Libya: Selwa Bughagis is shot dead in Benghazi

The Benghazi lawyer and women’s rights activist, Selwa Bughagis, was shot and killed in her home on 25 June by unidentified gunmen.

She had just returned from casting her vote in the elections and had also appeared on Libyan television where she had criticised the militias operating in Benghazi. She declared, “These are people who want to foil elections. Benghazi has been always defiant, and always will be despite the pain and fear. It will succeed.”

It is not clear who was behind her killing but it was presumably the work of Islamist militants. Her husband, who was recently elected to the municipal council in Benghazi, was also abducted in the attack and has not been seen since.

The only witness in the attack - an Egyptian called Ahmed Abdelkader who used to work for Bughagis, and who was shot in the leg in the assault - has since died in mysterious circumstances. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be giving evidence to the police his body was discovered bearing signs of torture.

Bughagis’s death touched deep chord with many Libyans. She had been a prominent figure during the 17 February revolution and beyond and her death was devastating for many. Between 400-500 mourners gathered for her funeral at Benghazi’s Hawari cemetery this week.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates


 

Libya: New Oil Guard head

A new head was appointed this month to the Oil Facilities Guard. Colonel Ali Al-Ahrash as part of the agreement signed in May between the government of Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thanni and Ibrahim Jedhran, who heads the politburo of the Cyrenaican Transitional Council (CTC).
This is the second time that Al-Ahrash has headed up the Guard. He resigned from the post in July 2013 after clashing with the government of former prime minister Ali Zidan, and most notably with former oil minister Ali Al-Arusi.

The government accused Al-Ahrash of not being in proper control of his forces. He retaliated, complaining that his forces were not being supplied with proper weaponry and equipment and that they were not being paid on time. His reappointment is a bid by Al-Thanni to prove to that he is still the rightful prime minister and, more important, that he is the only one who has the key to resolving the oil crisis.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Sudan denies arming Libyan militants

Sudan has hit back at allegations that it is secretly arming militants in Libya. These allegations arose after Libyan National Army’s spokesman, Mohamed Hijazi, told the Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath television channel on 7 June that “a suspicious plane carrying weapons landed at the Mitiga air base” on 5 June.

Although Hijazi asserted that he did not want to accuse the government in Khartoum or the people of Sudan directly, he made it clear that this was where the suspicion lay. He also claimed that this was not the first time that weapons meant for Islamist militants had arrived in Libya in this way, and hinted that Sudan had previously sent several such cargoes without the knowledge of the Libyan authorities.

The LNA spokesman claimed that over the past three years the Mitiga airport which is one of the main bases for militant Islamist brigades operating in Tripoli, had received some 270 weapons cargos that were channelled to extremist elements. He claims, however, prompted an official in the Sudanese Presidency to publicly deny the accusations.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: Debate over long overdue 2014 Budget postponed

The Congress put off discussing its long overdue budget for 2014 again this week. The budget was supposed to have been discussed during the Congress’s session on 11 May but, when it came to it, the budget law was not on the Congress agenda.

The ruling body gave no reason for the postponement and failed to specify a new date for discussions to take place. Congress sources did, however, tell the Libyan media that it had been shelved from the session on the 11 May because of security concerns.

Meanwhile, Congress member Abdelmonen Al-Yassir told a local satellite channel that the presidency of the Congress had informed members late on Saturday 10 May that there was a security risk which required the postponement of the session. While Al-Yassir stated that he did not know the nature of these risks, he hinted that it may be related to the ongoing controversy over the appointment of Ahmed Maitig as Prime Minister.

The draft budget is set at LD59,686 million (US$48,743 million) with a projected deficit of LD10,000 (US$8,166 million).

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: Jordanian Ambassador Fawaz Al-Aitan still held captive

Jordan’s ambassador to Libya, Fawaz Al-Aitan, who was kidnapped in Tripoli on 15 April, remains in captivity, despite talk of his imminent release.

Al-Aitan’s abductors demanded Jordan free Libyan militant prisoner, Mohamed Said Dersi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Jordan in 2007 for plotting to blow up a Jordanian airport. This demand reportedly came from Dersi’s family in Benghazi who allegedly appealed to militants in Tripoli to carry out the kidnapping to try to secure their son’s release.

