Egypt hosts talks over Libyan reconciliation process

Libyans demonstrate against the presence of armed militias in the city of Tajoura, southeast of the capital Tripoli on September 28, 2020. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 30 September 2020
Follow

Egypt hosts talks over Libyan reconciliation process

  • The Red Sea coast city of Hurghada has been playing host to discussions over stabilizing a cease-fire in the country

CAIRO: Talks aimed at paving the way for a political and economic solution to the conflict in Libya have been taking place in Egypt.

The Red Sea coast city of Hurghada has been playing host to discussions over stabilizing a cease-fire in the country, securing oil fields and oil installations, and establishing government institutions and infrastructure.

Officials taking part in the security meeting are working to set up military committees in the east and west of Libya with a view to them forming a unified force for the country and reaching a comprehensive settlement based on the outcomes of January’s Berlin Conference and the resulting Cairo Declaration.

Political adviser to the speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Fathi Al-Marimi, said all Libyan forces were currently gearing up for a meeting in Geneva next month with talks on the selection of a new presidential council — which would consist of a president, two deputies, a prime minister and two deputies representing the regions of Cyrenaica, Fezzan, and Tripoli — and economic, military, and security issues going forward.

During the first half of October, Cairo will host the largest conference for the Libyan national reconciliation process with the participation of officials, tribal elders, and other representatives, to map out a comprehensive peace plan.

Hassan Al-Mabrouk, a member of the preparatory committee for the reconciliation conference, said: “The committee contacted many leaders from various Libyan regions, including Misrata, Tripoli, and all regions of the west, south, and east, and they expressed their willingness to participate in the reconciliation conference in Cairo in October.”

He added that the committee urged Libyan authorities, the international community, and all relevant organizations to help solve the Libyan crisis and preserve the unity and sovereignty of the country without external interference. This would include the removal of mercenaries and the disbanding of militias.

National reconciliation could only be achieved through the immediate release of prisoners and detainees, Al-Mabrouk said, along with the implementation and generalization of a general amnesty law issued by the Libyan Parliament, and the return of displaced people.

He added that social leaders, scholars, and imams had a religious and social duty to succeed in bringing the nation together in peace and that 10 years of war, blood, destruction, waste of wealth and hatred among Libyans should provide sufficient food for thought.

“Holding the conference before the Geneva meeting will contribute to creating an atmosphere for the political transition by representing all groups in the next stage,” he said.


Palestinian president condemns ‘any projects’ to displace Gazans

Updated 4 sec ago
Follow

Palestinian president condemns ‘any projects’ to displace Gazans

  • President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians “will not abandon their land and holy sites"

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas condemned on Sunday “any projects” to relocate the people of Gaza outside the territory, after US President Donald Trump suggested moving them to Egypt and Jordan.
Without naming the US leader, Abbas “expressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects aimed at displacing our people from the Gaza Strip,” a statement from his office said, adding that the Palestinian people “will not abandon their land and holy sites.”


Palestinian sources say to free Gaza hostage demanded by Israel before next swap

Updated 26 min 59 sec ago
Follow

Palestinian sources say to free Gaza hostage demanded by Israel before next swap

  • Arbel Yehud will be handed over within days, sources say
  • In exchange, 30 prisoners serving life sentences will be released

