TRIPOLI: Hundreds of African migrants escaped from a detention center in Tripoli on Tuesday as fighting between rival groups raged nearby, an aid official said, though the Libyan government department set up to combat illegal migration denied the report.
A video posted on social media on Tuesday purportedly showed hundreds of Africans, some carrying plastic bags, walking in a long line away from the detention center. It is located on the road to the former Tripoli International Airport, which was destroyed in a battle between rival militias in 2014.
Libya is a major departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, mainly from other parts of Africa.
The aid official, who works for an international organization, said as many as 1,800 migrants might have escaped the facility on Tuesday. It was unclear where they had gone.
If confirmed, this would mean that almost a quarter of Libya’s jailed migrants, mostly Africans, are on the run. Most had been jailed after the Libyan coast guard intercepted their makeshift boats bound for Italy.
Fighting between rival Libyan groups lasting for more than one week has spread from the airport, located south of Tripoli, toward the city.
Tripoli is formally controlled by the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, but armed groups working with it act with autonomy. Eastern Libya is controlled by a rival administration.
Last Thursday UN agencies and authorities relocated hundreds of migrants from government-run detention centers in southern Tripoli to safer locations.
In a further sign of chaos, some 400 prisoners also escaped on Sunday from a jail in southern Tripoli, forcing open the doors as the guards retreated.
The United Nations mission called for a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation, but officials were not available to confirm that it was still going ahead.
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe has fallen off sharply since Italy provided the Libyan coast guard with more boats and brokered deals with local groups in a smuggler hub last year.
Hundreds of African migrants flee detention center in Tripoli chaos — aid official
Hundreds of African migrants flee detention center in Tripoli chaos — aid official
- Libya is a major departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe
- As many as 1,800 migrants might have escaped the facility on Tuesday, an aid official said
Blinken says feels ‘real regret’ at failure to end Sudan war
There have been “some improvements in getting humanitarian assistance in through our diplomacy”
WASHINGTON: Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday he regretted his inability to end the brutal war in Sudan and voiced hope that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will keep trying.
“It is for me, yes, another real regret that when it comes to Sudan, we haven’t been able on our watch to get to that day of success,” Blinken said at a farewell news conference.
There have been “some improvements in getting humanitarian assistance in through our diplomacy, but not an end to the conflict, not an end to the abuses, not an end to the suffering of people,” he said.
“We’ll keep working at it for the next three days, and I hope the next administration will take that on as well,” he said.
Blinken last week determined that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with Sudan’s army since April 2023, had committed genocide.
Blinken said that the army “has also committed war crimes, and it continues to target civilians” and regretted its refusal to engage in a series of ceasefire talks.
WHO calls for international support to fund aid in Gaza after ceasefire deal
- “The UN cannot deliver the response alone,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory
- Part of the ceasefire deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza
GAZA: The World Health Organization called for the international community to step up and fund a scaled-up aid response in Gaza after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal to end 15 months of war in the region earlier this week.
The UN health agency said its member states, donors and the global community, including the private sector, should support both the urgent health needs and the longer-term rebuilding of Gaza’s health care system.
“The UN cannot deliver the response alone,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Part of the ceasefire deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day. Peeperkorn said WHO was ready to deliver, although the “significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza” need to be removed.
“Now is the time for member states, donors and the global community to step up and provide flexible funding to enable this swift and effective response for urgent and longer term needs,” he said.
Blinken says officials resolving ‘loose end’ in Gaza deal, expects ceasefire to begin on Sunday
- Blinken said he had been speaking to US negotiator Brett McGurk and Qatari officials on Thursday morning to resolve the issue
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he is confident a Gaza ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas will begin on Sunday as expected, despite a last-minute glitch.
Blinken, in his last news conference as the US top diplomat, said he had been speaking to US negotiator Brett McGurk and Qatari officials on Thursday morning to resolve the issue.
“It’s not exactly surprising that in a process and negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end,” he said. “We’re tying up that loose end as we speak.”
Maritime sources expect Houthis to halt Red Sea attacks after Gaza deal
- The group has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea
- The attacks have disrupted global shipping
ATHENS: Maritime security officials said on Thursday they were expecting Yemen’s Houthi militia to announce a halt in attacks on ships in the Red Sea, after a ceasefire deal in the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
The experts pointed to an email, seen by Reuters, from the group postponing a planned security briefing that had been due to take place in the coming days as a possible signal.
The Houthis’ leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, is also due to give a speech later on Thursday, as he does most weeks, and speculation has mounted in the region that he may use the occasion to announce a pause off the back of the Gaza deal.
The Houthi group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The group has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa for more than a year.
“British, American and Israeli strikes have succeeded in significantly limiting the attacks by Houthis, who are looking for a pretext to announce a ceasefire,” Dimitris Maniatis, the chief executive officer of maritime security company Marisks told Reuters regarding the briefing postponement.
Another maritime security official said that an announcement was largely expected and there were indications that some companies were preparing to resume Red Sea journeys but it was still too early to say that traffic would be restored.
“The first sign that business returns to normal will be seen in the insurance market, as insurance fees will start decreasing,” the official said.
A second maritime official, who also asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that a halt in attacks was widely expected but was not able to confirm it.
In the email seen by Reuters, the Houthis said that the security webinar, aimed at shipping and maritime companies and the first such invitation they had issued, had been postponed to Feb. 10 due to the large number of questions and suggestions received from participants.
“This will ensure that the event is more comprehensive and beneficial for all attendees,” they said in the email on Wednesday.
Beirut blast investigator resumes work after two years: judicial official
- Indictments come after a two-year hiatus in the investigation into the explosion that killed more than 220 people
BEIRUT: Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast on Thursday, charging 10 people including seven security, customs and military personnel, a judicial official told AFP.
The indictments come after a two-year hiatus in the investigation into the explosion that killed more than 220 people, and after Lebanon’s new president, elected after a long vacancy in the post, pledged to work toward the “independence of the judiciary.” The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, weakened after its recent war with Israel, had previously accused Bitar of bias.