Reports emerged this week that Dersi has now been released but they were quickly denied by the Libyan Foreign Affairs Ministry. The official LANA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Said Al-Aswad as saying that the ministry had no knowledge of Dersi’s being transported to Libya. A ministry spokesman also told the Jordan Times that the ministry had “no information confirming these reports”.

There are, however, plenty of credible sources who are insisting that Dersi has been freed. This week, his lawyer declared that the militant had been released from prison and that he had already returned to Tripoli. Similarly, the lawyer for many Islamist prisoners in Jordan, Mousa Abedlat, announced that the Jordanian authorities had deported Dersi to Tripoli at dawn on 25 April in return for the release of their ambassador. A Salafist jihadist leader in the south of Jordan, Mohamed Al-Chalabi (a.k.a. Abu Sayaf) also told the Al-Hayat newspaper this week, “Dersi is now asleep in Libya.”

If these reports are true, then it is not clear why Al-Aitan has yet to be freed.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: Sixty Committee holds first meeting

Libya’s constitution committee held its first meeting on 21 April in the eastern town of Al-Bayda.
The committee elected a head, selecting well-known liberal Ali Tarhouni to lead the process, and chose Al-Jilani Abdelsalam Arhouma as his deputy. The committee also agreed to spend the coming days working out its by-laws.

Only 47 of the 60 members of the committee were present as the remaining 13 members still have to be elected. The Amazigh (Berbers) are continuing to boycott the committee and elections for the other 11 seats - which could not take place in February due to security issues -  have yet to be re-held.
The committee remains incomplete, creating serious difficulties for the process of writing the new constitution. As one former congress member explained,: “The elections have not been completed so anyone can challenge the work of the committee by filing a petition to the constitutional court.”

This aside, the committee only has 120 days to draw up the new constitution. Given the sensitivities over some of the issues that will need to be thrashed out - such as what political system the country should adopt; how far it should go with decentralisation; whether Islamic Sharia should be the sole source of legislation; and what status should be given the country’s ethnic minorities - it seems highly unlikely that the committee will be able to complete its work within that timeframe.

How this new constitution will sit with the ongoing transition process and new elections also has yet to be seen.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.
© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: New discoveries

The National Oil Company (NOC) reported two new discoveries this month. The first was announced by its Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) subsidiary and is in the Sirte basin, about 80 km southwest of the town of Marada. According to the NOC website, the company drilled the FF2-47 well to a total depth of 7,270 feet and tested oil from the Lidam formation.

The test flow rate was 1,900 b/d of 27o API oil. The exploration well was first drilled in 1971 but the results were not very encouraging and only 65 barrels of oil were recovered – which is why it was considered uncommercial at the time.

Meanwhile, a consortium comprising Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach International (Sipex), Oil India, and the Indian Oil Corporation made the second discovery. The gas discovery was made at well C1-96/01 in contract area 95/96 in the Ghadames basin, 650 km southwest of Tripoli.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: Notorious Islamist militant is killed in Derna

Ali Bin Tahar, also known as Al-Faar, and was one of the most feared Islamist militants operating in Derna, was killed this week.  Tahar was shot, reportedly receiving seven bullets to the body. He was also reportedly attacked with knives in an assault carried out in front of his brother.

Tahar was a notorious figure in Derna. He had led armed attacks on a Derna polling station during the elections for the constitution committee. He was also one of the leaders of the new militant group that announced itself in Derna last week. As Libya Politics & Security – 07.04.14 reported, a group calling itself the Majlis Shura  Shabab Al-Islam fi Derna (the Shura Council of the Youth of Islam in  Derna) announced its existence by staging a military parade in the  town and posting footage of it on the internet. This parade comprised at least 26 military vehicles and more than 120 armed elements.

It is unknown who was behind Tahar’s death. Some have speculated that he was killed by some of his fellow militants as a result of differences over money. Others are claiming that his killing might have been an act of revenge for the many executions and assassinations he has been responsible for. Either way, Tahar’s death prompted jubilation among ordinary residents in Derna who could not believe that he had actually gone.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.
© 2014 Menas Associates

Still no progress on the formation of a new government

It seems that congress is no closer to forming a new government or to agreeing on a new Prime Minister. The issue was supposed to be discussed by congress on 6 April, but the topic was postponed to allow for further talks among the political blocs. The blocs are clearly unable to agree on a candidate that is acceptable to both sides. Reports that leaked out of congress this week suggested that a deal had been struck and that the former head of the Integrity Committee, Omar Al-Hassi, was to be made Prime Minister.

