Libyan airline executive held in migrant smuggling case

A plane sits on the tarmac after landing at Mitiga airport a few days after militiamen attacked it in an attempt to free colleagues held at a jail there, on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on January 20, 2018. (AFP file photo)
A plane sits on the tarmac after landing at Mitiga airport a few days after militiamen attacked it in an attempt to free colleagues held at a jail there, on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on January 20, 2018. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 16 July 2024
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Libyan airline executive held in migrant smuggling case

Libyan airline executive held in migrant smuggling case
  • The airline flew “hundreds of people from east Asian countries without taking into account the obligations of the air carrier” and migration legislation, as well as international treaties ratified by Libya, the statement said

TRIPOLI: A Libyan airline’s commercial director has been arrested in an investigation into flying illegal migrants who intended to enter the United States to Nicaragua, the attorney general’s office said.
The case concerns flights organized by private airline Ghadames Air, the office said in a statement published overnight Sunday-Monday.
It said the airline flew “hundreds of people wishing to enter the territory of the United States through the territory of the Republic of Nicaragua, in violation of applicable immigration rules.”
Authorities ordered “the imprisonment of the commercial director of Ghadames Airlines for committing activity harmful to the country’s interests,” it said.
The airline flew “hundreds of people from east Asian countries without taking into account the obligations of the air carrier” and migration legislation, as well as international treaties ratified by Libya, the statement said.
It added that violation of “the protocol to combat the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air” was of particular concern.
An investigation published in late May by Le Monde newspaper said several Ghadames Air charter flights took hundreds of Asian migrants to the Nicaraguan capital Managua from Benghazi and Tripoli.
Like most Libyan airlines, Ghadames Air is banned from entering European Union airspace for security reasons.
Libya has been wracked by division and unrest since the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of former dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The North African country is divided between two rival administrations, and has become a hub for tens of thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea.
According to the International Organization for Migration, there are more than 700,000 migrants in Libya, largely Nigerians and Egyptians.
However on July 10, Imad Trabelsi, interior minister in the Tripoli-based administration, said “there are approximately 2.5 million foreigners in Libya.”
He added that “70 to 80 percent of them entered the country illegally.”
 

 


Libya’s factions progress in central bank crisis talks, says UN Libya mission

Libya’s factions progress in central bank crisis talks, says UN Libya mission
Updated 9 sec ago
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Libya’s factions progress in central bank crisis talks, says UN Libya mission

Libya’s factions progress in central bank crisis talks, says UN Libya mission

CAIRO: Libya’s rival factions made progress on talks over the central bank crisis and will continue discussions on Thursday to reach a final agreement, the UN Libya mission said on Wednesday, in a bid to defuse a crisis that has slashed oil output and exports.
“The participants of the two (legislative) chambers made progress in agreeing on the general principles governing the interim period leading to the appointment of a new governor and board of directors for the Central Bank,” the United Nations Libya mission (UNSMIL) said in a statement.
The meeting hosted by UNSMIL featured representatives from the Benghazi-based House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the Presidential Council, which are both based in Tripoli.
The standoff began last month when western Libyan factions moved to oust a veteran central bank governor, prompting eastern factions to declare a shutdown to all oil output.
Although Libya’s two legislative bodies said last week they agreed to jointly appoint a central bank governor within 30 days, the situation remains fluid and uncertain.
Libyan oil exports fell around 81 percent
last week, Kpler data showed on Wednesday, as the National Oil Corporation canceled cargoes amid a crisis over control of Libya’s central bank and oil revenue.


Turkish-American activist’s family awaits body for burial

Turkish-American activist’s family awaits body for burial
Updated 36 min 10 sec ago
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Turkish-American activist’s family awaits body for burial

Turkish-American activist’s family awaits body for burial
  • Her family is still waiting for Eygi’s body to arrive and is hoping to bury her in the southwestern town of Didim on Friday

