in an interview.

"We have plans to re-sign contracts that were agreed under Muammar Gaddafi. We are talking about, specifically, earlier deals on transportation such as railway construction, as well as electrification and others," Lev Dengov told the Kommersant newspaper on Thursday.

Dengov, who is an aide of the Chechen Republic’s governor in southern Russia, could not say whether these would be oil-for-goods swap arrangements, the like of which Moscow signed with Iran earlier this year.

Russia has formally endorsed the ongoing peace negotiations in Libya. Its Foreign Ministry said on Thursday Moscow was ready to play a role in advancing political process in the war-torn North African country.


The head of the Russian contact group on intra-Libyan settlement said that Russia is thinking of holding intra-Libyan talks, which could eventually take place in Moscow or Grozny, the capital city of Russia's republic of Chechnya.

Russia Planning Talks on Libyan Settlement
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708041056166768-russia-planning-libya-settlement/

Russia is thinking of holding intra-Libyan talks, which could eventually take place in Moscow or Grozny, the capital city of Russia's republic of Chechnya, Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact group on intra-Libyan settlement, said on Thursday.

"There are such plans. We are now actively negotiating with the Libyans. Several delegations from Libya have already visited Moscow and said they were ready to return to Moscow or Grozny," Dengov, who also serves as an aide to the Chechnya head, told the Kommersant newspaper, adding that he could not yet tell when exactly the talks would take place.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow supported the intra-Libyan dialogue and was ready to contribute to advancing political process in the country.
 
Ali Zeidan, who served as the Libyan prime minister in 2012-2014, has been kidnapped by a group of gunmen from a hotel in the center of Tripoli, local media reported Monday.

Former Prime Minister of Libya Reportedly Kidnapped by Gunmen in Tripoli
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708141056438038-libya-prime-minister-kidnapping/

The Libya Herald newspaper reported that Zeidan was abducted by members of pro-government Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade (TRB), which, according to the unconfirmed information, was acting under the warrant of Attorney General Sadiq Sour.

The newspaper added that there had been no reaction from the Presidential Council (PC), presiding over Libya's Government of National Accord and serving as head of the state, so far.

This is not the first time when the politician was abducted. In October 2013, Zeidan was kidnapped by armed militants from the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli. The militants claimed that the move was a response to the government's alleged capture of Anas Libi by the US intelligence service, wanted for his ties to al-Qaeda terrorist group (banned in Russia) and alleged responsibility for carrying out a number of terrorist attacks. Zeidan was released hours after the abduction. He was ousted by the parliament in March 2014. Zeidan fled to Germany and declared that his ouster was illegitimate.

Zeidan returned to Libya several times, and, according to media reports, he called for the division of Libya in July. The politician denied the allegations.


The commander of the Libyan National Army said that his forces would continue fighting terrorists until taking full control of the country.

Libyan National Army to Keep Fighting Terrorists to Liberate Country - Haftar
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201708141056440939-libya-army-fight-terrorism-liberation-/

"We will continue our fights against terrorists until we manage to liberate all territory of Libya," Haftar said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

The military commander noted that as a result of three months of non-stop battles the LNA managed to take about 90 percent of the nation's territory under control.


You probably know the huge costs that the Libyan National Army is taking to destroy terrorism. Fierce fighting has been underway without stopping for more than three months, all this in the conditions of the ongoing arms embargo and unlimited support of terrorists with finances and weapons," Haftar said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"All this fighting ended with the announcement of the liberation of Benghazi and the taking under the control by the Libyan National Army of all oil fields, oil ports and military bases in the country. So at least 90 percent of the country was liberated," he said.

Haftar said he was determined to enhance cooperation with Russia in various areas.

"We confirm our desire to continue building our friendship with Russia as well as continue building cooperation with your country in all spheres," Haftar said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

According to the military commander, he was planning to discuss the developments in Libya during the meeting.

"Our countries have a history of strong relation and we expect to continue building partnership with you," Haftar said, thanking Lavrov for the position, Russia took regarding Libya, on the international level.
 
Reports said a new cycle of civil war is looming in Libya after General Khalifa Haftar banned all officials of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Presidential Council led by Fayez al-Sarraj from entering East of Libya, where he holds sway.

Report: New Civil War Imminent in Libya as Haftar Bans Ministers
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960613001081

The decision came just hours after al-Sarraj appointed a previously pro-Haftar commander of Special Tasks Force, Faraj Eqaiem, as the deputy interior minister of the GNA, Al Waght reported.

The rift has widened after boycotting members of the Presidential Council, Fathi Al-Mijibri, Ali Al-Gotrani and Omar Al-Aswad all backed up Haftar’s decision.

They also called on the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, UNSML’s Head Ghassan Salame and the international community to respond to what they described as al-Sarraj’s violations that are threatening the unity of Libya, saying they only support the House of Representatives in Tobruk and the military institution led by Haftar in East Libya.

Haftar, backed by United Arab Emirates, is the controversial chief of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), which now controls key Libyan oil ports.

The UN’s Libya Sanctions Committee report, released mid-June, revealed that the UAE has supplied attack helicopters and other military aircraft to the Libyan forces of renegade General Haftar, in violation of UN-backed international sanctions.

Haftar is also a dominant figure for factions in Eastern Libya that have rejected the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), contributing to its failure to expand its power base in the capital, Tripoli, and beyond.

Libya's eastern-based parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR), is a rival of the GNA and allied with Haftar.
 
Benghazi, Libya – Lending credence to the theory that ISIS operates as a strategic asset of the Israeli Mossad, Libyan security forces have arrested an ISIS leader in the north-eastern Libyan city of Benghazi – who just so happens to be a Mossad agent.

‘ISIS Commander’ Arrested by Libyan Authorities Exposed as Israeli Mossad Agent
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/isis-commander-israeli-mossad-agent/

The man arrested, Ephraim Benjamin, was allegedly an Israeli Mossad agent who began his operation following the 2011 toppling of the Libyan government that resulted in the murder of Libyan President Moammar Ghaddafi, according to the Israeli website Inian Merkazi, which translates to “Central Issues.”

The Mossad agent reportedly held a leading position in ISIS after mingling with Libyans during the fall of Ghaddafi. He then became a prominent imam of a large mosque in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, before becoming a ISIS leader who commanded a contingent of upwards of 200 terrorists.

Known in Libya as Abu Hafs, the Mossad agent was arrested and accused by Libyan authorities of gathering intelligence information for the Israeli government.

It is believed that Benjamin, aka Hafs, was a Mossad “Arabist,” which are undercover Israeli spies with Arab features, and who speak fluent Arabic in local dialects, according to the Masr Alarabia website.

The Mossad has a long history of utilizing “Arabists” to infiltrate Palestinian protests and arrest demonstrators as well as assassinating Palestinian anti-occupation activists, according to Masr Alarabia.

Libyan media outlets describe Benjamin as the “Mossad sheikh” who was arrested by local authorities.

Inian Merkazi cited the incident as evidence used by Arab media to justify the argument — popular in much of the Arab world — that Israel is complicit in the rise of ISIS in the region and uses the group as a strategic asset.

Additionally, the fact that ISIS has never so much as attempted an attack within the state of Israelbolsters that line of thinking.

ISIS is popularly believed to have begun official operations within Libya in February of 2015 by beheading 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in the city of Sirte, but terror operations were believed to have been committed by the terrorist group prior to that date.

Seemingly confirming an Israel-ISIS connection, a 15-page report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the work of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force revealed that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) maintained regular contact with the Islamic State since May of 2013.

While initial reports by the IDF claimed they provided medical care for civilians on the Israeli-Syrian border, UN observers confirmed direct contact between ISIS and IDF soldiers – which included, but was not limited to, medical care.

“Throughout the reporting period, UNDOF frequently observed armed members of the opposition interacting with the IDF across the cease-fire line,” according to the report. “On one occasion UNDOF observed the IDF on the Alpha side [inside Israel] handing over two boxes to armed opposition on the Bravo side [inside Syria].”

These activities in concert seem to indicate a coordinated and ongoing support of the Islamic State by Israel. Essentially, the Israelis are utilizing ISIS as a proxy force in an effort to topple the Assad government.

Tellingly, when the U.S. began operations against the Islamic State, the Israeli high command was reluctant to support the move and called the actions of the United States a mistake.

For those not understanding why Israel would support ISIS, it comes down to geopolitical strategy. The Israeli government perceives allies Iran and Syria as direct threats to the Jewish state, as both maintain significant regional military capabilities and political clout.

Israel’s support for ISIS would seem to confirm that they believe in the old adage, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

In this particular circumstance support for the Islamic State equates to Israel eliminating geopolitical rival Syria – under Bashar al-Assad – which would then negate Iranian influence in the region.

It comes down to the simple fact that ISIS is a useful tool for Israel to impose it’s geopolitical will, without having to directly involve themselves in a hot conflict, thus seeming as if they are uninvolved in the conflict.

Once the Syrian government has been toppled, and Iranian influence on the Israeli border largely negated, Israel could then set its sights on the Islamic State – provided they were no longer of use to the Jewish state.

While states such as Israel and the United States often loudly proclaim to be against terrorism, in reality, both governments utilize terrorist groups, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, to undermine regimes they wish to overthrow or gain influence within.
 
A government based in Eastern Libya said it would bar entry to US citizens after President Donald Trump’s administration included Libya in a new travel ban.

East Libyan Government Issues Retaliatory Entry Ban against US Citizens
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960706000438

The eastern-based government of Abdullah al-Thinni is aligned with Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar and is opposed to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Pakistan Tribune reported.

Announcing its ban, the Eastern-based government said it was responding to “a dangerous escalation that targets Libyan citizens and puts them in the same basket as the terrorists against whom our… armed forces are fighting”.

It was not clear when or how the Libyan ban would be enforced. Libya is among eight nations included in a new US visa ban announced on Sunday.

It was also included on previous bans that have faced multiple legal appeals. The new ban said Libya faced “significant challenges in sharing several types of information, including public safety
and terrorism-related information”.

It said Libya also had “significant inadequacies in its identity-management protocols” and was “not fully cooperative with respect to receiving its nationals subject to final orders of removal from the United States”.


The United Nations General Assembly, which kicked off on September 12 at the headquarters of the international organization in, New York has just ended. During the meeting, the priority was given to the issues of global security and combating terrorism. The settlement of crisis in Libya was also touched.

U.S. and Gulf States Hinder Libyan Crisis Settlement
http://www.eurasiareview.com/28092017-us-and-gulf-states-hinder-libyan-crisis-settlement-oped/

On September 20, the UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame at a closed meeting proposed an action plan for resolving the Libyan conflict. Mr. Salame told journalists that the plan had been allegedly based on the needs of the Libyans who deserved the cessation of uncertainty and unpredictability. The plan for emerging the crisis implies amending the current Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), namely the reduction of Presidential Council to three members, forming new transitional government, holding a constitutional referendum and general parliamentary elections.

Libya is still a fractured country after the beginning of hostilities, the military intervention by NATO states in 2011 and the following civil war. The Gaddafi’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya fell and the democracy promised by the western states has never been established in the country.

Currently there are two key powers in Libya: Government of National Unity led by Fayez Al-Sarraj in Tripoli and the House of Representatives, which is allied with the powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Judging by the actions of the Western countries regarding Libya, there is no guarantee that the plan will be really focused on the needs of Libyans and could radically change the situation for the better.

In its turn, Washington tries to pretend that it takes an active part in the further fate of the previously prosperous country. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert stated that the United States has welcomed the September 20 United Nations announcement of an action plan to advance political reconciliation in Libya and help the Libyan people achieve lasting peace and security. Obviously, the presented document meets the financial interests of the White House. Moreover, America and its true allies are interested in establishing full control over natural energy resources, which Libya is rich in.

The U.S. military intervention in Libya was essentially the beginning of profitable military campaign for Washington to seize Libyan ‘black gold’.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, after the beginning of the hostilities, the American oil imports from Libya increased approximately six-fold: from 3 thousand barrels in 2011 to 20 in 2012. This is just approximate figures, but the amount of cheap oil obtained by the U.S. will remain a mystery.

The true attitude of the U.S. authorities towards the Libyan people is reflected in Donald Trump travel ban, which prohibits the entry for the citizens of Libya and five other Middle East countries, who are fleeing from hostilities and chaos.

Apart from the western countries, the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, including Qatar, took part in the destabilization of Libya. This June, the Libyan army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Al-Mesmari presented video and audio evidence confirming Qatar’s official involvement in financing and supporting terrorist groups. The Libyan army leadership also blamed Ali Sallabi, the spiritual leader of the Libyan opposition, for close ties with the Muslim Brothers and the Qatari Royal Family.

Colonel Ahmed Al-Mesmari also presented evidence that the Qatari authorities initiated the dispatch of its army units on the territory of Libya to impose control over the oil-rich Mu’tika and Misurata areas. At the same time, Libya was used as a transit point for the Qatari military aviation delivering arms and weapons to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Syria.

Obviously, the United States and its partners are doing their best to slow down the political settlement of Libyan crisis. Instead of concrete steps, they look for opportunities to legalize their actions and seize the natural resources of the former Jamahiriya. However, despite all the Western intrigues, the Libyan people are capable to resist any external threat independently.


