TUNIS: Unidentified armed men attacked the Tripoli residence of one of Libya’s deputy prime ministers hours after he expressed sympathy for a move by eastern factions to take control of oil ports, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.
The house used by Fathi Al-Majbari, part of the leadership of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), was attacked late on Tuesday, triggering reports that he had been abducted.
“He was not kidnapped or detained but there was a physical struggle,” said a source close to Al-Majbari who asked not to be identified because of security concerns. “His guard is seriously wounded and is being treated in hospital.”
The source said the attack was probably linked to Al-Majbari’s written statement hours earlier expressing understanding for a move by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) to hand oil ports to a parallel National Oil Corporation (NOC) in the east, rather than the internationally recognized NOC in Tripoli.
The LNA is the dominant force in eastern Libya and is led by prominent commander Khalifa Haftar. It is aligned with a government and parliament that moved to the east amid turmoil that followed Libya’s 2011 uprising.
Al-Majbari, who is from the east, has tried to position himself as a bridge between the eastern factions and the GNA, based in Tripoli in the west.
Two major eastern oil ports, Ran Lanuf and Es Sider, were captured this month by another armed group and recaptured by the LNA after a week of fighting.
The LNA had allowed the NOC Tripoli to operate the ports since 2016. But after the latest battle to recapture them, the LNA said on Monday it now wanted to stop oil revenues ending up in the hands of militias that used the funds to attack them.
Eastern factions have repeatedly said they have not received a fair share of oil revenues processed by the central bank in Tripoli. They have previously tried to ship oil independently, but their lack of international recognition made it impossible to complete a sale.
In his statement Al-Majbari expressed understanding for the LNA’s decision “due to systematic isolation and marginalization, and unfair distribution of the resources of production.”
The statement revealed long-standing differences within the GNA’s leadership, which had issued a separate statement also on Tuesday condemning the LNA move and calling on the United Nations to prevent any resulting “illegal sales” of oil.
The GNA’s ministry of justice confirmed that an unknown armed group had attacked Al-Majbari’s house and that one of his security staff had been wounded. The ministry gave no reason for the attack but said Majbari was unharmed and “in a safe place.”
The armed groups that hold real power in Tripoli, some strongly opposed to Haftar, have repeatedly targeted prominent figures including politicians.
Ras Lanuf and Es Sider remain closed, causing production losses of around 450,000 barrels per day (bpd), nearly half of Libya’s output.
Libyan deputy PM's home attacked amid oil port stand-off
Libyan deputy PM's home attacked amid oil port stand-off
- The house used by Fathi Al-Majbari was attacked late on Tuesday,
- Al-Majbari had expressed sympathy for a move by eastern factions to take control of oil ports
US Navy destroys Houthi missiles and drones targeting American ships in Gulf of Aden
- The Houthis claimed the attack on merchant ships in a statement and said they had targeted the US destroyers
US Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane shot down and destroyed three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three drones and one anti-ship cruise missile. The merchant ships were not identified.
The Houthis claimed the attack in a statement and said they had targeted the US destroyers and “three supply ships belonging to the American army in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.”
Houthi attacks for months have targeted shipping through a waterway where $1 trillion in goods pass annually over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. A ceasefire was announced in the latter last week.
The USS Stockdale was involved in a similar attack on Nov. 12.
US, France, Germany, UK urge ‘de-escalation’ in Syria: joint statement
WASHINGTON: The United States and its allies France, Germany and Britain called Sunday for “de-escalation” in Syria and urged in a joint statement for the protection of civilians and infrastructure.
“The current escalation only underscores the urgent need for a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict, in line with UNSCR 2254,” read a statement issued by the US State Department, referencing the 2015 UN resolution that endorsed a peace process in Syria.
Britain ups Gaza aid ahead of donor conference
- Aid organizations accuse Israel of preventing trucks from entering Gaza in large enough numbers to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn territory
LONDON: Britain will provide an additional 19 million pounds ($24 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza, the international development minister said Monday, calling for Israel to give greater access ahead of a key conference on the conflict.
“Gazans are in desperate need of food, and shelter with the onset of winter,” the minister, Anneliese Dodds, said in a statement as she headed for a three-day visit to the region, including an international conference in Cairo Monday on the Gaza Strip’s aid needs.
“The Cairo conference will be an opportunity to get leading voices in one room and put forward real-world solutions to the humanitarian crisis,” she added.
“Israel must immediately act to ensure unimpeded aid access to Gaza.”
Aid organizations accuse Israel of preventing trucks from entering Gaza in large enough numbers to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn territory.
The new UK funding will be split into 12 million pounds for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and seven million pounds for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the statement said.
UNRWA announced Sunday it had halted the delivery of aid through the key Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza because of safety fears, saying the situation had become “impossible.”
Britain has committed to spending a total of 99 million pounds this year in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, the government said.
After Dodds’s Cairo stop, the minister is to travel to the Palestinian territories and Israel.
Islamist militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the death of 1,207 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures, which includes hostages killed in captivity.
Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 44,429 in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Airstrikes in northwestern Syria kill 25 people, says Syria’s White Helmets
- The Syria offensive began Wednesday, the same day a truce between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah came into effect
DAMASCUS: The Syrian rescue service known as the White Helmets said early on Monday on X that at least 25 people have been killed in northwestern Syria in airstrikes carried out by the Syrian government and Russia on Sunday.
In Blinken call, Turkiye backs moves to ease Syria tension
- The flareup has also seen pro-Turkish militants groups attacking both government forces and Kurdish YPG fighters in and around the northern Aleppo province over the weekend, a Syrian war monitor said
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s top diplomat and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Sunday about the “rapidly developing” conflict in Syria where militants have made gains.
Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed by telephone “the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives and infrastructure in Aleppo and elsewhere,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The call came after Syrian militants and their Turkish-backed allies launched their biggest offensive in years, seizing control of Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo from forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
According to a Turkish foreign ministry source, Fidan told Blinken Ankara was “against any development that would increase instability in the region” and said Turkiye would “support moves to reduce the tension in Syria.”
He also said “the political process between the regime and the opposition should be finalized” to ensure peace in Syria while insisting that Ankara would “never allow terrorist activities against Turkiye nor against Syrian civilians.”
The flareup has also seen pro-Turkish militant groups attacking government forces and Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) fighters in and around Aleppo, a Syrian war monitor said.
Turkiye sees the YPG as an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has led a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.
The Syria offensive began Wednesday, the same day a truce between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah came into effect.
More than 400 people have so far been killed in the offensive, most of them combatants, a Syrian war monitor said.
The State Department said the two also discussed “humanitarian efforts in Gaza and the need to bring the war to an end” as well as efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Fidan said Israel “should keep its promises in order for the Lebanon ceasefire to become permanent” and called for a ceasefire in Gaza “as soon as possible.”
The pair also discussed Ukraine and South Caucasus, the source said.
