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Unrest hurting Libya's oil economy, Europe says

Political conflict in Libya means an economy that’s largely dependent on oil production has no room to grow, the European Union said. A progress report on Libya from the European Commission said a blockade on oil exports by eastern federalists has "severely" affected Libya’s fiscal situation. The report, published Thursday, said the closure of eastern export terminals has cut Libyan oil production from a pre-war level of 1.6 million barrels per day to around 250,000 bpd. With an economy that relies on the petroleum sector for 90 percent of its revenue and more than 70 percent of gross domestic product, the security situation was directly responsible for economic stagnation. "The lack of security has a negative impact on business climate," the progress report said . "With the security situation featuring so prominently on the agenda, thus far little attention has been paid to the diversification of the economy and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Unrest hurting Libya’s oil economy, Europe says

Political conflict in Libya means an economy that’s largely dependent on oil production has no room to grow, the European Union said. A progress report on Libya from the European Commission said a blockade on oil exports by eastern federalists has "severely" affected Libya’s fiscal situation. The report, published Thursday, said the closure of eastern export terminals has cut Libyan oil production from a pre-war level of 1.6 million barrels per day to around 250,000 bpd. With an economy that relies on the petroleum sector for 90 percent of its revenue and more than 70 percent of gross domestic product, the security situation was directly responsible for economic stagnation. "The lack of security has a negative impact on business climate," the progress report said . "With the security situation featuring so prominently on the agenda, thus far little attention has been paid to the diversification of the economy and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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General Who Led Takeover of Egypt to Run for President

Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the defense minister and military officer  who led last summer’s takeover  of the elected government in Egypt, formally announced on Wednesday that he was resigning from the army and running for president as he moved to consolidate his power. “It is true this is my last day in uniform but I will fight every day for Egypt free of fear and terror,” Mr. Sisi said, alluding to the military-led government’s continuing battles against the Islamist militants and street protesters. “I repeat what I have said before: ‘We’d rather die before Egyptians are terrorized.’” Mr. Sisi, who held the rank of field marshal, is almost universally expected to win the election and thus formalize  the de facto power he currently holds. He has been the government’s pre-eminent decision maker  since he led the ouster of Egypt’s first freely elected leader, President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hundreds of Egyptians Sentenced to Death in Killing of a Police Officer

; A crowd gathered outside a courthouse in the town of Matay erupted in wailing and rage on Monday when a judge sentenced 529 defendants to death in just the second session of their trial, convicting them of murdering a police officer in anger at the ouster of the Islamist president. Here in the provincial capital just a few miles away, schools shut down early, and many stayed indoors fearing a riot, residents said. But the crowds went home, and soon the streets were quiet. After nine months of escalating repression that culminated in the extraordinary verdict, the military-led government that removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have finally cowed his supporters into near-silence here in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan Oil Output Plunges to Six-Month Low as Elephant Halted

Libya ’s oil production plunged to the lowest in about six months after protesters seeking jobs and development projects halted a western oilfield run by Eni Spa. (ENI) Demonstrators forced the Elephant field to halt today, cutting the nation’s production to 150,000 barrels a day from 230,000 barrels yesterday, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for National Oil Corp., said by phone from Tripoli. Paolo Scaroni, Eni’s chief executive officer, met with Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Theni today to discuss increasing production in the North African country. Protesters in the Western Mountain range, south west of the capital Tripoli, shut a valve on a pipeline that carries crude from Elephant to the Mellitah oil export terminal, Elharari said. The disruption is compounding a rebellion in the east, depriving the country from most of its oil production. Curtailed Libyan supply has bouyed the price of Europe ’s Brent crude this year, according […]

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Libya releases crew of renegade oil tanker

The crew of a renegade oil tanker seized by the U.S. Navy and handed over to Libya has been released and will be deported, a Libyan investigator said Monday. Al-Sadik al-Sour, the head investigator for Libya’s prosecutor general, did not give the nationality of the 21 crew members. He said they were referred to border police Monday to send them out of the country. Three eastern Libya militia members who were aboard the vessel will be detained for 14 days to be interrogated by prosecutors over their role in the saga. Al-Sour said investigations revealed that the crew members were working at gunpoint, according to witnesses interrogated at the militia-held eastern port where the vessel was loaded with an estimated 350,000 barrels of oil. The ship remains in Tripoli and is due to be unloaded in the port of Zawiya refinery, 40 kilometers (25 miles) […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egyptian court sentences 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death: lawyer

An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death on Monday on charges including murder, a defense lawyer said, in a sharp escalation of a crackdown on the movement. Most were arrested during clashes which erupted in the southern province of Minya after the forced dispersal of two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo on August 14. Political turmoil has deepened in Egypt since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July. Security forces have killed hundreds of Brotherhood members in the street, and arrested thousands of others. "The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants, and 16 were acquitted," lawyer Ahmed al-Sharif told Reuters. The ruling can be appealed. The charges against the group, on trial in Minya since Saturday, include violence, inciting murder, storming a police station, attacking persons and damaging public and private […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan army in heavy fighting with oil port rebels

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels occupying oil ports clashed with troops on Saturday after attacking an army base where reinforcements were preparing for an offensive to break the blockade, local residents said. Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil wealth. Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by U.S. commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran’s men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under U.S. Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country’s key ports under government control. There was no immediate confirmation from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s guns free-for-all fuels region’s turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya's guns free-for-all fuels region's turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple