Sofia, Bulgaria | AFP | Five Bulgarian nurses jailed for eight years in Libya over an HIV epidemic at a children’s hospital welcomed on Saturday media reports accusing Kadhafi-era spies of deliberately infecting the infants. The five nurses, who along with a Palestinian doctor, became known as the “Benghazi six” …
Read More »Libya: Five restive years after Gaddafi
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Five years after Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi was captured and killed, the country remains unstable, with political and military rivalries sabotaging a viable state and the fight against Islamic State group jihadists. Following are key markers in the oil-rich North African country’s bid to become a …
Read More »First oil in two years leaves Libya’s Ras Lanouf port for Italy
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanouf for Italy on Tuesday, an official said, the first shipment since fighting erupted over control of the “oil crescent” two years ago. Oil is war-ravaged Libya’s key asset, and rival administrations have been vying for …
Read More »Oil prices down again as Libya, Nigeria set to raise output
Singapore, Singapore | AFP | Oil prices fell in Asia Friday as the prospects of higher output from Libya and Nigeria further fuelled oversupply concerns, cutting short a nascent rebound. Both contracts rose Thursday on news that 6,000 barrels of gasoline had leaked from the Colonial pipeline that carries fuel …
Read More »US launches first anti-IS air raids in Libya’s Sirte
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | US warplanes Monday carried out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State jihadist group in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte for the first time, the country’s unity government announced. “The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (IS) organisation were carried …
Read More »Rebuilding Libya
By Barak Barfi Qaddafi’s fall holds great promise for a people bereft of freedom for 42 years. But, the NTC having stumbled so far, it will have to redouble its efforts to ensure it wins the peace it fought for. Six months after Libyan rebels took up arms against the country’s …
Read More »NATO-imposed regime won’t liberate Libya
It is difficult for a foreign country to dismantle the military, administrative and intelligence infrastructure of another country and establish a stable political order thereafter Last week the French parliament voted to continue their country’s involvement in NATO airstrikes in Libya to remove Muammar Gaddafi. I hold a strong scepticism …
Read More »The futility and dangers of a NATO-installed regime in Libya
By Andrew M. Mwenda The incentive structure created by NATO’s commitment to the rebels will breed a movement of opportunists, not democrats. Recently, NATO airstrikes killed the son of Libyan leader Maummar Al Gaddafi and his three children. Officially, NATO’s role in the ongoing conflict in Libya is to protect …
Read More »A glimpse into Libya’s future
By Andrew M. Mwenda Given Libya’s tribal cleavages, the contours of conflict will deepen ethnic tensions and threaten the institutional integrity of the state Now, the complexity of the political problems of Libya is becoming apparent. There is a lot of back and forth shift in fortunes between rebels and …
Read More »The problem and solution for Libya
By Andrew .M. Mwenda Foreign intervention should not seek to win the war for Libyans. It should give them the tools to do so themselves. As street protests across the Arab world are forcing governments in that region to reform their authoritarian ways, the ones in Libya have degenerated into …
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