East Libya’s breakaway government banned all United States citizens from entering its borders on Wednesday, in retaliation for Washington’s recent travel ban against Libyans.

East Libya Bans US Citizens From Entering Its Borders
http://www.eurasiareview.com/29092017-east-libya-bans-us-citizens-from-entering-its-borders/

The House of Representatives [HoR] based in Tobruk said the US travel ban, due to start on October 18, is a “dangerous escalation”.

President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban includes the suspension of all immigrant visas for nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia.

The official announcement by the HoR said it affected all Libyans unfairly, as it “places every citizen in the same basket as the terrorists”.

Since deposed dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in October 2011, the eastern HoR has battled for power with the UN-recognised central government in Tripoli.

This has led to a long and brutal civil war involving Islamic State fighters and an array of violent militias that has continued to this day.


Muammar Gaddafis SHOCKING Secret
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBN9sy_4qIE (11:02 min.)

Under Qaddafi’s rule, Libya attained the highest standard of living in Africa, it was the only debt free country in Africa, He raised the literacy rate from 20% to 83%, he built one of the finest free health care systems in the third world, therefore raising the life expectancy from 44 to 75 years, Qaddafi gave women full access to education and employment and enabled the women to serve in the armed forces.

Gaddafi provided to its citizens what is denied to many Americans or Europeans, free public health care, free education don't believe me? Check out the WHO and UNESCO DATA, Nelson Mandela called Muammar Qaddafi one of the 21st century’s greatest freedom fighters, the foreign powers conspired to murder Qaddafi, he was targeted by the CIA, France and UK since the 1970s. He was an enemy of the Dajjal System, an influencial enemy and had to be taken out.

2011 uprising was initiated and supported by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar, may Allah trap the leaders of those countries with the storm of Aad, curse be upon them for betraying the ummah. But why did those countries betray Gaddafi? Qaddafi supported feverishly the Palestinian cause.

Qaddafi hated all monarchs of the Gulfs, accusing them of being puppet and slaves to the west. Qaddafi supported anti-Zionist, pan-Africanist, and black civil rights movements. Qaddafi put up a communications satellite the first in Africa to bring the continent of Africa into the 21st century of technology. Gaddafi wanted to free Africans from the imperialism and the neocolonialism.
 
The Libyan security forces have reportedly found the bodies of Coptic Christians from Egypt, killed by Daesh militants in Libya in 2015.

Libya's Security Forces Reportedly Find Burial Sites of Over 20 Christians
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710071058026140-libya-daesh-execution-coptic-christians/

The bodies of more than twenty Egyptian Coptic Christians, executed by Daesh terrorists (a terrorist group that is banned in many countries, including Russia) in 2015 in Libya were discovered in the city of Sirte, the Egyptian newspaper al-Dustour writes, citing the statement of the Prosecutor General's Office of Libya.

Libyan security forces reportedly detained the alleged perpetrators of this execution, who then revealed the location of their victims' burial sites. The investigators checked the information and found the bodies of those 21 executed.

The Daesh group captured seven Egyptian Christians who worked in the Libyan city of Sirte in 2013. Then in early January 2015 they reported the capture of another 14 Egyptian Copts. In February 2015, terrorists distributed a video in which they showed the brutal execution of their captives.

Coptic Christians have been particularly targeted by Daesh in the course of instability in north-African countries. Since the beginning of December 2016, the terrorists have carried out several attacks on Egypt's religious minority, which claimed lives of dozens of people.


More than 3,000 illegal migrants have been arrested in Libya’s Northwestern city of Sabratha, as the country’s unity government authorities push a crackdown on human trafficking to Europe.

Over 3,000 Migrants Arrested in Libya Smuggling Hub
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960716001521

“We arrested 3,150 illegal immigrants of different Asian, Arab, and African nationalities,” Bassem Ghrabli, the commander of a force loyal to Libya’s unity government, said on Saturday, Shafaqna reported.

Ghrabli said his forces had also driven a rival militia, led by the head of a former people-smuggling network, out of Sabratha after three weeks of fighting.

The unity government’s health ministry said the clashes left 39 people dead and 300 others wounded, adding that the fighting also damaged schools, hospitals, and UNESCO-listed archaeological sites in the city, which is located 70 kilometers west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Sabratha became a major hub for migrants seeking a chance to head to Europe after the ouster and death of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Local smugglers took advantage of a security vacuum in the conflict-plagued country and took over whole sections of the city, building their own piers equipped to launch dozens of migrant boats a day.

Refugees and asylum seekers are packed onto unseaworthy boats and dinghies by smugglers in the hope of crossing the Mediterranean and reaching Europe. If they don’t capsize en route, the boats are usually intercepted by European vessels once they enter international waters.

Half a million people, mainly sub-Saharan Africans, have managed to make the perilous sea journey from Libya and reach Italy over the past four years. About 13,000 others have drowned. Over 106,000 refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in Italy from Libya since last August. More than 2,700 also died en route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
 
The NATO secretary general said at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that the bloc should not let Russia strengthen its presence in Libya.

NATO Should Prevent Increase of Russia’s Presence in Libya – Stoltenberg
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710091058065866-nato-russia-presence-libya-stoltenberg/

NATO should not let Russia strengthen its presence in divided Libya as Moscow’s involvement in the peace settlement process in Syria has only created an "even more difficult situation," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

"We are following closely the situation in Libya more generally. We have seen the effects of Russian presence in Syria, how that has created an even more difficult situation in Syria. Of course, we have to avoid anything similar happening in Libya. And we call on all actors, including Russia, to support the UN-led efforts and UN-recognized government [in Libya]," Stoltenberg said at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest.

The secretary-general pointed out that the alliance provided support to the government of Fayez al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord of Libya.

In September, the head of the Russian contact group on Libya, Lev Dengov, told Sputnik that Russia was not interested in lifting the UN arms embargo on the North African country and stressed that Russia’s mission in Libya was purely about peacekeeping.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO is not present in North Africa as an alliance as there has been no request for its involvement, while the states and organizations operating there, such the European Union, France and the United Nations, are capable of solving the crises in the region of Sahel themselves.

NATO as an alliance is not present on the ground in the Sahel or in Mali, but NATO allies are. And NATO helps and supports some of the activities taking place there. The main reason is that so far there has been no request for a NATO role," Stoltenberg said at the parliamentary session in Romania.

G5 Sahel is a regional bloc, consisting of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger and including several levels of cooperation. Earlier this year, these countries, backed by France, launched a multinational force aimed at fighting terrorists in the Sahel region. The initiative has been supported by the United Nations.

