Month: August 2014

CAIRO — Twice in the last seven days, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have secretly launched airstrikes against Islamist-allied militias battling for control of Tripoli, Libya, four senior American officials said, in a major escalation of a regional power struggle set off by Arab Spring revolts. The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise: Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington, leaving the Obama administration on the sidelines. Egyptian officials explicitly denied to American diplomats that their military played any role in the operation, the officials said, in what appeared a new blow to already strained relations between Washington and Cairo. The strikes in Tripoli are another salvo in a power struggle defined by Arab autocrats battling Islamist movements seeking to overturn the old order. Since the military ouster of the Islamist president in Egypt last year, the new […]

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Salah Badi has a reputation for resorting to other means when politics do not go his way. A hero of the 2011 uprising against Muammer Gaddafi and head of a militia affiliated with the coastal city of Misurata, the former member of parliament is now waging war in the capital, Tripoli, as he tries to maintain the dominance of Islamists – and his home town – in the face of overwhelming voter opposition to his agenda in June 25 general elections. More On this topic IN Middle Eastern Politics & Society “He reflects a certain component of Libyan politicians who see themselves as still fighting out the revolution,” said Claudia Gazzini, Libya researcher for the International Crisis Group. “They don’t care that they’re not popular. They see themselves as righteous defenders of Libya and saviours of a Libya that is gradually returning into the hands of the former regime.” […]

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Libya ’s outgoing parliament defied its successor by naming an alternative premier, while government officials called for international help amid growing violence between rival militias. The General National Congress, the legislature that has refused to disband even after a new one was elected in June, invited Omar El-Hassi to form a salvation government during a meeting yesterday in the capital, Tripoli. The congress, where Islamists are among the strongest factions, also announced a “public mobilization” in all institutions and the highest level of security alert, the official news agency Lana said. The newly elected parliament has been meeting in the east of the country instead of Tripoli, the seat of the outgoing legislature. El-Hassi was nominated as a rival to Prime Minister Abdullah Theni, whose house was set ablaze by militia fighters yesterday, according to Al-Arabiya television. The political schisms and spread of violence highlight the lack of central […]

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Plumes of black smoke can be seen after clashes between the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council and fighters of renegade general Khalifa Haftar, as they each attempt to seize control of the airport from the council in Benghazi, Libya, Aug. 23, 2014. Reuters August 25, 2014 9:32 AM BENGHAZI, LIBYA— Attackers fired rockets at eastern Libya’s Labraq airport on Monday, its director said, targeting one of the oil producer’s few functioning air hubs as violence between armed groups escalates. The airport east of the city of Benghazi has become a major gateway into Libya since Egypt and Tunisia canceled almost all flights to the capital Tripoli and the west of the country last week, citing security reasons. The North African nation has descended into anarchy with a weak government unable to control fighters, who helped topple strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 but now vie for control of territory and resources. […]

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LONDON—Libya said Monday normal operations had resumed at the giant Waha oil field as the country’s output jumps in contrast with mounting violence in urban centers. The latest step in Libya’s oil recovery contrasts with claims by an Islamist militia to have taken over of Tripoli’s airport over the weekend. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Mohamed el-Harari, spokesman for the state-owned National Oil Co., said operations had resumed earlier Monday at Eastern Libya’s Waha oil field, paving the way for a return to exported production later this week. Waha, which normally produces 160,000 barrels a day, supplies crude to the Es Sider terminal, which restarted exports using stored oil last week after a year-long interruption. The Waha field, which is partly owned by U.S. companies ConocoPhillips , Hess Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. , has kept producing small quantities of oil for its own maintenance, according to an […]

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BENGHAZI Libya/CAIRO (Reuters) – The Libyan parliament that was replaced in an election in June reconvened on Monday and chose an Islamist-backed deputy as prime minister, leaving the chaotic country with two rival leaders and assemblies each backed by armed factions. The election was meant draw a line under another incidence of competing prime ministers in May and allow nation building to being to try to quell three years of spreading violence since veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted. But the old General National Congress (GNC), where Islamists had a strong voice, has refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of its successor assembly, the House of Representatives, which is dominated by liberals and federalists. The GNC reconvened after armed factions from the western city of Misrata forced a rival faction from Zintan out of Tripoli’s main airport on Saturday after a month of fighting that has come to symbolize the […]

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