Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya, April 9 (Reuters) - Military commanders in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had suspended participation in a U.N.-backed joint military council, accusing the Tripoli-based government of failing to hand power to a new cabinet and calling for the road west to be closed.

Libya has had rival governments since last month when the eastern-based parliament appointed Fathi Bashagha to replace the Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, creating a new standoff between administrations in the east and west.

31 March 2022; MEMO: United Nations investigators have uncovered new evidence of human rights violations against detainees in Libya, with the existence of mass graves thought to contain the corpses of migrants at a trafficking hub, the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (FFM) report says.

According to FFM's report published on Tuesday, there were many facts to clarify that international human rights and humanitarian law are being violated in several secret detention facilities in Libya.

26 March 2022; MEMO: Russia's Wagner Group has withdrawn about 1,300 of its mercenaries from Libya to Russia through Syria to participate in the Russian military operation in Ukraine, according to military and strategic expert Colonel Adel Abdel Kafi.

According to Abdel Kafi: "The total number of Russian Wagner mercenaries present on Libyan soil is about 2,200."

He added, "Due to its war on Ukraine, Russia decided to withdraw 1,300 Wagner personnel, leaving only 900," according to reports by Anadolu Agency.

21 March 2022; MEMO: The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said that retired Major General Khalifa Haftar agreed, during his visit to Moscow, to send Libyan "volunteers" to Ukraine to participate "in combat in Russia's ranks."

The ministry revealed in a statement that the Russian mercenary company Wagner will transport mercenaries from Libya using planes owned by the Russian Air Force.

09 March 2022; MEMO: Libya's National Unity Government yesterday said that it had resumed production at the Sharara and El-Feel oilfields, two days after protesters shut the pipeline transporting oil from the two fields to the export ports.

"The commander of the joint operations room in the western region, Osama Al-Juwaili, has affirmed the reopening of the Rayana valve, which feeds the Sharara and El-Feel fields," the government said on its Facebook page.

05 March 2022; MEMO: The state of polarisation has returned in Libya after the Head of the Government of National Unity Abdulhamid Dbeibeh has refused to hand over power to the government appointed by the Tobruk-based House of Representatives headed by Fathi Bashagha. As a result, Bashagha has ordered institutions in the country not to deal with any decisions issued by Dbeibeh and his government.

TRIPOLI, March 4 (Reuters) - Libya's new parliament-backed government said on Friday that an armed group linked to rival authorities had released two of its ministers held against their will, but tensions remained high between political factions.

The office of Fathi Bashagha, the parliament's choice for prime minister, had said the two ministers were held on Thursday as they travelled by road to the swearing-in of his cabinet in the east of the country after domestic flights were grounded.

03 March 2022; MEMO: A standoff between two rival governments in Libya worsened on Thursday with the risk of fighting or territorial division, as the parliament in the east swore in a new administration while the incumbent in Tripoli refused to cede power, Reuters reports.

Addressing the parliament after taking the oath of office, Fathi Bashagha said he was studying all options to take over in Tripoli. The present Prime Minister there, Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, has said he will not hand over control.

BENGHAZI, Libya, March 3 (Reuters) - A standoff between two rival governments in Libya worsened on Thursday with the risk of fighting or territorial division as the parliament in the east swore in a new administration while the incumbent in Tripoli refused to cede power.

Addressing the parliament after taking the oath of office, Fathi Bashagha said he was studying all options to take over in Tripoli. The present prime minister there, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, has said he will not hand over control.

03 March 2022; MEMO: Military and security forces in the western region demanded that the Presidential Council dissolve the parliament in Tobruk, as the National Unity Government headed by Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh announced that it would continue its duties.

Meanwhile, the prime minister elected by the Tobruk parliament, Fathi Bashagha, said that he would not use force to take over the premiership.