Paris, France | AFP | Hijackings like the one on Friday of a Libyan plane have become relatively rare since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States led to increased security. The hijackers who diverted the plane on Friday to Malta released everyone onboard and surrendered. A …
Read More »How armed men hijacked Libyan plane
Valletta, Malta | AFP | Two men armed with a grenade and at least one gun hijacked a Libyan plane with 117 people on board Friday and diverted it to Malta before releasing everyone and surrendering, officials said. The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 was en route from Sabha in southern …
Read More »IS commander wanted by Italy arrested in Sudan
Rome, Italy | AFP | A veteran commander of the Islamic State group who was convicted in Italy of terrorist recruitment has been arrested in Sudan, an Italian lawmaker said Monday. Giacomo Stucchi, a senator who chairs the parliamentary committee that oversees Italy’s secret services, said Italian intelligence had played …
Read More »Museveni in Addis for AU meeting on Libya crisis
President Yoweri Museveni is in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on a two day working visit to the Africa Union Commission, where he will attend an African Union High Level Committee meeting on Libya. Museveni headed straight to the AU Headquarters where he joined other other presidents attending the AU …
Read More »Bulgarian nurses hail ‘new evidence’ clearing them in Libya HIV scandal
Sofia, Bulgaria | AFP | Five Bulgarian nurses jailed for eight years in Libya over an HIV epidemic at a children’s hospital welcomed on Saturday media reports accusing Kadhafi-era spies of deliberately infecting the infants. The five nurses, who along with a Palestinian doctor, became known as the “Benghazi six” …
Read More »Libya: Five restive years after Gaddafi
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Five years after Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi was captured and killed, the country remains unstable, with political and military rivalries sabotaging a viable state and the fight against Islamic State group jihadists. Following are key markers in the oil-rich North African country’s bid to become a …
Read More »First oil in two years leaves Libya’s Ras Lanouf port for Italy
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanouf for Italy on Tuesday, an official said, the first shipment since fighting erupted over control of the “oil crescent” two years ago. Oil is war-ravaged Libya’s key asset, and rival administrations have been vying for …
Read More »Oil prices down again as Libya, Nigeria set to raise output
Singapore, Singapore | AFP | Oil prices fell in Asia Friday as the prospects of higher output from Libya and Nigeria further fuelled oversupply concerns, cutting short a nascent rebound. Both contracts rose Thursday on news that 6,000 barrels of gasoline had leaked from the Colonial pipeline that carries fuel …
Read More »US launches first anti-IS air raids in Libya’s Sirte
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | US warplanes Monday carried out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State jihadist group in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte for the first time, the country’s unity government announced. “The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (IS) organisation were carried …
Read More »Rebuilding Libya
By Barak Barfi Qaddafi’s fall holds great promise for a people bereft of freedom for 42 years. But, the NTC having stumbled so far, it will have to redouble its efforts to ensure it wins the peace it fought for. Six months after Libyan rebels took up arms against the country’s …
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