Given that Al-Hassi is an Islamist and known to be close to the Muslim Brotherhood, it was also reported that, in return for his being appointed as Prime Minister, the Islamists had agreed to sacrifice Nouri Abu Sahmaine and to allow his more liberal leaning deputy, Izzadine Al-Awami, to become head of the congress.

Such reports would, however, appear to be unfounded. It is unlikely that the liberals, particularly the National Forces Alliance (NFA), would accept the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood having one of their allies as premier. Similarly, it is difficult to see that the Islamists would be willing to accept the congress being dominated by anyone from outside of their own current.

The congress is still in deadlock, which means that the most likely solution will be for Abdullah Al-Thanni to remain in the post, probably until new elections are held.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates

Libya: General Prosecutor for Jebel Akhdar killed in Derna

This week has seen another senior figure from the judiciary targeted and killed in Derna. On 9 November, the General Prosecutor for the Jebel Akhdar region, Mohamed Al-Naas, was killed when a bomb exploded under his car.

 

The killing is reflective of the gaping security vacuum that has opened up in the town. According to one Libyan journalist who travelled to Derna recently, “There is no police, no security directorate, not even a security chamber in Derna. All policemen are sitting at home because of the threat to them by Islamists.” This corroborates the recent assertion by Derna Congressman Abdulfatah Shalwi that the town does not even have a functioning local council or security directorate.

 

The situation is so bad that, according to one Derna resident, the town is “divided between Islamists, gangs, weapons smugglers, drugs mafias and ordinary people”.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Religious authority condemns federalism

The federalists received a blow from the religious establishment this week when the Association of Libyan Scholars issued a fatwa castigating federalism as 'haram' (religiously prohibited). The association made sure to point out that it was not condemning federalism as a concept, but rather that they were prohibiting it on religious grounds because of the damage that it might do to the country. The head of the association, Omar Mouloud, commented that “federalism would take Libya backwards.”

 

Given that ruling something as haram makes it permissible to kill anyone who engages in it, the association also clarified that the “banning of federalism does not permit bloodletting.”

Meanwhile the Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ghariani, also laid into the federalists, accusing the announcement of the new Cyrenaica government as being tantamount to the declaration of a state within a state. He also warned that the country could not sustain any more division.

While the Islamists have long made clear their aversion to federalism, such condemnation coming from respected Islamic scholars, does further damage to the federalists' cause in the eyes of many Libyans.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: The JCP responds

 

On 12 October, referring to Ali Zidan's kidnapping, Justice and Construction Party (JCP) head Mohamed Sawan declared that the government had failed and that the Zidan's mismanagement may have led to 'irresponsible behaviour by some people.'

 

This was hardly a forthright condemnation of the affair. Sawan also insisted that Congress was 'seriously searching for an alternative' to Zidan, though other Congress members have denied doing so. The JCP head did make it clear, however, that Zidan had told JCP Congress members that he was not referring to them in his accusation, remarking, 'I wish he had named the political party behind his kidnap.'

 

Several JCP members accused Zidan of having staged the incident himself in order to detract attention from his failings. Amina Mahjoub, JCP Congress member from Surman, described the abduction as 'like a play that Zidan himself had orchestrated.'

 

The head of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, Bashir Al-Kebti, all but accused Zidan of inventing the whole thing, telling a German press agency, 'There are suspicions that it may have been a piece of theatre to gain support and to cover up his failure to run the state.' Thus the JCP and the Brotherhood used his abduction as simply another chance to attack and weaken the prime minister.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Mufti issues controversial fatwa on education

Libya's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ghariani, has prompted further controversy by issuing a fatwa declaring that female teachers in schools and colleges must cover their faces if they are teaching males who have reached the age of puberty.

 

The fatwa was made in response to a request from the Education Ministry that had appealed to Al-Ghariani for a ruling on the matter. The Ministry was concerned that some teachers were wearing the niqab or full face veil during lessons which is something that was making it difficult for students. As such they had hoped that the mufti would rule that it was not obligatory for female teachers to cover their faces in such a situation.

 

Proving his ultra conservative outlook, however, the mufti ruled that young female teachers should cover their faces. He went further and advocated that, where possible, males and females should be segregated in all educational establishments. Where that was not possible, they should at least be segregated during break times and in communal areas. He also called for separate entrances for males and females and ruled that girls should dress respectfully and be prohibited from wearing make-up and perfume “to avoid temptation”. While the Mufti's fatwa will please certain sections of the Libyan population, it has left others reeling. Although Libya might be a socially conservative and traditional society such practices, that smack of the Gulf, are a step too far for many.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Congress delays two important votes

This week, the Congress postponed two important votes on the grounds that not enough members were present to reach the 120-vote minimum required to pass key laws.

 

The first vote was to make amendments to the recently passed law for electing the constitution writing committee, known as the Sixty Committee because of its 60 members. The proposed amendments are related to the number of seats on the committee that have been reserved for Libya's ethnic minorities.

 

Following the uproar from Amazigh, Tebu and Tuareg groups at the limited number of seats that were initially allocated to them in the committee, there has been a push to amend the law to increase their representation. But, due to the insufficient number of members present in the Congress, the vote that was due to go ahead this week had to be postponed until next week.

 

The vote to select Congress' next deputy leader, due to take place on 29 September, was also put off until next week. The three shortlisted candidates who will replace Giumah Attigha, believed to have resigned to pre-empt being barred by the political isolation law, are Omar Khalid Al-Obeidi from Benghazi, Izzideen Mohamed Younis Yahia Al-Awami from Al-Marj and Awad Mohamed Awad Abdul Sadiq from Jalu. All three are independents and, notably, all three come from the east. This is presumably to balance the fact that Congress head Nouri Abu Sahmaine is from the west.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libyans fear armed confrontation

 

The situation remains tense throughout most of Libya, especially in Tripoli, as uncertainty, fear and widespread rumours of a possible coup and armed confrontation abound. Quite who might attempt a coup and which groups might be involved in armed confrontation is not at all clear, as the country totters on the brink of chaos.

 

A 20 August report in the London-based Guardian spoke of “growing fears of an Egypt-style standoff between the ruling Muslim Brotherhood and opposition forces, with rebels blockading key oil ports and the capital”.

 

The Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party, which only won 10% of the vote and 17 of the 80 party list seats in the July 2012 election, might arguably now see itself as the main political power in the GNC, following last month's on-off decision of the largest coalition party, the National Forces Alliance, which won 48% of the vote and 39 of the seats last year, to boycott GNC sessions, at least temporarily.

 

But the real question at the moment is who, if anyone, can really claim to be governing the country, or to be the main political or military force in the land. With the government's authority crumbling, one diplomat in Tripoli was quoted this week as saying that “Congress has basically collapsed.”

 

In the present state of chaos, the word “opposition”, rather like “government”, conjures up all sorts of possibilities, some still vaguely real, others more fanciful, although the beleaguered government of Prime Minister Zidan is still nominally in charge. In fact, some analysts might argue that the mere fact that he is still the country's prime minister suggests that he might be in a slightly stronger position than he was a week or so ago, especially if Tripoli does not fall to “opposition forces” and if he is able to overcome the armed protesters who have been holding the country's oil terminals and production to ransom.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Rumours of coups d'état

 

With the country in a state of near-anarchy, it is unsurprising that talk of coups d'état is becoming rife. Pretty much everyone, from the Islamists to the powerful Zintan militia, has come in for mention. But one name that appeared earlier this month may prove to be ominous. It is that of the Libya Free Officers Movement which probably takes its name from Colonel Qadhafi's original Free Officers Movement which mounted the 1 September 1969 coup. It, in turn, took its name from the clandestine group of Egyptian junior officers, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, who mounted the successful 1952 revolution.

 

It was first mentioned in Algeria's El Kabar newspaper. Algeria gave strong backing to Qadhafi during the 2011 revolution and has been the major 'counter-revolutionary' force in North Africa since the Arab Spring. There are rumours circulating that its DRS may have a hand in attempting to destabilise both the Tunisian and Libyan post-2011 governments.

 

El Kabar, which is invariably associated with 'disinformation', reported that it had received an exclusive statement by the Libya Free Officers Movement claiming that it was seeking to “activate 12 military regions and mobilise 14 military battalions, in addition to the air and defence forces … to shake the throne of falsehood and urge proud souls to reject the humiliation and injustice that have inflicted their country, as the forces of oppression and darkness have trampled on its pride.” For the moment, however, we regard the article as another example of Algerian trouble-making.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Licences for foreign exchange issued by CBL

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) issued licences for foreign exchange bureaux on 21 July for the first time in the country's history. Demand for the licences was high, with over 480 applications nationwide. In Tripoli and Benghazi a public draw for the heavily over-subscribed licences had to be organised. This marks the first time non-bank operators have been allowed to exchange foreign currency which was the preserve of Libya's major banks under the Qadhafi regime. For years the exchange rates on foreign currencies were heavily manipulated by the state, which restricted their availability in the market and awarded more favourable rates to associates of the government, as well as state-owned enterprises. This cultivated a huge black market in Libya, leading to the unregulated circulation of many currencies and, in particular, the US dollar.