The international institutions and NATO member-states are capable of handling the situation without the presence of the alliance in the region, the secretary general noted.

"There has been no request from the European Union or France or from the United Nations to be there, it has not been on agenda, but we indirectly support activities [in Sahel] in different ways," Stoltenberg added.
 
Lebanese investigative Judge Zaher Hamadeh has issued an arrest warrant for former Libyan Prime Minister Abdessalam Jalloud over the disappearance of the country’s prominent Shia leader Imam Musa al-Sadr and his two companions in the North African nation nearly 40 years ago.

Lebanese Judge Issues Arrest Warrant for Former Libya PM over Sadr Abduction
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960722000843

On Friday, Hamadeh found Jalloud guilty and tried him in absentia for the cleric's abduction, Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Jalloud was the prime minister of Libya between 1972 and 1977, and operated alongside slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi as second-in-command. He disappeared from public view in 1995. He is the last surviving leader of Libya’s 1969 September Revolution.

The Lebanese parliament speaker says he strongly believes that Sadr is still alive, calling for collective efforts to find out about the fate of the cleric and his companions.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 39th anniversary of Sadr’s disappearance in Beirut, Nabih Berri called on Lebanese media outlets to follow up on the clergyman’s fate, stressing that Lebanese judicial officials were also looking into the case.

The fact-finding mission formed to inquire about the case has however been unable to visit Libya due to violence and political instability in the North African country, the top Lebanese legislator argued.

Imam Musa al-Sadr was a highly revered Shia cleric of Iranian descent, who founded the Lebanese Amal (Hope) Movement in 1974. He came to Lebanon in 1959 to work for the rights of Shia Muslims in the port city of Tyre, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut. The prominent Shia cleric disappeared on August 31, 1978, during an official visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli.

He was accompanied by Sheikh Mohammad Yaqoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.

Lebanon still holds former Libyan officials responsible for the disappearance of the trio.

Since Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011, Lebanon and Iran have repeatedly called on the Libyan government to launch an investigation into Sadr's disappearance.

Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator, is currently in custody in Lebanon, facing charges of withholding information regarding Sadr’s case.

In August 2016, Sadr's family filed a lawsuit against Gaddafi over his role in the disappearance of the senior Shia cleric.
 
Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, one of the most prominent politicians before the Arab Spring swept the country in 2011, was released by the Abu Bakr Al Siddiq battalion militia under an amnesty deal in June after having spent more than five years in captivity. His lawyer Khalid al Zaidi has spoken to Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

EXCLUSIVE: Gaddafi's Son 'Returning to Politics', 'He Will Never Leave Libya'
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710181058340834-libya-gaddafi-son-politics/

Saif al-Islam is "the Libyans' only hope right now" and will return to politics, the lawyer of the second son of Libya's former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and murdered during the Arab Spring, has told Sputnik Arabic.

According to Khalid al Zaidi, "the current situation in Libya, the absence of dialogue and the misunderstanding of the actual state of affairs there make it essential that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi returns to politics to try to reach a political settlement" in the country.

There have been frequent reports that Saif al-Islam has left Libya, but this is not true. He is communicating with Libyan leaders, representatives of tribes to reach a political solution and appease the conflicting parties."

The lawyer also explained that the work of the most prominent son of Libya's late leader is vastly different from that going on in Tunisia, where UN-sponsored negotiations are currently underway between the leaders of the rival Libyan parties in a bid to prop up the so-called unity government, which has so far failed to impose its authority on the majority of the war-torn state.

"The negotiators are not working on stabilizing the country but making deals with each other, defending their own interests which are far from those of ordinary Libyans" al Zaidi said, adding it's the "interests of foreign states, which only benefit from the prolonged Libyan crisis, that are being implemented during the talks".

"Libyans await nothing from these talks because they haven't yielded any results for seven years. They only bring about suffering, war, destruction and famine."

Mr. al Zaidi has also claimed that Saif Gaddafi is not supported by political powers, but by ordinary Libyans. "All Libyans are armed to the teeth, all tribes possess serious arsenals….Saif al-Islam will rely on the will of ordinary Libyans to take part in the fight against terror and stabilize the situation in the country."

"The majority of tribes await action from Saif al-Islam. Right now he is the only hope for the country's residents."


Concerning the current whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi's second son, the lawyer has said that he doesn't spend all his time in one place, he "travels around the country, meeting with the people, the tribes and local leaders". He has refuted claims that Saif al-Islam had escaped to Egypt or elsewhere: "He has never left, and will never leave, Libya," the lawyer concluded.

Fate of Gaddafi Family

The long-standing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed back in 2011, following the civil unrest in the country, which stemmed from the Arab Spring protests, which in turn were supported by the intervention of a coalition of several western states. Afterwards, some of his family members had either fled the country, were killed or face trial.

Six years ago, amid the collapse of the Libyan government, The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Saif al-Islam, and wanted him to stand trial for the "crimes against humanity" during the 2011 uprising.

In November 2011, Gaddafi was captured by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq militia in Zintan, western Libya. During his detention, he was subjected to long periods of solitary confinement and repeated interrogations without legal counsel. His tribulations were compounded by the fact that shortly before his capture, his convoy had been hit by a NATO airstrike, which wounded his right hand, forcing the fingers to be amputated.

In November 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention officially concluded that Gaddafi's detention was 'arbitrary'. In June 2017, after over five and a half years in captivity, he was finally released under an amnesty law.

Before the revolt, Saif al-Islam, a graduate of the London School of Economics, was seen by many as a potential successor to his father. Despite holding no official government position, he was referred to as the "de-facto" Prime Minister responsible for public relations and diplomacy.

Mutassim Gaddafi, National Security Adviser, the leader’s fourth son, was killed at the hands of rebels on the same day as his father.

Saadi Gaddafi, Gaddafi’s third son, was extradited from Niger, where he had sought asylum, in 2014, and is awaiting trial in Tripoli.

Muhammad Gaddafi, former head of the Libyan Olympic Committee and chairman of the company which controlled Libya’s mobile phone and satellite communications networks, had reportedly fled to Algeria in 2011 with his mother and sister and later moved to Oman. As well as Hannibal Gaddafi, who controlled Libya’s maritime industry and seaports.

Comment - article error Saif Gaddafi lost his fingers on "his left hand" not the right.
 
"We Came, We Saw, He Died!"

6 Years Ago Today, the US Helped Murder Gaddafi to Stop the Creation of Gold-Backed Currency October 20, 2017
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/6-years-ago-us-killed-gaddafi-gold/

Six years ago today, the West took it upon itself to use NATO to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi — not for any humanitarian threat to civilians as had been repeatedly claimed — but because his planned roll-out of a new currency to be used across Africa posed a palpable existential threat to central banks at the heart of the Western financial and political system.

