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Egypt Has Ambitious Plan for Suez Canal Expansion

When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, it had taken hundreds of thousands of Egyptian workers 10 years to complete it. On Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he was ready to build another one. At a lavish groundbreaking ceremony that included a military air show and the symbolic detonation of demolition explosives, Mr. Sisi’s government announced an ambitious plan to build a new waterway that would expand the capacity of the existing canal while creating jobs and revenue for the government. Mr. Sisi set an equally ambitious timeline for the project, which would involve the digging or dredging of approximately 45 miles of earth and wetlands, saying the new waterway would open next year. “We are racing time, because we are very late,” he said. There has been talk for years of expanding the development along the canal, a crucial passage for international shipping that links […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan responders flee fuel depot fire

A fuel fire near the international airport in Tripoli may be on the verge of creating a humanitarian and environmental disaster, the Libyan government said. The Libyan government said a fuel depot near the airport suffered a direct hit after militias armed with heavily artillery surrounded the area. "This led to the withdrawal of firefighters," Sameer Kamal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Oil, said Sunday . The spokesman said the smoke and fire could present a major threat to the surrounding area in Tripoli. At least 200 people have died as a result of fighting between Islamist militias and pro-government forces since July. Foreign governments, including the United States and European powers, have suspended diplomatic operations in Libya because of the recent outbreak of violence. The interim government in Tripoli said last week it needed outside help in controlling the violence. International forces intervened in Libya’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan lawmakers elect judge as new speaker

Libyan lawmakers, gathered far from the country’s chaos and warring militias, have elected a judge as the new parliament speaker. Ageila Saleh Eissa narrowly defeated his rival for the post, Abu-Bakr Baeira, in a 77-74 vote late Monday night from among 158 lawmakers who convened the parliament’s inaugural session in the eastern city of Tobruk. Weeks of fighting in the capital, Tripoli, and the nation’s second-largest city, Benghazi, have killed more than 230 people and forced most foreigners and diplomats to leave Libya. Because of the violence in Tripoli and Benghazi, the parliament session was held in Tobruk, an anti-Islamist stronghold and a militia-free zone. Eissa is the country’s third parliament speaker since the downfall and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in the 2011 uprising and civil war. He held several judicial posts in the east under Gadhafi but his political affiliation is unknown. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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In Libya, Parliament Convenes Amid Battles

Libyan leaders, struggling to keep their country from spinning further out of control, convened a newly elected Parliament for its first session on Monday. But raging militia battles in Tripoli, the capital, and in Benghazi, the second-largest city, forced them to hold the meeting in Tobruk, a relatively stable port in the east. And a senior Egyptian political figure suggested on Monday that his country might intervene in Libya militarily if calm cannot be restored. The newly elected lawmakers vowed to prevent the collapse of their state. “We will prove to the world that Libya is not a failed country,” Abu Bakr  Bueira, the lawmaker presiding over the session, declared, according to news reports. Although the street fighting in Tripoli and Benghazi is driven mainly by local militia rivalries, it is converging into the same national conflict. Islamists and their tribal or regional allies are on one […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tripoli Clashes Toll Rises by 22 as Libya Crisis Deepens

Britain dispatched its navy to evacuate its nationals from Libya as 22 other people were killed as a result of militia feuds near Tripoli’s international airport that have plunged the oil producer deeper into chaos. The U.K.’s move came as the government announced the latest death toll today, a day after most members of the North African country’s new legislature met in the city of Tobruk near the Egyptian border. It was their first meeting as a unit since elections were held to replace the General National Congress. The choice of venue for the House of Representatives’ first session, which was delayed until Monday, reflects concerns about the collapse of security in Tripoli and in Benghazi, the nation’s second-largest city. More than two weeks of fighting between rival militias, and pro- and anti-Islamists have left about 200 dead and hundreds more wounded, according to state media. The violence marks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya Says Tripoli Fuel-Tank Fire Spreads, Warns of Disaster

Libya warned Sunday of the risk of a humanitarian and environmental disaster after eight fuel tanks caught fire amid heavy fighting near Tripoli’s international airport between rival militias, pushing the oil producer deeper into chaos. Rockets fired by one of Libya’s militias hit Tripoli’s main fuel depot near the airport Saturday, setting a gasoline tank ablaze, but firefighters deployed to tackle the fire were forced back by the militia fighting. The fire rapidly spread to seven other tanks, increasing the risk of an explosion at the site, which contains 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of fuel and cooking gas. "Since the morning firefighters from Brega Petroleum Marketing Co. have been trying to enter the depot to control the fire […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British Citizens Flee Tripoli on Ship as 25 Libyans Are Reportedly Killed in Fighting

A British Navy ship on Sunday evacuated about 100 British citizens from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as 25 Libyans were reported killed in the fighting between rival militias that has torn apart the city and destroyed its airport. The scenes of anxious foreigners fleeing by boat recalled the mayhem at the start of the Libyan uprising under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, though Tripoli residents say the violence has now become more severe than at any time during the revolt or since. What began three weeks ago as a relatively isolated battle for the airport has spread to round-the-clock skirmishes in pockets throughout the city. More than 200 are believed to have died in the fighting. The battle in the capital is part of a sharp escalation in a national struggle between the allies and opponents of the political Islamist movement. The contest is already dividing the […]

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Risks Remain to Libya's Oil Supply Despite Reopening of Ports, Fields

The reopening of Libyan oil fields and ports this month has been a key factor behind a steady fall in international oil prices recently, with U.S. prices falling to a four-month low on Thursday. But markets may be overlooking resurgent risks to the North African country’s oil supply. Over the past week fighting for control of the airport in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, has set ablaze part of a storage facility holding 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of oil during the worst violence in the country since the 2011 civil war that led to the downfall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi. The oil tank blazes and fighting in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi have led to "serious doubts" about […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Risks Remain to Libya’s Oil Supply Despite Reopening of Ports, Fields

The reopening of Libyan oil fields and ports this month has been a key factor behind a steady fall in international oil prices recently, with U.S. prices falling to a four-month low on Thursday. But markets may be overlooking resurgent risks to the North African country’s oil supply. Over the past week fighting for control of the airport in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, has set ablaze part of a storage facility holding 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of oil during the worst violence in the country since the 2011 civil war that led to the downfall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi. The oil tank blazes and fighting in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi have led to "serious doubts" about […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tunisia seals Libya border after violence

Tunisia has closed its main border crossing with Libya after thousands of stranded Egyptian and foreign nationals, fleeing ongoing fighting and violence in Libya, tried to break through the passage, the Tunisian news agency said. The unrest erupted on Friday when thousands of Egyptians, barred from entering Tunisia because they had no visa, held a protest then broke through part of a fence at the Ras Ajdir crossing, Tunisian security officials said. The news comes as Tunisia urged its estimated 50,000 to 60,000 nationals living in Libya to leave "as soon as possible" because of violence that has raged there since mid-July. "The ministry of foreign affairs urges Tunisians who find themselves in Libyan territory to return home as soon as possible," a ministry statement said. The border clashes on Friday was the second incident at the border in as many days, as thousands of Libyans stream into neighbouring Tunisia, along with foreign […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple