UN envoy lashes out at Libya’s feuding parties and their foreign backers, then says he’s resigned

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 17 April 2024
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UN envoy lashes out at Libya’s feuding parties and their foreign backers, then says he’s resigned

 UN envoy lashes out at Libya’s feuding parties and their foreign backers, then says he’s resigned
  • Bathily did not inform the Security Council either at the open meeting or the closed session that followed that he had submitted his resignation, council diplomats said
  • For years, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia backed Haftar while the Tripoli-based militaries enjoyed the support of Turkiye, Qatar and Italy, especially during Haftar’s unsuccessful offensive to take the capital in 2019

UNITED NATIONS: The UN envoy for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, lashed out at the country’s feuding parties and their foreign backers at a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday and then confirmed he had submitted his resignation.
The former Senegalese minister and UN diplomat, who has held the job for 18 months, said he had done his best to get the five key political actors in Libya to resolve contested issues over electoral laws and form a unified government to lead the country to long-delayed elections.
But Bathily said his attempts “were met with stubborn resistance, unreasonable expectations and indifference to the interests of the Libyan people.” And he warned that these entrenched positions, reinforced by “a divided regional and global landscape,” may push Libya and the region to further instability and insecurity.
The UN envoy, clearly frustrated, also warned that oil-rich Libya “has become the playground for fierce rivalry among regional and international actors motivated by geopolitical, political and economic interests as well as competition extending beyond Libya and related to its neighborhood.” And he accused these actors of undermining UN efforts.
Bathily did not inform the Security Council either at the open meeting or the closed session that followed that he had submitted his resignation, council diplomats said. But afterward, in response to a question from a reporter, he said, “Yes, I did tender my resignation to the secretary-general,” he said, without giving any reasons.
Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on Dec. 24, 2021, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah — who led a transitional government in the capital of Tripoli — to step down.
In response, Libya’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, but suspended him in May 2023. The powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar continues to hold sway in the east.
For years, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia backed Haftar while the Tripoli-based militaries enjoyed the support of Turkiye, Qatar and Italy, especially during Haftar’s unsuccessful offensive to take the capital in 2019.
Libya’s strategic location on the Mediterranean, and the political chaos, have made the country a major route for African migrants trying to get to Europe and human smugglers. The Islamic State and other extremist groups also exploited the chaos and while some are in prison in Libya they remain a threat, especially from its restive western and southern borders where these groups have gained support.
Over the last month, Bathily said, the situation in Libya has deteriorated as a result of two major factors.
The first is “the lack of political will and good faith by the major Libyan actors who are comfortable with the current stalemate, which has been going on in Libya since 2011,” he said.
The second is the ongoing scramble for Libya’s territory that has made it a battleground for different foreign actors and Libyan armed groups, he said.
Bathily pointed to initiatives in recent months, whose objective, even if not declared, is “to disrupt the UN-led process” to form a unified government.
He singled out a meeting in Cairo on March 10 where three key political players reportedly reached an agreement that the UN was not part of, and that wasn’t supported by the other parties that were not invited.
“Unilateral, parallel and uncoordinated initiatives contribute to unnecessary complications and to the consolidation of the status quo,” he said, and as long as these continue “there is no way we can move forward.”
Bathily stressed that “the unity of the international community is key to resolving the Libya crisis.”
He said the Security Council, which authorized the 2011 NATO intervention, must demonstrate unity and “compel” Libyan and regional “stakeholders” to back the UN’s efforts to unite Libya through a political dialogue.
The Security Council also has “a moral responsibility” to end the crisis by telling everybody – the “so-called national leaders” in power today and their foreign backers – to let the Libyan people have the opportunity to chart a new course through elections and rebuild the country, Bathily said.
Libya is the richest country in the region and has the resources to be prosperous, stable and peaceful – without regional or international intervention, he said.
Bathily also stressed that peace and stability in Libya is critical for the stability of neighboring western Sahel and the wider region.
“More than ever, the renewed and coordinated commitment among regional and international actors is imperative,” he told the council.

