Muammar Gaddafi News

Libya's vital oil revenues fell to zero in January, the central bank said on Monday, after forces and tribesmen allied to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar blocked major oil ports.Haftar is embroiled in a conflict with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and has been trying to seize the capital by force since April.Tribesmen and forces loyal to him closed all eastern ports and major fields last month in a power play, part of chaos in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.The oil shutdown has caused losses exceeding 2.5 billion Libyan dinar ($1.78 billion)…

Chaos in Libya following General Khalifa Haftar's offensive has increased the risk of terrorist presence on migrant boats headed for Italy, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, adding the country's ports would remain closed."Islamic terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk, it has become a certainty: it is therefore my duty to reiterate that no docking will be allowed on Italian shores" he said in a radio interview on Wednesday.Salvini, leader of the anti-immigrant League party, refused to say if Italy's stance could change in case of a full-fledged war in Libya after the flare-up in the cycle of anarchy gripping the country since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.(Reuters reporting by Alessia Pe, editing by Valentina Za)

A Libyan coastguard commander sanctioned by the United Nations for alleged human trafficking and migrant smuggling said he hits migrants but does so for their own safety to prevent them from capsizing.Abdalrahman al-Milad, who heads a coastguard unit in Zawiya, just west of Tripoli, was one of six people sanctioned for involvement in people trafficking or smuggling in Libya on June 7, in the first move of its kind.The sanctions freeze bank accounts of those listed and ban them from travelling internationally…

Libya's naval forces seized a Togo-flagged fuel tanker and arrested its Greek crew on suspicion they planned to smuggle oil out of the North African country, a spokesman for the forces said on Thursday. Libya's western coast is a departure point for the smuggling of heavily subsidised gasoline to neighbours such as Tunisia and Malta, where retail prices are much higher. "The naval forces seized a Togo-flagged oil tanker in the territorial waters without permissions from the state of Libya. It has the name LAMAR," naval forces spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters.

Libyan naval forces on Sunday seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker and detained its mainly Filipino crew on suspicion of smuggling oil off the Abu Kammash area west of the capital Tripoli, a naval spokesman said. Libyan coast guards often seize tankers suspected of smuggling oil and gasoline off the coast that has become a haven for migrants and smugglers taking advantage of chaos that followed the 2011 fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. In the latest case, the Levane tanker with its crew of 20 members from the Philippines was seized on Monday afternoon by a patrol, naval spokesman Ayoub Qassem said. "The capacity of the tanker Levane is six million litres and it is a Greek-owned company tanker," Qassim said, adding that members of the crew were being questioned.

A Spanish aid group operating in the Mediterranean said on Tuesday one of its boats had been barred by Italy and Malta from disembarking migrants rescued two days ago. Humanitarian groups have played a growing role in rescuing migrants who pay criminal gangs for passage from Libya, prompting accusations in Italy that they are facilitating people smuggling and encouraging migration. The groups deny this. It was not clear why the Golfo Azzurro, run by Barcelona-based Proactiva Open Arms, was not allowed to dock in Lampedusa. It is now in international waters. The Italian coastguard could not be reached for comment. "Golfo Azzurro rescued three people 100 miles from the Libyan coast in an (Italian) coastguard operation 48 hours ago and we are still without authorisation to disembark…

Italian coastguards seized a migrant rescue boat operated by a German aid group in the Mediterranean due to suspicions it had aided illegal immigration, the police said on Wednesday. Video showed the "Iuventa", which is run by Jugend Rettet, arriving at the island of Lampedusa surrounded by several coastguard vessels after it was stopped at sea before dawn. The Jugend Rettet group said on Twitter its crew was being interviewed by officials, but had received no information about an investigation into its activities. "Our crew was guaranteed this is a standard process," said the group, which is one of around eight humanitarian organisations whose operations Italy is trying to regulate. It did not give any immediate comment on the police probe.

Tripoli government invited Italy into its waters; some 600,000 boat migrants have come to Italy since 2014. Italy intends to deploy several ships in Libyan waters by the end of August to fight human trafficking and stem a flood of immigrants, a government source said on Thursday. A mission plan should be brought to the Cabinet for approval on Friday, and the necessary parliamentary vote to endorse it may be held next week, the source said. "The exact number of ships and sailors is still being worked out," said the source. If parliament approves, the mission might begin "by the end of August", he said. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni met with military chiefs and ministers on Thursday to discuss "security, immigration and the Libyan situation", according to a statement.

Libyan naval forces captured two vessels suspected of smuggling oil from the North African country after gun battles lasting several hours west of the capital Tripoli, a spokesman for the service said on Friday. Libyan forces frequently capture vessels smuggling oil and arms off the coast and the North African state has become a haven for migrant smugglers who take advantage of the country's turmoil to ship people across to Europe. Ayoub Qassem, a spokesman for the Libyan naval forces, said Ukraine-flagged tanker Routa and a vessel with an unspecified African nation's flag named Stark were captured early Friday. "Clashes lasted for three hours, but the two tankers were successfully seized," Qassem said. The incident occurred in the Sidi Said area west of Tripoli.

European Union leaders will on Thursday call for more vessels for the Libyan coastguard to help it prevent migrants leaving its shores for Europe, sources said. Migrant arrivals from Libya to EU member state Italy are higher this year than last at more than 175,000 people. Curbing immigration is the bloc's top priority after about 1.4 million refugees and migrants reached it in 2015-2016. The EU's naval operation in the Mediterranean, Sophia, which is targeting arms traffickers and training the Libyan coastguard, is obliged to pluck out of the sea people who leave Libya in unreliable boats provided by people smugglers, meaning most of those who reach Italy arrive on EU vessels. One EU official said the bloc is increasingly worried that Sophia "has become a taxi service".

Less than a fortnight after forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar swept into four of Libya's oil ports, tankers are loading, production has jumped, and momentum has shifted firmly in the divisive former general's favour. For Haftar's opponents, and for Western powers, the move on the ports was alarming. Haftar and his backers in eastern Libya have been in a stand-off for months with a unity government in Tripoli, blocking any parliamentary vote to endorse it and challenging the U.N.-mediated deal to unify Libya. How Haftar and his allies will use control of the country's major oil exports - whether to leverage political advantage under that U.N. deal, or to extend military control across Libya - is still uncertain. But risks to stability are clear.

An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanuf for Italy early on Wednesday with the first crude export cargo from the terminal since at least late 2014, boosting hopes of reviving Libya's battered oil output. The port manager of Ras Lanuf said a second tanker was preparing to load at the terminal, one of four seized on Sept. 11-12 by eastern Libyan forces loyal to military leader Khalifa Haftar. Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has welcomed a promise by Haftar's forces to allow the NOC to control the ports.

Libya is resuming oil exports from some of its main ports which forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar seized in recent days and has lifted related "force majeuere" contractual clauses, the National Oil Corporation said on Thursday. The north African nation is highly dependent on hydrocarbon revenues and needs oil exports to resume to save its economy from collapse. Conflict since Libya's 2011 uprising has reduced its oil output to a fraction of the 1.6 million barrels per day the OPEC member once produced. "Exports will resume immediately from Zueitina and Ras Lanuf, and will continue at Brega ... exports will resume from Es Sider as soon as possible," NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said.

Libyan forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar said on Monday they had tightened their control over four major oil ports, casting a Western-backed project to unite Libya and revive oil exports into deep uncertainty. Haftar's forces met little resistance as they seized the terminals at Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zueitina and Brega in an operation launched on Sunday, displacing a rival armed faction aligned with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. The advance is the latest power struggle over the OPEC nation's energy assets, after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi and the chaos that followed left the North African country splintered into competing rival armed factions.

Calmer seas and Libya's lawlessness have opened the way for smugglers to ship thousands of migrants across the Mediterranean this week, in a striking reminder of how far Europe is from ending the migrant crisis. In just four days, Italy's coastguard and European vessels pulled 13,000 migrants from packed wooden boats and rubber dinghies crossing from Libya's coast through the Strait of Sicily, one of the shortest routes from North Africa. Images from rescue vessels showed migrants crammed into fragile boats, some in orange life jackets, others jumping into the water to swim as rescuers shouted for them to stop. Many were women and children, most of them Subsaharan Africans.

Western countries including the United States, France and Britain said in a joint statement on Wednesday they were concerned by mounting tension around the Zueitina oil terminal in Libya. Washington, Paris, London and the governments of Germany, Spain and Italy urged a return to government control of all oil and gas installations and called on all parties "to abstain from any act of hostility and avoid all actions that could damage or disrupt energy infrastructure". Zueitina is one of three eastern oil ports blockaded by Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG). The PFG has signed a deal to reopen the ports with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, but forces loyal to a separate government based in eastern Libya have threatened to block a resumption of exports.

Libyan oil exports from closed ports should resume in no more than one to two weeks after a deal was signed between the government and an armed brigade controlling the terminals, President Council member Mousa Alkouni told Reuters on Friday.   "I think the resumption depends now on technical part... and I think too it will happen from a week to two weeks, but not more," he said. He said the agreement included payment of salaries to oil guards controlling the ports.   Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports have been closed since December 2014 and are controlled by commander Ibrahim al-Jathran's Petroleum Facilities Guards, one of the scores of brigades operating in Libya since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; writing by Patrick Markey, editing by David Evans)

Libyan Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) commander Ibrahim Jathran said on Monday he was ready to end a blockade at key oil terminals, but the U.N.-backed government still needs to sign an agreement for exports to resume. The PFG has been demanding payment of workers' wages as part of any deal to end the blockade of Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zueitina. Details of the negotiations have not been made public. A deal was thrown into doubt when the head of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli, Mustafa Sanalla, wrote to the U.N. Libya envoy on Friday saying that it would set a "terrible precedent" to make payments to Jathran, who he blamed for the loss of some $100 billion in export revenue. The NOC has expressed concerns that Jathran's demands have exceeded salary needs.

Petroleum Facilities Guard has blocked terminals for months. Ras Lanuf, Es Sider terminals damaged by fighting. Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) will start lifting a blockade on eastern oil terminals over the next three days, though a resumption of exports will depend on the state of the ports, a spokesman said on Friday. The PFG, which protects Libya's oil terminals and fields, has blockaded the major eastern terminals of Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zueitina for months, and promises earlier this year to reopen them have so far come to nothing. Labour disputes, political conflict and security threats have crippled Libya's oil output over the past three years.

Libya's U.N.-backed government in Tripoli is in negotiations with an armed brigade controlling two main oil ports to reopen the terminals and lift a force majeure to restart exports, a member of its ruling council said on Monday. Libya's oil industry has been battered by conflict among rival armed factions who control quasi-fiefdoms in a challenge to successive governments, and also by attacks by Islamic State militants which has expanded in the chaos. The Tripoli statement follows positive remarks about reopening the ports from Ibrahim Jathran, commander of the Petroleum Facilities Guard who control Ras Lanuf and Es Sider oil ports with an export capacity of 600,000 barrels per day. The two ports have been closed since 2014 after fighting between armed factions to control them.

EU maritime mission gains more power to seize weapons; also says moves will help break migrant smuggling gangs. The European Union on Monday gave its naval force in the Mediterranean the authority to search suspicious vessels at sea in a bid to stop arms getting to Islamic State in Libya and to break up gangs smuggling migrants to Europe. EU foreign ministers acted to boost the effectiveness of the five-frigate "Sophia" mission after winning a U.N. mandate to reinforce an arms embargo on Libya, where Islamic State is strengthening its grip, and limit the near-impunity of the people smugglers. "We must act, both against those who exploit the migrants…

Britain on Monday proposed expanding a United Nations Security Council mandate for a European naval operation to allow it to crack down on arms smuggling in the high seas off war-torn Libya, though Russia voiced concerns about the idea. Britain circulated a draft resolution to approve the measure to the 15-member council, diplomats said. In October, the council authorized the European naval operation to seize and dispose of boats operated by human traffickers. "Now once again, we are asking this council to adopt a resolution on authorizing Operation Sophia to enforce the U.N. arms embargo on the high seas off the coast of Libya," European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the council.

NATO agreed on Thursday to broaden its operations in the Mediterranean to help the European Union stop criminals trafficking refugees from North Africa but will not act until the fate of rescued migrants is cleared up. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a meeting of NATO foreign ministers supported the wider role as Europe struggles with failing states on its fringes and said NATO should link up with the EU's "Sophia" naval mission in the area. This could be a step towards NATO helping stabilise Libya by patrolling coastal waters to uphold a U.N. arms embargo and counter the growing presence of Islamic State, a step that would likely need U.N. Security Council support, diplomats said.