Despite the issuance of licences, the CBL is still largely in control of the exchange of foreign currency. Banks still require proof of entry of goods into Libya, in the shape of a pro forma invoice, for large transfers of $100,000 and above to be transferred from one account to another. Once the goods arrive, they are only released by customs when proof of the transfer of this approved sum is provided by the individual.

Any large transfers that were not for the purchase of imported goods would usually have been conducted on the black market – formalised and reliable as it is after decades of existence. Although this measure will go some way to curbing transactions in this market, time will tell if the remaining restrictions on transfer limits by the CBL may not also have to be lifted and further autonomy given to the newly established forex bureaux.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Ahmed Ibrahim sentenced to death

This week, the former Qadhafi loyalist and regime stalwart, Ahmed Ibrahim, was sentenced to death by a Misrata court. Ibrahim, who held a variety of posts under the former regime, including Education Secretary and more recently, Head of the World Centre for Research and Studies of the Green Book, was a close confidant of the former Leader and had a fearsome reputation as an uncompromising defender of Qadhafi's ideology. He was also a prominent member of the feared Revolutionary Committees Movement.

 

Ibrahim and five others were found guilty by the Misrata Appeals Court of killing members of a family in Sirte prior to the town's liberation. Ibrahim was also found guilty of undermining national security and plotting to kill civilians.

 

Ibrahim is the first senior Qadhafi-era official to have been handed the death sentence. Although the sentence will have to be upheld by the Supreme Court before it can be carried out, the passing of execution sets a worrying precedent for others awaiting trial. The move was strongly criticised by Amnesty International, which warned that “hundreds of former soldiers and supporters of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi are at increased risk of the death penalty” in light of the ruling.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Backing down over Black Saturday

Prime Minister Ali Zidan appears to have made a major concession to the Libya Shield in his handling of the attacks of Black Saturday. This week, he announced that the relevant ministries were working to get to the bottom of the incident and that the General Prosecutor had started meeting all the relevant parties. He explained that an “action team” comprising three committees had been set up.

 

One of the tasks of this action team will be to draw up a list of all the individuals in each of the brigades operating across the country. In this way, Zidan explained, the state will be able to determine who within these brigades, including the Libya Shield, belonged to the former regime. It looks as though the prime minister may be paving the way to exonerate the Libya Shield for its actions on Black Saturday by blaming elements linked to Qadhafi's regime within it.

 

Zidan also revealed that the fact-finding committee charged with investigating the incident is to be made up of local tribal elders from Benghazi. This is hardly a resounding endorsement for the security agencies and the capacity of the state and suggests that Zidan is keen to resolve the issue locally and on a social rather than a security level.

 

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Chief of Staff Yousef Al-Mangoush finally resigns

Chief of Staff Yousef Al-Mangoush finally resigned this week, handing in his notice to the Congress on account of the events of Black Saturday. It has been reported that Al-Mangoush had not intended to resign over the incident but that he was summoned to Congress where it was made clear to him that he had no choice in the matter.

Al-Mangoush's resignation has not shortened his time in office by very much as he was already on his way out. The Congress voted recently to find a replacement for him and it has already received many nominations for the post. Al-Mangoush would also certainly have been a victim of the Political Exclusion Law once it comes into force given his role as part of the security services of the former regime.

Many Libyans will, however, still have been pleased at the news. Al-Mangoush has proved one of the most unpopular of all public figures in the new Libya. This is largely because of his inability to create a proper national army, something that has led his critics to accuse him of deliberately supporting the brigades and militias at the expense of building a real force. Al-Mangoush has also been accused of doing the bidding of Qatar.

There have long been demands from a wide range of quarters, including from inside the armed forces, but also from inside the Congress and among the revolutionaries, for him to leave office.

Al-Mangoush was replaced by his deputy, Salim Al-Gnaidi, who will lead the armed forces until a proper replacement is agreed upon by the Congress.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.

© 2013 Menas Associates