EU foreign, security chief claimed some member states baffled by Tunisia migration pact

EU foreign, security chief claimed some member states baffled by Tunisia migration pact
Migrants wait to be transferred from the Lampedusa Island to the mainland, on Sept. 15, 2023. The pact, signed in July with Tunisia by Von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was aimed at stemming migration to Europe from Tunisia. (AP)
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Updated 18 September 2023
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EU foreign, security chief claimed some member states baffled by Tunisia migration pact

EU foreign, security chief claimed some member states baffled by Tunisia migration pact
  • The North African country had become one of the most popular routes for people smugglers working in Africa after Libya became too dangerous

LONDON: EU member states were left confused when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hurried into a migration pact with Tunisia, The Guardian revealed on Monday.

In a letter dated Sept. 7, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell noted that concerns about the pact were raised in July both verbally and in writing.

In a letter to Oliver Varhelyi, the European commissioner for neighboring countries, Borrell said: “As you know … in July, several member states expressed their incomprehension regarding the commission’s unilateral action on the conclusion of this (memorandum of understanding) and concerns about some of its contents.

“After the foreign affairs council meeting on July 20 some member states referred these concerns by written procedure to you,” he added.

The pact, signed in July with Tunisia by Von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was aimed at stemming migration to Europe from Tunisia.

The North African country had become one of the most popular routes for people smugglers working in Africa after Libya became too dangerous.

The letter also revealed that foreign affairs ministers had observed that the correct steps to adopt the procedure had not been followed by the commission, and therefore the MoU could not be “considered a valid template for future agreements.”

Why Borrell wrote the letter two months after the deal was inked is unknown. However, it appears to have been an attempt to ensure that a similar deal was not repeated with other North African nations without proper consultation with member states.

In the letter, Borrell said: “The participation in the negotiation and the signing ceremony of a limited number of EU heads of government does not make up for the institutional balance between the council and the commission.”

The letter was written shortly before Sunday’s visit by Von der Leyen and Meloni to Lampedusa, a small island off the coast of Sicily that the Italian PM said was struggling with migrants from Tunisia.

The deal was aimed at combating criminal gangs running smuggling operations and strengthening border controls and search and rescue operations.


Italy and Libya resume commercial flights after 10-year hiatus, officials say

Italy and Libya resume commercial flights after 10-year hiatus, officials say
Updated 10 sec ago
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Italy and Libya resume commercial flights after 10-year hiatus, officials say

Italy and Libya resume commercial flights after 10-year hiatus, officials say
CAIRO: Italy and war-torn Libya on Saturday resumed commercial flights for the first time in a decade, authorities in the Libyan capital said.
Flight MT522, operated by the Libyan carrier Medsky Airways, departed Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli for Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, according to Libyan airport authorities.
A return flight was scheduled to land in Tripoli on Saturday afternoon, according to Mitiga International Airport. Going forward, there will be one round-trip flight between the Libyan and Italian capitals on both Saturdays and Wednesdays, according to the Mitiga airport announcement.
The government of Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli lauded the resumed flights, posting photos on social media that showed passengers boarding the flight and officials celebrating.
Italy and other western nations banned flights from Libya as the oil-rich nation in North Africa plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
In the disarray that followed, the country split into rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
Amid the chaos, Libya has had direct flights to limited destinations, including cities in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, and other Middle Eastern countries, such as Jordan.
The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni in July lifted Italy’s 10-year ban on civil aviation in Libya. Italian and Libyan authorities agreed that one airline company from each country would operate flights between the two capitals.
Dbeibah subsequently returned from attending a conference on migration in Rome on a chartered flight with a commercial airline.

Tunisia extends drinking water quota system, ban on agriculture use

Tunisia extends drinking water quota system, ban on agriculture use
Updated 8 min 33 sec ago
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Tunisia extends drinking water quota system, ban on agriculture use

Tunisia extends drinking water quota system, ban on agriculture use
  • In March, the North African country began cutting off water at night and banned its use in agriculture

TUNIS: Tunisia has extended the quota system for drinking water and a ban of use in agriculture until further notice, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday, in response to a drought that has lasted five years.
In March, the North African country began cutting off water at night and banned its use in agriculture, a decision that Tunisia had said would continue until Sept. 30.
It has also banned the use of drinking water to wash cars, water green areas and clean streets and public places.
Anyone who breaks the ban faces a fine and imprisonment for a period of between six days and six months.


Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank
Updated 30 September 2023
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Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank

Israeli troops kill Hamas militant after firebomb attack at military post in West Bank
  • Palestinian Health Ministry says Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died of multiple gunshot wounds
  • Hamas said Roummaneh fell as a “heroic martyr” while “defending the freedom of (his) people” 

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian activist and member of the Islamist Hamas movement was killed on Friday evening during a clash with Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, according to multiple sources.

“Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died as a result of serious injuries caused by bullets fired by the occupying forces in El-Bireh” northeast of Ramallah, wrote the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a statement.

