Libya

TRIPOLI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah on Thursday stressed his government's support for the upcoming elections scheduled to be held in December.

Dbeibah made his remarks during a speech at the Libya Stabilization Conference held in the capital Tripoli.

"Since assuming office, we have been clearly committed to supporting the High National Elections Commission to hold the elections on time, and to stress that the Government of National Unity came to achieve stability and peace in Libya after years of political division," Dbeibah said.

ONBOARD THE GEO BARENTS OFF LIBYA (AP) — Osman Touré was crying from the pain of repeated beatings and torture as he dialed his brother’s cellphone number.

“I’m in prison in Libya,” Touré said in that August 2017 call. “They will kill me if you don’t pay 2,500 dinars in 24 hours.”

Within days, Touré’s family transferred the roughly $550 demanded to secure his freedom from a government detention center in Libya. But Touré was not let go — instead, he was sold to a trafficker and kept enslaved for four more years.

ABOARD GEO BARENTS (AP) — At least 17 bodies, likely of Europe-bound migrants, have washed ashore in western Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent said as authorities began to vaccinate migrants in the North African country on Wednesday against the coronavirus, in cooperation with the United Nations.

The bodies were found Tuesday near the western Libyan town of Zawiya, the Red Crescent’s branch in the town said, and were handed over to authorities for burial.

TRIPOLI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Libya on Sunday launched a project to build a new oil refinery and a cooking gas plant in the southern city of Ubari.

"Today, we announce the start of the project for a new oil refinery and a cooking gas plant in the south, and all necessary finances are ready," Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah said during the project launch ceremony.

Dbeibah said the project will contribute to the development of southern Libya, vowing that "there will be no more war, only peace and prosperity."

ABOARD GEO BARENTS (AP) — Libya’s coast guard Sunday intercepted a wooden boat carrying around 500 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s shore, the U.N. refugee agency said.

It marked the latest sea interception amid a surge in crossings and attempted crossings from the North African nation to European shores in recent months. It took place two days after a massive crackdown on migrants in a western Libyan town that resulted in the roundup of at least 4,000 migrants.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah said Saturday that he will not allow another war to erupt in the country, pledging to put an end to the state of division in Libya.

"We will not allow the division to continue for any reason. There will be no more war," Dbeibah told his supporters who were protesting here against the Libyan House of Representatives (parliament).

23 Sep 2021; MEMO: On Tuesday, the prime minister of the National Unity Government in Libya, Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh, called on Libyans to go out to the streets and express their opinions.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vice President of the Presidency Council of Libya, Musa al-Koni, met with Jean-Paul Cavalieri, chief of mission in Libya of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) here on Wednesday to discuss illegal migration, border control, among others.

"The Vice President of the Presidency Council confirmed that illegal migration is mainly a humanitarian issue. He stressed the importance of uniting international efforts to come up with successful solutions to it," said a statement issued by the Presidency Council.

20 Sep 2021; MEMO: A leaked audio recording of the Prime Minister of Libya's interim Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, in which he questioned the Egyptian judiciary's integrity could ignite a diplomatic crisis with Cairo.

In the leaked audio recording, possibly recorded during an official meeting with the Egyptian prime minister, Dbeibeh is heard asking the Egyptian government to intervene in a case involving the Libyan State and a Kuwaiti company before the Egyptian judiciary.

17 Sep 2021; MEMO: Forces loyal to Libya's renegade General Khalifa Haftar said yesterday that they are now facing armed confrontations with their former allies, Chadian rebels, who took refuge in southern Libya while fighting the government in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.