 


Israeli foreign minister says ICC “lost all legitimacy” with Netanyahu, Gallant ruling

Israeli foreign minister says ICC “lost all legitimacy” with Netanyahu, Gallant ruling
Updated 12 sec ago
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Israeli foreign minister says ICC “lost all legitimacy” with Netanyahu, Gallant ruling

Israeli foreign minister says ICC “lost all legitimacy” with Netanyahu, Gallant ruling
“A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X

JERUSALEM: The International Criminal Court has “lost all legitimacy” after issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday.
“A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X, adding that it had issued “absurd orders without authority.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu said he ‘rejects with disgust’ the international court arrest warrant.

Displaced by war, cancer patients in Lebanon struggle for survival

Displaced by war, cancer patients in Lebanon struggle for survival
Updated 43 min 21 sec ago
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Displaced by war, cancer patients in Lebanon struggle for survival

Displaced by war, cancer patients in Lebanon struggle for survival

BEIRUT: Lebanese small business owner Ahmad Fahess thought nothing could be more devastating than his cancer diagnosis until suddenly, while he was at work one day, Israeli airstrikes started targeting his town of Nabatieh in south Lebanon.
When he saw the tangled mess around him, he knew he had to grab his family and flee.
“We want to go back to our homes, to our work,” he said, breaking into tears as he received cancer treatment at the American University of Beirut’s Medical Center (AUBMC), his sister sitting next to his bed.
Israel launched a broad attack on southern Lebanon in September, almost a year after Iran-backed Hezbollah militants there stepped up their rocket fire on northern Israel as Israeli forces fought Hamas gunmen who had attacked Israel from Gaza.
Washington is trying to broker a ceasefire but Israel says it must be able to continue defending itself. It says Hezbollah uses civilians as human shields, something the militants deny.
A father of two teenagers who owned four welding shops in Nabatieh, Fahess is now not only unsure when he will be able to go home, but also how long he will be able to access treatment for the rare cancer, sarcoma, which affects the connective tissue in his left arm.
“I used to come three days to Beirut for treatment and go back home,” he said. “Now with the war, we were displaced, and the treatment struggle started.”
Thousands of cancer patients are among more than a million people who have fled their homes.
“It all happened very quickly. We were at work when the shelling started; we were surprised by it,” he said. He fled with his family to Antelias in Mount Lebanon with only $4,500 that quickly dwindled.
Fahess now depends on the hospital’s Cancer Support Fund, a charity initiative launched in 2018 to assist cancer patients and now also giving extra support to displaced individuals.
“The treatment is costly; if the hospital didn’t help me, I couldn’t have afforded it,” he said.
But he is worried about funding drying up. “If we have to pay and we’re back at our homes, it would be fine, but if we are still displaced, it’ll be impossible,” he said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 2,500 displaced cancer patients have been forced to find new treatment centers, as at least eight hospitals in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs were out of action due to Israeli shelling.
Cancer was already expensive to treat under Lebanon’s health care system, which in recent years has been battered further by economic crisis.
It is now under severe strain, said Ali Taher, the director of the Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute at AUBMC, adding that treating displaced patients has brought new complications, including finding their missing medical records and doctors.
“It’s also difficult to get cancer screening ahead of time because it’s no longer a priority for people,” Taher said.
Ghazaleh Naddaf, 67, was displaced from the southern village of Debel. Now living with her brother in Beirut, the former pharmacist assistant lost her job and has been unable to afford her therapy for multiple myeloma for two months.
“I am skipping treatment and medication,” she said. “I used to come twice a week for treatment, paying over $1,000. I can’t afford it anymore,” adding that she also needs a bone marrow transplant costing $50,000, an expense far beyond her reach.
“It’s war, and there is no safety, and I still need to go through the treatment to get on with my life,” she said.
Hala Dahdah Abou Jaber, co-founder of the Cancer Support Fund, said displaced cancer patients have to choose between basic necessities and life-threatening therapies and many can no longer co-pay for their treatment.
“Cancer doesn’t wait. Cancer is not a disease that gives you time; it’s harsh,” she said.


