Libyan actors
Tracking developments of Libyan Actors in Libya’s security space including armed group activity, state security operations and political activities pertaining to Libya’s security.
Tripoli residents call for urgent action on irregular migrants and foreign labourers
On 26 July, residents of Hay Andalus in western Tripoli issued a public statement calling for urgent action to address the growing presence of irregular migrants and foreign labourers in their area. They complained about improper behaviour of the migrants, highlighted...
US embassy denies ‘inflammatory’ rumours about US seeking to relocate Gazans to Libya
Amid speculation about whether the highly controversial issue of Gazans potentially being forcibly relocated to Libya as part of a deal between the US and Libya, the US embassy was forced to issue another denial. On 25 July, the US Embassy said, ‘The Embassy...
Trump’s Africa Advisor Bolous deepens US engagement with Haftars during Benghazi visit
On 24 July, US President Donald Trump’s Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, held a meeting with House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker Aqeela Saleh, accompanied by the Director of the Libyan Development and Reconstruction Fund, Belqassim Haftar, and the Chief of...
GNU stresses need to tackle illegal migration
The Government of National Unity (GNU) Minister of Communication Walid al-Lafi wrote two opinion pieces about tackling migration in western media outlets this week, stressing the need for Europeans to work with the GNU. In a letter to The Guardian on 24 July, al-Lafi...
Human Rights Co-Chairs alarmed at deaths in custody in Libya
On 24 July, the Co-Chairs of the International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Working Group of the International Follow-up Committee on Libya of the Berlin Process – the Netherlands, Switzerland, and UNSMIL – said they are alarmed by the numerous deaths in custody...
Greece seeks to win over LNA with training programmes on migration control
On 23 July, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed during an interview with Skai TV that Greece will not tolerate illegal mass migration. He said it will do everything in its power to prevent it within the framework of international law. A first group of Libyan...
Saddam Haftar and Mahmoud Hamza meet senior Turkish officials at IDEF 25 in Istanbul
On 22 July, Turkey’s Defence Minister Yaşar Güler received Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, Chief of Staff of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Ground Forces, in Istanbul on the sidelines of the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 25 defense expo in a...
Greek PM invites GNU to discuss ongoing maritime dispute as Athens prepares formal response
On 22 July Greek diplomatic sources explained to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini that a formal response to recent Libyan diplomatic notes in the maritime border dispute is being prepared, relying on ‘fully documented, strictly legal arguments’. They stressed that,...
Libya struggles with rising numbers of migrants in country
On 22 July, IOM revealed that Libya is currently host to 867,055 migrants from 44 nationalities. More than half are residing in Tripolitania, 35% in Cyrenaica, and 12% in Fezzan. The most represented nationalities are Sudanese (313,000), Nigerian, and Egyptian. About...