Category: North Africa

A resolution authorizing the boarding of vessels suspected of carrying illicit Libyan oil gives Tripoli the stability it needs to grow, the U.S. envoy said. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to support a Chapter VII resolution that authorizes U.N. member states to board vessels and return any oil illegally seized from Libyan ports to the Libyan government. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement that, with Libya’s oil funds accounting for the bulk of the government’s budget, the resolution ensures Libya’s oil wealth stays in the hands of the Libyan people. "Good stewardship of Libya’s oil resources is critical to supporting Libya’s successful democratic transition," she said Wednesday. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs raided the oil tanker Morning Glory, a North Korean-flagged ship, in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea last weekend after it took on a cargo of oil from a […]

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Several car bombs exploded at a Libyan army academy in the eastern city of Benghazi on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding more than a dozen, hospital sources and a security official said. Instability in the eastern city is just part of the struggle a weak central government faces in controlling armed groups, militias and brigades of former rebels who once battled Muammar Gaddafi and now refuse to disarm. A first bomb exploded at the academy’s front gate as people were leaving a graduation ceremony, security officials said. One or two other bombs exploded almost at the same time, wounding at least 13 persons. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Benghazi, where Libyan armed forces have been battling militants from hardline Islamist groups such as Ansar al Sharia, listed as a foreign terrorist organization by Washington. Most countries have closed their […]

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United States Navy commandos seized a fugitive oil tanker in the Mediterranean waters southeast of Cyprus on Monday morning, thwarting an attempt by a breakaway Libyan militia to sell its contents on the black market, the Pentagon said. No one was hurt in the operation, the Pentagon said in a statement. The fugitive tanker, called the Morning Glory, had sailed into the Libyan port of Sidra under a North Korean flag but North Korea disavowed the ship and denied providing any authorization. News reports have said it was operated by a company based in Alexandria, Egypt, and that after leaving Libyan waters it appeared to have sailed the Mediterranean in search of a buyer for its oil. In a statement early Monday morning, the Pentagon said that the Libyan and Cypriot governments had requested American help in seizing control of the tanker. President Obama authorized the operation […]

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U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker late on Sunday that escaped earlier this month from a Libyan port with armed men at the helm, the U.S. Department of Defense said. Libyan anti-government rebels, who are calling for a greater share of oil wealth and autonomy, had managed to load crude oil onto the 37,000 tonne-tanker, which escaped the Libyan navy, embarrassing the weak central government and prompting parliament to vote the prime minister out of office. No one was hurt in the boarding operation, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. "The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained" from the Libyan port of Es […]

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No one paid much attention to the 21,000-tonne oil tanker Morning Glory as it churned back and forth along the north African coast earlier this month. Tankers are a common sight, carrying Libya ‘s oil exports around the world. But on 1 March it switched off its satellite transponder and vanished from world shipping maps. Eight days later it appeared at Libya’s biggest oil port, Es Sider, blockaded since the summer by a rebel militia. Within a week its arrival would see a prime minister sacked and Libya on the brink of civil war. Four hundred miles away in the capital Tripoli, prime minister Ali Zeidan, 63, a lawyer and former dissident based in Geneva, was alarmed. He had come to the job 15 months before with high expectations. Libya, freed with Nato help from the Muammar Gaddafi dictatorship, had everything going for it, with Africa ‘s largest oil […]

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Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

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Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

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The prospect of a deal between Libya ’s eastern rebels and the central government is diminishing after the breakaway region shipped its first cargo of crude oil. A North Korean-flagged tanker left Es Sider, the largest oil-export terminal, yesterday after the navy refused to attack the vessel and then failed to impound it. Libya’s parliament then ousted Prime Minister Ali Zaidan in a no confidence vote. Federalists in the Barqa region control four oil ports and are demanding a share of the revenue from exports. “This will complicate a settlement because it emboldens the Barqa people,” said Theodore Karasik , the director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “It shows their ability to operate independently from the central government.” Libya’s central government has been hobbled by a lack of oil revenue since the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Crude production slumped […]

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