Iran president visits Sistan-Baluchistan after deadly attack

Iran president visits Sistan-Baluchistan after deadly attack
Updated 50 min 44 sec ago
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Iran president visits Sistan-Baluchistan after deadly attack

Iran president visits Sistan-Baluchistan after deadly attack

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in the restive southeast of Iran on Thursday for a visit to Sistan-Baluchistan province, state media reported, nearly a month after one of the deadliest ever attacks in the region.
Sistan-Baluchistan, located some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the capital Tehran, shares a long border with Pakistan and Afghanistan and has experienced recurring clashes between Iranian security forces and rebels from the Baluch minority, radical Sunni groups and drug traffickers.
On October 26, ten police officers were killed in what the authorities described as a “terrorist” attack.
Pezeshkian arrived at the airport in the regional capital Zahedan for a one-day visit during which he was set to meet the families of the dead police officers, state television reported.
Since the October 26 attack, Iranian forces have launched a vast counterterrorism operation in Sistan-Baluchistan that is ongoing, during which at least 26 militants have been killed and around fifty people arrested, according to the authorities.
The Sunni jihadist group Jaish Al-Adl — Army of Justice in Arabic — based in Pakistan and active in southeastern Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on Telegram.
The Iranian president is also scheduled to visit the Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone, a major project aimed at developing southern Iran.
Chabahar Port, which bypasses the heavy traffic of the Strait of Hormuz, is aimed at attracting businesses from nearby Pakistan, India, the Gulf and China among others.
Chabahar, located on the edge of the Indian Ocean, was exempted by Washington from the economic sanctions it unilaterally reimposed after withdrawing from a landmark nuclear agreement.
Sistan-Baluchistan, one of the most impoverished provinces in the country, is home to a large number of the Baluch minority, an ethnic group spread between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan which practices Sunni Islam in contrast to the country’s predominantly Shiite population.


International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
Updated 21 November 2024
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International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
  • The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the 13-month conflict

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the 13-month conflict. But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court and several of the Hamas officials have been subsequently killed in the conflict.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic. US President Joe Biden also blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also slammed the request.
“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in September that it had submitted two legal briefs challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction and arguing that the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
The ICC is a court of last resort that only prosecutes cases when domestic law enforcement authorities cannot or will not investigate. Israel is not a member state of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.
Despite the warrants, none of the suspects is likely to face judges in The Hague any time soon. The court itself has no police to enforce warrants, instead relying on cooperation from its member states.


Israel, Hezbollah trade deadly blows despite ceasefire talks

Israel, Hezbollah trade deadly blows despite ceasefire talks
Updated 46 min 43 sec ago
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Israel, Hezbollah trade deadly blows despite ceasefire talks

Israel, Hezbollah trade deadly blows despite ceasefire talks
  • In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya
  • In southern Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed three people in the village of Chaaitiyeh

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah traded deadly blows on Thursday as their war raged on despite signs of progress in US ceasefire efforts, with airstrikes pounding Beirut’s southern suburbs and rockets flying into northern Israel.
US mediator Amos Hochstein was in Israel for talks with Israeli officials to try to secure a ceasefire which he said was “within our grasp” during a visit to Beirut earlier this week.
The diplomacy marks the most serious attempt yet to end the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional spillover of the Gaza war that erupted more than a year ago.
In southern Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed three people in the village of Chaaitiyeh, some 10 km (6 miles), from the border, the Lebanese health ministry said.
In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel’s MDA medical service said.
“The Israeli government is not safeguarding my security, my residents or the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation like this,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told public broadcaster Kansas
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified,” the military said in a statement.
Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal town.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station, citing its correspondent, confirmed rocket fire toward Nahariya and the surrounding area.
Airstrikes on Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern-suburbs shook the capital, sending up thick clouds of debris.
The Israeli military issued a statement on X ahead of strikes warning residents they were near Hezbollah targets against which it would soon take action. Residents have largely fled the area since Israel went on the offensive in September.
White House envoy Hochstein left for Israel after declaring progress during two days of talks in Lebanon with officials including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, endorsed to negotiate by the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Speaking before he left Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close an agreement if possible.
The diplomacy aims to end a conflict that has inflicted massive devastation in Lebanon since Israel began its offensive, mounting airstrikes across wide parts of the country and sending in troops.
Footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed thick smoke rising from the town of Khiyam in southern Lebanon, some 6 km (4 miles) from the border, a focal point of ground battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Hezbollah, which has suffered major blows since Israel began its offensive in September, has kept up rocket fire into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters are battling Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
The casualty toll since Oct., 2023 stands at 3,558 people killed in Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry says, most of them killed during the Israeli offensive since September. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry said 14 fatalities were reported on Tuesday.
Hezbollah strikes have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israel.