Long theorized to be the actual vehicle for Gaddafi’s downfall, the gold dinar-based, pan-African currency motive came to light in nascent 2016 in one of more than 3,000 of Hillary Clinton’s emails released by the State Department — conveniently timed with the New Year’s holiday to abate outrage or repercussions.

And outrage there should still be — plenty of false posturing in the lead-in to the ultimate overthrow of the Gaddafi regime should sour public trust in the West’s geopolitical motives, as a prime example of embroiling itself in unnecessary conflict every time a nation threatens to gain too much independence.

In March 2011, amid heightening rebellion of the Arab Spring, chaos came to Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi — and the West and its allies quickly capitalized on those events to partake in a falsely-premised rebellion of its own.

Citing a U.N. Security Council resolution to invoke a nefarious no-fly zone over Libya to “protect civilians,” the United States, U.K., France, and others began a bombing campaign on March 19 — in actuality, of course, that protection was of the central bank monopoly and, in particular, France’s financial interests in the historically French-colonial region.

“We are doing it to protect the civilian population from the murderous madness of a regime that in killing its own people has lost all legitimacy,” railed French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who played a key role in Gaddafi’s fated demise.

“Colonel Gaddafi has made this happen. He has lied to the international community… He continues to brutalize his own people,” British Prime Minister David Cameron also asserted. “We cannot allow the slaughter of civilians to continue.”

As head of the U.S. State Department, Hillary Clinton intoned the scripted narrative, heralding the intervention in Libya as the need to “protect civilians and it is to provide access for humanitarian assistance.”

In the years leading up to the decision to topple the Libyan government, Gaddafi had made amends for the nation’s terrorism-pockmarked history, even agreeing to abandon and dismantle its chemical and nuclear weapons programs. In fact, Gaddafi so ameliorated Libya’s reputation, the U.S. removed the nation from its state sponsors of terrorism list in 2006.

But all of that was for naught once Gaddafi sought to pivot from central banks for the good of millions of people in Africa.

In the aforementioned memo released by the State Department, longtime Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal wrote the secretary of state on April 2, 2011, under the heading, “France’s client & Qaddafi’s gold,” about several pertinent concerns in the ongoing siege on Libya.

It seemed to Blumenthal toppling Gaddafi might be a more cumbersome task than originally imagined, in part because the leader had “nearly bottomless financial resources to continue indefinitely” combating NATO and allied forces.

Blumenthal wrote:

“On April 2, 2011 sources with access to advisors to Saif al-Islam Qaddafi stated in strictest confidence that while the freezing of Libya’s foreign bank accounts presents Muammar Qaddafi with serious challenges, his ability to equip and maintain his armed forces and intelligence services remains intact. According to sensitive information available to this these individuals, Qaddafi’s government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver. During late March, 2011 these stocks were moved to SABHA (south west in the direction of the Libyan border with Niger and Chad); taken from the vaults of the Libyan Central Bank in Tripoli.”

Indeed, the extent of the threat to the West’s central financial monopolies from the gold dinar-backed currency is made astonishingly clear as the now-notorious memorandum continues:

This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide, the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

“(Source Comment: According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.”)

Those unnamed sources cited five major points of concern for Sarkozy over Gaddafi’s innovative plan to escape Western control:

a. A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production,
b. Increase French influence in North Africa,
c. Improve his internal political situation in France,
d. Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world,
e. Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi’s long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in,Francophone Africa.)

In what could best be described a gut-wrenching letter — considering the events to follow — Gaddafi, oblivious to the plot, penned a letter on April 6 to President Obama begging for an end to NATO-led airstrikes on Libya.

Addressing the president as “Our son,” referring to Obama’s African heritage, the embattled leader wrote [unusual spellings and errors per original]:

“We have been hurt more morally that physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you. Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the U.S.A. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne. You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action.”

Gaddafi added that “for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato off the Libyan affair for good.

“As you know too well democracy and building of civil society cannot be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft, or by backing armed member of AlQuaeda in Benghazi.”

But his plea — as one sent just days before the bombing began, in which Gaddafi insisted, “even if Libya and the United States enter into war, God forbid, you will always remain my son” — fell on purposely, criminally deaf ears.

On October 20, 2011, Gaddafi attempted in vain to flee the city of Sirte — and Libya fell largely under Western-backed rebel and NATO control by the end of the month.


(Flashback one year ago Oct. 20, 2016)

‘We came, we saw, he died’: How Gaddafi was hunted and brutally killed (TIMELINE) (Video)
https://www.rt.com/news/363454-timeline-gaddafi-death-anniversary/

Exactly five years ago Libya’s ex-leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was killed by the rebels who pinpointed him in drainage pipes after a NATO air strike hit his convoy outside his hometown of Sirte.

On the day following Gaddafi’s capture, his dead body, covered in blood, was transferred to the city of Misrata, where it was put on display in a local storage freezer.

The most striking reaction to the death of Libya’s former leader came from then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said “we came, we saw, he died.”

RT recaps the milestones leading to the Libyan longtime strongman’s fall and gives an insight into the last months and weeks of his hiding before he was brutally executed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHCh_eCzzws (29:40 min.)
 
In this Sept. 12, 2012 file photo, glass, debris and overturned furniture are strewn inside a room in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Officials: US Captures Militant Key in Benghazi Attack 30 Oct 2017
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/10/30/officials-us-captures-militant-key-benghazi-attack.html

WASHINGTON — U.S. special operations forces have captured a militant who was instrumental in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, officials said Monday.

The attack resulted in the death of the U.S. ambassador to the country and three other Americans. The Obama administration's handling of the deadly assault became a lightning rod for Republican criticism of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, through her presidential campaign.

The commandos captured the man in Libya just before midnight local time on Sunday and are transporting him back to the U.S., the officials said. The suspect is in the custody of the Department of Justice and is expected to arrive within the next two days on a military plane, according to one of the officials. The officials said the mission was approved by President Donald Trump and done in coordination with Libya's internationally recognized government.

The officials, who weren't authorized to speak publicly to the matter and demanded anonymity, did not identify the suspect and would not say where exactly he was captured.

The Sept. 11, 2012, assault killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, State Department information management officer Sean Patrick Smith and contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Stevens and Smith died in the burning diplomatic outpost despite efforts to rescue them. Woods and Doherty died nearly eight hours later in a mortar attack on a nearby CIA complex.

Earlier this month, another man accused in the attack, Abu Khattala, went on trial in federal court in Washington. Khattala has pleaded not guilty to the 18 charges against him, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death.

The attack became fodder for multiple congressional investigations to determine what happened and whether the Obama administration misled the public on the details of the bloody assault. Initial accounts provided by administration officials, notably former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, said the attack had grown out of a protest against an anti-Muslim internet film. Later, the administration said it was a planned terrorist attack.

A two-year investigation by a House Benghazi committee focused heavily on Clinton's role and whether security at the compounds and the response to the attack was sufficient. It was the Benghazi probe that revealed Clinton used a private email server for government work, prompting an FBI investigation that proved to be an albatross in her presidential campaign.

The assault started in the evening when armed attackers scaled the wall of a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi and moved through the front gate. Stevens was rushed to a fortified "safe room" along with Smith, but were then siphoned off from security officers when attackers set the building and its furniture on fire. Libyan civilians found Stevens hours later in the wreckage, but he died of smoke inhalation in the hospital, becoming the first U.S. ambassador killed in the line of duty in more than three decades.

The CIA annex was then attacked by mortar fire, killing Woods and Doherty who were defending its rooftop.

Trial Against Accused Architect of Benghazi Attack Begins 03.10.2017
https://sputniknews.com/us/201710031057888958-trial-against-accused-benghazi-attack/

The trial, expected to last five weeks, kicked off on Monday with Khattala’s attorney denying that his client was guilty of all charges alleged by US prosecutors. Khattala, 46, faces 18 counts of criminal wrongdoing, including murder. The September 11, 2012, attack in question led to the deaths of US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, State Department official Sean Smith and two former US Navy SEALs working as security officers at a CIA compound near the US embassy in Benghazi: Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.


US Captures Benghazi Attack Mastermind 30.10.2017
https://sputniknews.com/us/201710301058674450-us-captures-benghazi-attack-mastermind/

In the statement, US President Donald Trump announced that the officials were acting on his orders when capturing the suspect identified as Mustafa al-Imam.

"Yesterday, on my orders, United States forces captured Mustafa al-Imam in Libya," Trump said in the statement. "Because of this successful operation, al-Imam will face justice in the United States for his alleged role in the September 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, which resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith, and Tyrone Woods — four brave Americans who were serving our country."

The raid was reportedly conducted in Libya on Saturday. Officials are now planning to transfer al-Imam to the US for prosecution in federal courts, ABC News reported.


US arrests militant suspected of 2012 Benghazi attack Monday 30 October 2017
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/suspected-militant-us-compound-attack-libya-captured-special-forces-358418298

US forces have captured a militant who is believed to have played a role in a 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, a US official said on Monday.

Late on Monday, President Donald Trump identified the suspect as Mustafa al-Imam. He said Imam would face justice in the US.
 
Zuwara has buried 2,000 people who never made it to Europe. But the sea has eroded their temporary graves, and locals need a solution - fast.

Beach graveyard: Libyan town seeks dignity for thousands who died on its shores Wednesday 1 November 2017
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-migrants-zuwara-graveyard-2002937071

Sadiq Jiash can barely hide his emotion as he sketches out his plans for the first "real" resting place for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of victims of Libya's people-smuggling industry.

"It will be evenly spaced, with bodies buried in groups of 100 which will be numbered," he says, "There will be paths, a surrounding wall, and there will also be a guard. It will be a real cemetery, you know?"

This is Zuwara, 100km to the west of Tripoli, where discovering the dead on the shoreline was once a daily reality, and where an emergency committee is trying to create a final resting place for the 2,000 already interred in a makeshift mass grave over the last three years.

Jiash admits his volunteers have a difficult, tragic and horrifying task ahead. But it must be done, and fast.

The original site near the beach is waterlogged, and regularly gives up its contents when the weather turns. Very few people were buried in shrouds, let alone coffins. Wild, hungry dogs prowl the site.

"Everything started in 2014, when we found more than 100 bodies on our beaches," says Jiash, as he explains how the temporary site began.

"At first we wanted to bury them in the local cemetery but many people said some of the dead might not be Muslim. The locals said they could not mix."

Burying them on the outskirts of the city was also opposed. Arable land is scarce, and locals do not want their gardens turned into graves. "Who could possibly blame them?"

As the bodies piled up, the committee knocked on every door - ministries in Tripoli, European institutions, and NGOs - and got little in the way of help. The only solution was the abandoned patch of land 40km west of Zuwara.

"We cannot leave them there," says Jiash. "It is very close to the coast and the sea will eventually bring the corpses to the surface.

"It gets waterlogged when it rains. The dogs are attracted by the smell."

But with little money, few resources and the logistical nightmare of dealing with three governments - two in Tripoli and one in Tobruk - this is but one emergency the committee must confront.

Near the temporary graveyard is an abandoned petrochemical plant which, the emergency committee says, leaks mercury, ethylene and other toxic substances into the ground and sea. "It's a massive health threat for all of us but we have no means to tackle it," says Jaish.

In October, thousands of Sub-Saharan migrants arrived in the city fleeing clashes in nearby Sabratha.

Zuwara's mayor, Hafed Bensasi, admits his task is overwhelming.

"We have to attend those and many others because they are human beings, but in doing so we are also putting in danger our own survival," he said, noting that half his budget goes on security.

The town is Libya's only coastal Amazigh enclave, and is surrounded by an arc of Arab villages where loyalists to the dead leader Muammar Gaddafi are still dominant.

The fallout from Sabratha, a former stronghold of the Islamic State group and Libya's largest human-trafficking hub, must also be contained.

"We have no means. We can only put out fires," says Bensasi. "We can only plug holes in a boat that does not stop sinking."

In spite of this, Zuwara has gained a grip on the biggest cause of its troubles: it is no longer a focal point for human-trafficking, its leaders say.

A "special brigade" of volunteers, created by the emergency committee after 200 people washed up on the beach in August 2015, has stymied the gangs of people-smugglers.

Today, only Libyans depart from Zuwara, and in their own fishing boats.

Jonah, a 26-year-old Nigerian and one of hundreds of migrants in Zuwara's martyrs' square, is looking for work, not a boat to Europe. The town is the safest place for him at the moment in the turmoil that is Libya.

"You see that guy over there listening to music on his mobile phone? You would never do such a thing in Tripoli; someone would give you a beating and take it from you straight away."

But he knows he will have to move elsewhere when he gathers the amount to buy a passage on a raft. And the town cannot stop the industry in other areas, such as Sabratha, and must continue to deal with appalling results - the bodies continue to pile up on its beaches.

According to the UN, more than 140,000 people have arrived in Europe from Libya so far this year. Many others do not make it, and every body retrieved in Zuwara is processed by the local branch of the Red Crescent.

Ibrahim Atushi, the head of the NGO's Zuwara branch, says DNA tests are taken, pictures are taken for their database and interviews are also conducted with migrants to gather "as much information as possible" to identify those who have died.

While Atushi praises collaboration with Zuwara's emergency committee, he complains about the "lack of support from outside Zuwara".

Doctors Without Borders and the International Organisation for Migration have supported them with body bags and some basic equipment, he says, but he insists that they rely mainly on volunteers to handle the crisis.

In the last four days, Jiash and his team have buried 80 more people in the makeshift graveyard.

A field of tombstones - A drive out to the site takes 30 minutes. The area around it resembles an orchard, but the only things that grow are "tombstones" for the dead - breeze blocks planted every time a body, or multiple bodies, are buried.

"Every now and then we've been forced to dig mass graves so the bricks won't give you an idea of the real amount of people buried here," says Jiash.
"There are 43 on our left and 21 on the nearby parcel; 19 women a bit further; 10 children buried in a row..." he says, sticking to a map which, very likely, only now exists in his mind.

He points to the area nearby which will soon become the permanent, huge, 18-hectare site, and admits to the terrible ultimatum the committee had to give to get the money needed. "We left several bodies on the beach for four days until the local authorities agreed to our demands," he says.

He understands the myriad problems Zuwara faces, but giving the thousands of people their dignity in death, "will be money well spent".

In the absence of a functioning state, a group of vigilantes have taken action against people-smuggling networks

Libya's Dark Knights: Vigilantes take on the people-smugglers Flash-back Thursday 3 December 2015
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Libyas-Dark-Knights-The-vigilantes-cracking-down-on-people-smuggling-976802253

The sight of masked men inside black pick-up trucks would be inherently distressing in most places around the world, but this image brings a sense of reassurance to the residents of Zuwara, Libya's northernmost city.

The group, known as the “the Masked Men”, denies it is a militia and insists there is no religious or political agenda, rather it plans to instil a sense of law and order in a part of Libya that has been ravaged by smuggling rings and criminal gangs in recent months.

While the once sleepy coastal town of Zuwara had become a major departure point for migrants on their way to Italy, the town's 60,000 residents were not prepared for the tragic sight that greeted them on the 27 August - white sandy beaches littered with nearly 200 corpses after an old wooden boat capsized a few miles off the coast, killing almost half of the passengers on board.

The Zuwaris dug a mass grave, and marched from the town square to the port to demand action. “Zuwara cannot be a home for murderers,” they chanted in their local Amazigh language.

It wasn't the first time townspeople had demonstrated against the smugglers, but the scale of the last tragedy led them to demand that this would be the last.

Despite the group’s insistence on privacy, Middle East Eye was able to negotiate an interview with Ayman al-Kafaz, the Masked Men’s commander-in-chief.

Kafaz told MEE that the group was originally set up in January 2013 as the “Special Intervention Squad” aimed at tackling any criminal activity, but that the movement had expanded rapidly over the last two years. Today the Masked Men say they have 130 able-bodied recruits – half of whom are policemen - working in 24-hour shifts.

The group is officially registered in Tripoli's Ministry of Interior, and that's where, according to Kafaz, the salaries for the Masked Men are paid.

Since the 2011 overthrow of long-time strongman Muammar Gaddafi, the security situation has deteriorated sharply in Libya. Warring militias now control vast chunks of the country, with two rival parliaments, Tripoli and Tobruk, vying for power, and the Islamic State group rising up amidst the chaos.

“The rule of law has vanished in Libya but it's still in force in Zuwara,” Kafaz said.

The commander recalled that since the August incident, the Masked Men have arrested over 35 people with alleged links to human-trafficking. While MEE could not verify if these men were still locked up and could not inspect the conditions they were being kept in, residents insist that life has become much better since the crackdown.

Kafaz admitted the situation is far from perfect but he labelled Europe's measures – which have involved trying to stop smuggling ships once they leave Libya - to tackle the migrants as “totally useless”.

“If Brussels really wants to stop the flow of people it should empower local authorities on the southern shore of the Mediterranean as well as organisations such as ours. This is the last gateway [before Europe] and we're able to control it if we receive enough support,” Kafaz added.

Civil servants like Sadiq Jiash, who works as a local council official, largely support the arrival of the Masked Men.

“There's no functional government in the country and we realised that we needed to do something to cope with the growing crisis in our territory,” he told MEE.

Jiash is a civil servant and president of Zuwara's Emergency Committee, an organisation set up in April 2014 and run by 35 local volunteers, including doctors, firefighters and members of the local Red Crescent amongst others.

“In the case of the migrants, we look for the corpses and aid in the rescue attempts in full coordination with the local administration, the civil society and the Masked Men,” Jiash said, while insisting that he was “highly satisfied” with the degree of collaboration between all the sides.

Turning the tide - The growing chaos has allowed smugglers to thrive in Libya and many in Zuwara had been growing rich on the illicit trade for years.

So far this year, more than 140,000 people have set off to Italy from Libya and Tunisia, with a significant proportion of people coming through Zuwara. Almost 3,000 people have died trying to make the journey. On Thursday, Italian navy rescue boats pulled 1,500 migrants from the sea off the coast of Libya in just a few hours.

“Gaddafi had the key to control the flux of migrants and eventually used them to put the pressure on the EU. But everything went out of control after the war [in 2011],” Jiash said.

Following Gaddafi's removal, lawlessness set in. While the town has attempted to control the situation by arresting alleged troublemakers, Zuwara does not have a prison.

“We organised ourselves to arrest the smugglers and transfer them to Sabrata or Zawiya – two neighbouring locations,” said Jiash. “But they were soon back in business. Corruption in Libya is rife, you know?”

After the catastrophe on the beach though, and with the prospect of EU military action and possible air strikes to take out smuggling networks, residents decided they could stay silent no more.

When 10 days after the boat capsized, the Masked Men appeared on the scene, residents were desperate for change. The group’s first act was to reportedly arrest about a dozen people deemed to have links with smuggling networks. Instead of sending them elsewhere, they just created a makeshift prison in Zuwara.

Coping with chaos - The solution is far from ideal - but there are few alternatives. Today the road that connects Zuwara with Tripoli remains blocked most of the time due to periodic clashes that break out between rival militias on the coastal way. The same applies to the less-travelled road south to the Nafusa Mountains, Libya's main Amazigh stronghold.

From the town's Red Crescent offices, Ibrahim Atushi, head of the NGO's local emergency committee, blamed the country's split between two rival centres of power for the shortage of medicines and other basic supplies. While one government operates from Tripoli, another is seated some 1,000 kilometres east in Tobruk.