It reported that a second Palestinian had been injured but gave no details.

The Israeli military said the man was a member of the team of Hamas militants who threw fire bombs at a military post near Psagot, an Israeli settlement.

“Soldiers conducting routine activity at the scene identified the suspects and responded with live fire. Two assailants were neutralized and transferred to receive medical treatment,” it said.

When questioned by AFP, an army spokeswoman would not confirm that one of the two had died, as announced by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip but has strong support in the West Bank as well, claimed the man as a member.

In a statement, Hamas described Roummaneh as one of its members who fell as a “heroic martyr” while “defending the freedom of (his) people” near the settlement of Psagot. The statement was accompanied by an image of a very young man.

Violence in the West Bank has raged for more than a year, amid stepped-up Israeli military raids, increased settler assaults on Palestinian villages, and a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

At least 242 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed since the beginning of the year in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 


UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism
Updated 30 September 2023
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UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Bahraini troops, demands end to terrorism
  • Members said the drone assault, which killed three soldiers, constituted a ‘serious threat to the peace process and regional stability’
  • The attack, which took place on Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, represented a major escalation after more than a year of relative calm

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Friday strongly condemned what it described as an “egregious and escalatory drone attack,” by the Houthis on Bahraini soldiers serving in the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, in which three servicemen were killed and several injured.

It constituted a “serious threat to the peace process and regional stability,” the council added.

The attack, which took place on Monday as the soldiers patrolled Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen, represented a major escalation after more than a year of relative calm, at a time when momentum has been building in the peace process. The US envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, had described the current situation as “the best chance for peace in Yemen since the war broke out.”

The council called on the Houthis to end “all terrorist attacks” and expressed great concern about the group’s targeting of civilian infrastructure in cities near the border. The 15-member body also called called on all sides to respect their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law.

Members said any escalation of hostilities would only increase the suffering of the Yemeni people. They reiterated the need for “decisive steps” to be taken to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, as they underscored their continuing strong support for all efforts to reach a political settlement that ends a war that has been raging for more than eight years.

They also reiterated their support for the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and his efforts to help reach a “Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political settlement based on the agreed references and consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions.”


Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster
Updated 29 September 2023
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Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster

Four more officials held after Libya flood disaster
  • The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested

BENGHAZI: Libya’s prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of four more officials, bringing to 12 the number held as part of an inquiry into this month’s flood that killed thousands.
Flooding caused by hurricane-strength Storm Daniel tore through eastern Libya on Sept. 10, leaving at least 3,893 people dead and thousands more missing.
The seaside city of Derna was the worst-hit in the flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami. It burst through two dams and washed entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean.
The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested for suspected “bad management of the administrative and financial missions which were incumbent upon them,” said a statement issued by the prosecutor general’s office in Tripoli, western Libya.
On Monday, the office ordered the arrest of eight officials, including Derna’s mayor who was sacked after the flood.
Libya’s prosecutor general Al-Seddik Al-Sour belongs to the internationally recognized regime in the country’s west.
A rival administration in the flood-stricken east, is backed by military leader Khalifa Haftar.
The eastern government has said it plans to host an international donors’ conference in Benghazi on Oct. 10 to focus on the reconstruction of flood-ravaged areas, but its failure to involve the Tripoli government has drawn mounting criticism from donors.
The US called on Libyans to set aside their political differences and agree on a framework to channel aid to eastern towns.

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The US called on Libyans to set aside their political differences and agree a framework to channel aid to eastern towns.

“We urge Libyan authorities now to form such unified structures — rather than launching separate efforts — that represent the Libyan people without delay,” US special envoy Richard Norland said in a statement on Friday.
“A proposal to hold a reconstruction conference in Benghazi on October 10 would be much more effective if it were conducted jointly and inclusively.”
Norland echoed concerns already expressed by the UN that mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that foreign aid is spent accountably.
“Libyans need to be assured public funds are used transparently, accountably, and that assistance goes to those in need,” the US envoy said.
On Thursday during talks with the European Commission, UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said he had called for funds to be monitored.
“I ... emphasized the need for a joint assessment of reconstruction needs of storm-affected areas to ensure the utmost accountability in the management of reconstruction resources,” he said.
On Friday, the eastern authorities said they would begin paying compensation to people affected by the disaster, which a UN agency has said uprooted more than 43,000 people.
“Checks have been handed over to the mayors” after a relief committee received records of damage caused by the flooding, the government based in Libya’s east said in a statement.
People whose homes were destroyed would receive 100,000 dinars ($20,500) in compensation, Faraj Kaeem, the eastern administration’s deputy interior minister, said separately.
Those with partially destroyed homes would get 50,000 dinars, while those who lost furniture or household appliances would be given 20,000 dinars, he said.
The eastern administration announced on Wednesday the creation of a fund for the reconstruction of Derna.
The authorities have yet to specify how the new fund will be financed, but the eastern-based parliament has already allocated 10 billion dinars to reconstruction projects.