DIDIM, Turkiye: The family of a Turkish-American activist killed during a protest in the occupied West Bank is expecting to bury her in Turkiye, her uncle told AFP on Wednesday.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead last week while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank town of Beita.
The United Nations rights office has accused Israeli forces of having shot Eygi, 26, in the head.
The Israeli army has acknowledged opening fire in the area and said it was looking into the case.
Her family is still waiting for Eygi’s body to arrive and is hoping to bury her in the southwestern town of Didim on Friday.
“It’s sad but it’s also a source of pride for Didim,” Eygi’s uncle Ali Tikkim, 67, told AFP.
“It’s important that a young girl, martyred and sensitive to the world is buried here.”
Eygi was a frequent visitor to the Aegean seaside resort.
“It’s likely that the funeral will take place on Friday but nothing is certain,” said Tikkim, who said he believed her body was still in Israel.
“Israel asked for an autopsy” but Eygi’s parents refused and have “hired a lawyer” to inform Israeli authorities, Tikkim said.
The US embassy in Turkiye’s capital Ankara said it was “following the case” but refused to comment.
Tikkim said that Eygi’s mother, who lives in Seattle on the US west coast, arrived in Didim on Wednesday and that her father was on his way.
The family wanted Eygi to be buried in Didim, where her grandfather lives and her grandmother has been laid to rest, said Tikkim.
“Aysenur was here about two weeks ago. She came here twice a year when she could, to swim and visit her family,” he said.
“Then she told us she was going to Jordan. She went to Palestine for humanitarian reasons.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to ensure “that Aysenur Ezgi’s death does not go unpunished.”
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for Israel to provide “full accountability” for Eygi’s death.


Hamas meets with mediators in Doha over Gaza truce

Hamas meets with mediators in Doha over Gaza truce
Updated 11 September 2024
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Hamas meets with mediators in Doha over Gaza truce

Hamas meets with mediators in Doha over Gaza truce
  • The Palestinian group said they had discussed “developments concerning the Palestinian cause and the aggression on the Gaza Strip“
  • Months of behind-the-scenes negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a halt to the fighting

DOHA: A Hamas delegation met Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha on Wednesday to discuss a truce in Gaza and a potential hostage and prisoner exchange, the militant group said in a statement.
Hamas said its lead negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
The Palestinian group said they had discussed “developments concerning the Palestinian cause and the aggression on the Gaza Strip” without indicating that talks had resulted in a breakthrough.
Months of behind-the-scenes negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a halt to the fighting between Hamas and Israel, with the exception of a one-week truce beginning in late November.
During the sole pause in the now 11-month war, 105 hostages were released to Israel in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners under the deal struck by mediators.
Recent rounds of mediation held in Doha and Cairo have been based on a framework laid out in May by US President Joe Biden and a “bridging proposal” presented to the parties in August.
The Hamas statement reiterated its “readiness for the immediate implementation of the ceasefire agreement based on President Biden’s declaration.”
Pressure for a deal has intensified after Israeli authorities announced the deaths of six hostages at the start of September when their bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel.
But in the face of the external calls for an agreement, both Israel and Hamas have publicly signalled deeper entrenchment in their negotiating positions.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has doubled down in his calls for Israeli control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border — a key sticking point in negotiations — saying it was necessary to stop Hamas from rearming
Last week, Egypt and then Qatar rejected the charge that the border was being used to arm Hamas, accusing Netanyahu of trying to distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct a ceasefire deal.
In the statement on Wednesday, Hamas also restated its demand for Israel’s withdrawal from “all Gaza territories.”
The militant group also claimed it had not placed any further demands on negotiators and at the same time was “rejecting any new conditions to this agreement from any party.”


Iran’s president slams the West over Gaza war

Iran’s president slams the West over Gaza war
Updated 11 September 2024
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Iran’s president slams the West over Gaza war

Iran’s president slams the West over Gaza war

BAGHDAD: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has slammed the West, saying that Israel is “committing massacres” in the war in Gaza and using European and American weapons to do so.

Pezeshkian, who spoke in Baghdad at the start of his first visit abroad since taking office, hopes to cement Tehran’s ties to Baghdad.

“The Israeli entity is committing massacres against women, children, young men, and the elderly. They bomb hospitals and schools,” Pezeshkian said.

“All these crimes are being committed by using European and American ammunition and bombs,” he added.

Ahead of Pezeshkian’s arrival, an explosion struck a site near Baghdad International Airport used by the US military on Tuesday night. There were no reported casualties, and the circumstances of the explosion were unclear.

The US Embassy later described it as an “attack” on the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound, an American diplomatic facility, and that it was “assessing the damage” and the cause of the explosion. It did not provide further details.


US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah

US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah
Updated 11 September 2024
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US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah

US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah
  • The sanctions target three people, five companies and two vessels that the US Treasury Department said were overseen by a senior leader of Hezbollah’s finance team

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Wednesday issued sanctions on a Lebanese network it accused of smuggling oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to help fund the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The sanctions target three people, five companies and two vessels that the US Treasury Department said were overseen by a senior leader of Hezbollah’s finance team and used profits from illicit LPG shipments to Syria to aid generate revenue for the group.
Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith, in a statement, said Hezbollah “continues to launch rockets into Israel and fuel regional instability, choosing to prioritize funding violence over taking care of the people it claims to care about, including the tens of thousands displaced in southern Lebanon.”