In a ground-breaking new twist to Libya’s recent politics a meeting was held between 27 members of the House of Representatives (H-o-R) and the General National Congress (GNC) in Tunis in opposition to the UN Led Libya Dialogue and the proposed Government of National Accord (GNA). The meeting took place on 26 November but was only publicly announced on 28 November 2015.
Libyans and International observers believe this to be the first such publicly announced meeting between the two opposing parliamentary bodies. No formal announcements of further meetings have been made public as yet.
In another first the newly appointed UNSMIL Special Envoy Martin Kobler will attend the Seventh foreign Ministerial meeting of Libya’s neighbouring countries in Algiers on 01 December with Libya’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Dairi in another attempt at bolstering international support for the UN Brokered and proposed new Government of National Accord. During this reporting period Kobler has visited Italy, Qatar, UAE, France, Tunisia and Cairo as well as meeting UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond in Tunis in his efforts to keep the International support for the deal strong, despite the strong opposition in Libya by both sides to the deal, which is where the success lies as Libya ultimately must decide.
The long running dispute over Libyans needing visas to visit Tunisia looks to be over as Tunisia’s Foreign Minister announced that there is no requirement for Libyans to have a visa to travel anywhere in his country, going against strong support for its introduction, especially in light of recent Terrorist attacks which are blamed on Libya’s turmoil.
The vacuum created by the Political wrangling and Militia in-fighting means Daesh and other aligned Islamist Terror groups have continued to grow stronger and with a reported operating territory of potentially hundreds of kilometres between Abu Grain, South of Misrata to Derna with strongholds in Sirte and Derna the threat needs a centralised government and strong security forces to tackle them head on now.
The rise in criminal activity in the Western Janzour and Warsafana districts has kept the coastal road between Tripoli and Zawia closed for months now with a 200 km diversion being the only option for travellers.
Tripoli based criminals flourish with near daily reports of car jackings and kidnaps for ransom, some going tragically wrong and numerous families have received relatives back dead despite having paid the criminals.
In a show of how the country has deteriorated and the complete disregard for law and order this week a lady who was refused withdrawal of her own money from her bank in Zawia opened fire with a shotgun blasting cashiers desks and causing panic, however the bank was acting on orders not to allow large sums to be withdrawn citing safety concerns.
Libya’s long suffering power stations are in need of major repairs and with the lack of foreign investment and technicians all are struggling to put their share of power into the grid, resulting in power cuts, Tripoli lately has fared well with cuts of some 3 to 5 hours duration every few days, there are also recent reports that more southern Libyan rural areas such as Sabha and Hun have major problems with fuel and gas supplies.
In the Eastern cities of Benghazi and Adjdabiya General Hefter’s forces continue to fight with Daesh and AAS Islamist Militias and with both sides using indirect weapons such as AAS indiscriminate shelling of civilian neighbourhoods and LNA Airstrikes in reply the poor civilian citizens are often the victims.
SNE continues to keep our permanent expat country management team on the ground in Tripoli supporting our clients international and local personnel as well as critical infrastructure. We are also currently involved in working with many of our clients on their re-entry planning, security risk management surveys and political sector analysis. To discuss these services further please contact us on the details below.
Libya Security Report Subscription Service
SNE Libya Security Summaries are only supplied to existing Libya clients and those who subscribe to our weekly reporting service. For further information on how to subscribe and our monthly costs, please contact our Dubai management team at office@snegroup.co.uk The attached Libya security update has been produced by our Tripoli based in-country management team and covers the various security risks, recent incidents, political landscape and geography in both the west and east of Libya.
HEAT & Basic Life Support Two Day Training Courses
SNE are now offering bespoke Libya oriented or generic MENA Hostile Environment Awareness & Basic Life Support Medical Training Courses in Dubai or your home country prior to deploying back into Libya, or in country training for those who require this service in Tripoli. Please contact our Dubai Head Office for more information on these courses at specialprojects@snegroup.co.uk
For further information on all our services and for actual support on the ground in Libya please feel free to contact us 24/7 on +218 911713972 or +971 508764175