CAIRO: Two Palestinian sources told AFP on Sunday that an Israeli woman held hostage in Gaza, and whose release Israel has demanded before allowing the return of displaced Palestinians, will be handed over within days.
“Arbel Yehud is expected to be freed before the next (hostage-prisoner) exchange” scheduled for February 1, said a source from the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Another Palestinian source familiar with the issue said Yehud is expected to be released by Friday.
“The release of Arbel Yehud will happen most likely by next Friday in exchange for 30 prisoners serving life sentences,” the source said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.
Israel has accused Hamas of reneging on the ceasefire deal by not releasing Yehud when the second hostage-prisoner took place on Saturday.
As a civilian woman, Yehud “was supposed to be released” as part of the second hostage-prisoner swap under the truce deal, a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Labelling it a violation by Hamas of the ceasefire deal, Netanyahu’s office said it “will not allow the passage of Gazans to the northern part of the Gaza Strip until the release of civilian Arbel Yehud... is arranged.”
On Saturday, two Hamas sources told AFP that Yehud was “alive and in good health,” with one source saying she would be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday.”
But on Sunday, the two Palestinian sources said she was expected to be released following an intervention by mediators Egypt and Qatar.
“The crisis has been resolved,” said the source familiar with the issue.
Tens of thousands of displaced Gazans massed on Sunday on the road to the north but were not allowed to pass through, AFP correspondents reported.


Netanyahu says France assures Israel its firms can take part in Paris Air Show

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (File/AP)
Updated 52 min 43 sec ago
Follow

Netanyahu says France assures Israel its firms can take part in Paris Air Show

  • Israeli defense companies were last year banned from participating in a defense industry exhibition held in Paris

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron had given him assurances that Israeli companies would be able to take part in the Paris Air Show.
The two had a phone conversation during which the assurance was given, according to a statement by the prime minister’s office.
Separately, Macron’s office said in a statement that the presence of Israeli companies at the air show “could be favorably considered, as a result of the ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.”
Israeli defense companies were last year banned from participating in a defense industry exhibition held in Paris as Macron called for Israel to cease some military operations in Gaza.
That ban strained relations, but a French court in October overturned a government ban on Israeli companies taking part in a naval arms exhibition near Paris.
The Paris Air Show, the world’s largest, is held every two years, alternating every other year with Farnborough in Britain. It is due to take place from June 16 until June 22. Leading aerospace, aviation and defense companies from around the world typically take part in both events.
A ceasefire agreement reached this month between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which it has been fighting in Gaza, remains in effect, as does another truce agreement struck last year between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.


Emirati explorer circles Antarctica in two helicopters with adventurers

Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

Emirati explorer circles Antarctica in two helicopters with adventurers

  • The journey took a month and covered 19,050 kilometers
  • Explorers encounter massive icebergs, frozen rivers and strong winds

LONDON: Emirati explorer Ibrahim Sharaf Al-Hashemi participated in an air mission that completed the first circular flight around Antarctica using two helicopters.

Al-Hashemi is the first Emirati to participate in this historic expedition, which launched on Dec. 4, 2024, and concluded on Jan. 17, 2025, according to WAM, the official news agency of the UAE.

The journey covered 19,050 kilometers and took a month, starting and ending at Union Glacier Camp. The trip reportedly took seven years of meticulous planning to tackle the region’s logistical challenges and extreme weather.

The team flew over remote icy landscapes under explorer Frederik Paulsen’s leadership, encountering massive icebergs, frozen rivers and strong winds.

Al-Hashemi’s endeavor illustrates the UAE’s growing role in global missions and long-haul flights in harsh environments, WAM added.


Palestinian health ministry in Gaza Strip says war toll at 47,306

Updated 26 January 2025
Follow

Palestinian health ministry in Gaza Strip says war toll at 47,306

  • New bodies are found under the rubble
  • Health ministry said war had also left 111,483 people wounded

GAZA STRIP: The Palestinian health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday the death toll from the war with Israel had reached 47,306, with numbers rising in spite of a ceasefire as new bodies are found under the rubble.
The ministry said hospitals in the Gaza Strip had received 23 bodies in the past 72 hours — 14 “recovered from under the rubble,” five who “succumbed to their injuries” from earlier in the war, and four new fatalities.
It did not specify how the new fatalities occurred.
The ministry said the war had also left 111,483 people wounded.
Some Gazans have died from wounds inflicted before the ceasefire, with the health system in the Palestinian territory largely destroyed by more than 15 months of fighting and bombardment.
The ministry again reiterated its appeal for Gazans to submit information about dead or missing people to help update its records.
The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.