“The roads are blocked so we can hardly cater for the local population and the 3,000 registered foreign workers among us, [who] mostly [are] Sub-Saharans,” Atushi told MEE.

Other than providing medical assistance to locals, the Red Crescent has been overstretched trying to tackle the migrant and refugee crisis.

“We have to register the corpses and conduct DNA tests. We also take pictures of the clothes to find clues on the whereabouts of the missing,” Atushi said.

However, he also pointed out that the number of bodies has diminished “drastically” over the last few months thanks to the Masked Men and the work of civil society.

“We cooperate with them [the Masked Men] and they call us every time they find migrants. They're a group of well-educated local men, many of which even have university degrees,” said Atushi.

Although controversial, the crackdown on Zuwara's trafficking network has apparently proved effective. In October, MEE was able to spend time on board Dignity One, one of the Doctors Without Borders vessels rescuing migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean.

The organisation reports that the majority of the rescue efforts in recent months have taken place near Tripoli rather than Zuwara, indicating that fewer migrants are setting off from there.

The number of boats departing from Zuwara had been “significantly lower” over the last few months, Dignity One project coordinator Juan Matias said.

Migrants who spoke to MEE said that Zuwara is no longer known as a key departure point for Europe, but rather a cul-de-sac.

But not everyone is happy about the development. Amiri, a 23-year-old from Nigeria, told MEE he left his village almost two years ago and had only just gathered the $500 to jump on a raft to Europe.

“I only came to Zuwara because someone told me it was a much safer place to stay until I left,” he said.

Now he’s stuck. Amiri says he may brave Libya’s perilous roads to travel to another more lawless part of Libya where smugglers continue to work out in the open, militias hunt down and arbitrarily detain migrants for ransom, and police officers beat and arrest them. But at least here he says he may have a greater shot of finally reaching a better life in Europe, and for many others like him it’s a risk worth taking.
 
Recent revelations by the Guardian expose probably the ugliest and most ruthless side of the civil war in Libya.

Report Reveals Shocking Male Rape Practices in Disintegrated Libya
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201711031058794001-guardian-libya-male-rape-gaddafi/

The Guardian has quoted an array of witnesses as saying that rival factions in Libya regularly resort to male rape in order to exert political pressure.

According to the Guardian, the relevant reports were first produced by a Le Monde journalist, who cited a spate of cases of Libyan men being sodomized by opponents with rockets and broom handles, among other things.

In some cases, men were forced to rape one another for the macabre delight of their captors: they were put behind bars and other prisoners were ordered to assault them under pain of death.

One of the victims, who went only by the name Ahmed, was quoted by The Guardian as saying that "nobody can escape it."

"They separate you to subjugate you. 'Subjugate the men', that's the expression that they use. So that you never hold your head up again. And they were filming everything with their phones," he said.

Another witness went further by claiming that male rape was in place in Libya under the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi as an alleged "instrument of war." Gaddafi was toppled and then killed during a violent uprising in the fall of 2011.

The witness alleged that "Gaddafi loyalists raped during the [2011 Libyan] revolution," and that "once they were defeated, they suffered the same violence."

The Guardian recalled that male rape remains a strong taboo in Arab countries, with all those abused feeling "too damaged to rejoin political, military or civic life."

The political crisis in Libya shows no sign of abating as the country has de-facto ceased to exist as a single state: the internationally recognized Government of National Accord operates in the capital Tripoli, while a vast part of the country is controlled by the elected parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army, headquartered in the city of Tobruk.There are also tribes and armed groups not abiding by either of them.
 
Hundreds of corpses of slain ISIL terrorists have been kept in refrigerated containers in an improvised morgue in Misrata, Libya since December of last year, still awaiting a decision on their fate.

Hundreds of ISIL Corpses Kept in Libya’s Makeshift Morgue since 2016
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960823001015

Around 700 bodies have been kept inside multiple containers in Misrata at temperatures low enough to prevent decomposition, RT reported.

The improvised morgue has housed slain terrorists since December 2016, when the ISIL was driven out of the coastal city of Sirte – the terrorists’ last bastion in Libya.

The corpses are stored in numbered and classified bags, and each body has a file and DNA sample, which allows their nationalities to be identified. Most of the dead bodies belong to foreign fighters who came from abroad to fight alongside ISIL, which previously recruited large numbers of foot soldiers from Africa’s poorest countries.

“We don’t know if countries have contacted (Libya’s) prosecutor general to recover the bodies of their nationals, but as far as we’re concerned nobody’s come here to try to identify the bodies,” Ali Tuwaileb, a man in charge of the facility said.

Tuwaileb said all the files were handed over to the prosecutor general’s office in Tripoli to decide where the bodies would be buried. The corpses are mainly of Tunisians, Egyptians, Sudanese, and some Libyans, but so far, no families have come to claim them.

The makeshift morgue is in urgent need of equipment required to store and identify the bodies, Tuwaileb said.

“As you can see, we don’t have the means. This is where we took samples for DNA tests and where we photographed the corpses,” Tuwaileb said. Hundreds of other terrorists were abandoned under the rubble in Sirte or in improvised graveyards dug by the terrorists themselves.

According to Tuwaileb, between 1,500 and 2,000 terrorists were buried in Sirte, but the presence of bodies decaying in the open provoked fears of epidemics among locals. “We don’t have enough fridges, or we would have exhumed all the bodies,” he said. He added that the containers were borrowed from private companies.

The ISIL fighters have now been almost completely driven out by troops of Libya’s new UN-backed government, which launched an offensive in May.


Human rights lawyers provided evidence Tuesday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors of alleged war crimes committed by forces loyal to Libyan National Army Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Rights Lawyers Submit Report on Alleged War Crimes by Libya's Haftar to ICC
https://sputniknews.com/world/201711151059101245-haftar-war-crimes-rights-lawyers-report/

A group of human rights lawyers on Tuesday said it sent an investigative report containing evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Libyan National Army Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's Office.

Investigative Report filed with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by Guernica 37 IJC and its international partners, concerning allegations of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity committed by forces under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar (Haftar) of Libya," Guernica 37 IJC said in a statement.

Murder, torture or inhuman treatment, willfully causing suffering, extensive destruction and appropriation of property, and persecution are among the allegations brought against Haftar by the group.

The human rights activists believe that hundreds if not thousands of civilians have become victims of Haftar and his troops.

Guernica 37 IJC claims to posses witness statements and videos that prove Haftar's involvement in murder, torture and looting of property.
 
I could go into a long detailed reply to this thread but, the world is starting to wake up to all this bullshit. I can feel it in my bones.
 
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