CAIRO: The United Nations Security Council and the United States have imposed sanctions on a Libyan official over the alleged abuse and torture of migrants in a detention center.
The Security Council and the US said in separate statements late Tuesday that Osama Al-Kuni is the de facto head of a detention center in the North African nation’s west. Migrants there are said to have been subjected to torture, sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking.
Libya emerged as a major conduit for African migrants hoping to reach Europe after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed the country’s longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. The country subsequently slid into chaos, with rival governments and parliaments based in its western and eastern regions, each backed by different militias and tribes.
The Al-Nasr Martyrs detention center is located in the western town of Zawiya, home of two of the country’s most wanted human traffickers, Abdel-Rahman Milad, and militia leader Mohammed Kachlaf.
Both Milad and Kachlaf were sanctioned by the Security Council in 2018 over allegations of human trafficking and abuse of migrants.
A spokesman for the Libyan government did not answer calls seeking comment.
In its statement Tuesday, the UN sanctions committee said Al-Kuni “has acted for or on behalf of or at the direction” of Milad and Kachlaf.
The Department of the Treasury blamed Al-Kuni on “systematic exploitation of African migrants at the detention center where these migrants are subject to various human rights abuses.”
It said he or others under his direction “have been involved in or facilitated the killing, exploitation, abuse, and extortion of migrants at the detention center, including through sexual violence, beatings, starvation, and other mistreatment.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Libyan government to hold Al-Kuni and others implicated in human rights abuses accountable.
Libya holds migrants in overcrowded detention centers, like Al-Nasr, where torture, sexual assault and other abuses are rife. Detention center guards beat and tortured migrants, then extorted money from their relatives, supposedly in exchange for their freedom, The Associated Press reported earlier this month.
UN-commissioned investigators said earlier this month that abuse and ill treatment of migrants in Libya amount to crimes against humanity.
UN, US sanction Libyan official over human trafficking
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UN, US sanction Libyan official over human trafficking
- The Al-Nasr Martyrs detention center is located in the western town of Zawiya
- A spokesman for the Libyan government did not answer calls seeking comment
Hezbollah does not pin ceasefire hopes on any US administration, lawmaker says
France sees ‘window’ to end Gaza, Lebanon wars after Trump win
JERUSALEM: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday in Jerusalem he saw prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump was elected US president.
“I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since October 7” last year, Barrot told reporters in Jerusalem.
Speaking alongside outgoing Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Barrot cited Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars” as well as Israel’s recent “tactical successes.”
Barrot said he hoped a “diplomatic solution” would emerge “in the coming weeks.”
“Force alone will not be enough to guarantee Israel’s security,” he said, adding that “military success could not be a substitute for a political perspective.”
“It is time to move toward a deal that would allow for the liberation of all hostages, a ceasefire and the mass entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to prepare for the day after.”
Barrot said “Israel has the right to defend itself” but pointed to “colonization,” “humanitarian aid restrictions” and “the continuation of air strikes in north Gaza” as risk factors for Israel’s security.
Barrot is expected to speak with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and his prime minister, Muhammad Mustafa
Israel signs $5.2 billion deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing
- The $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid
- Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031
JERUSALEM: The Israeli defense ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co.
It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, it said.
The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.
“These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach — capabilities that proved crucial during the current war,” the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.
Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.
“While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we’re simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities,” he said.
For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company’s relationship dates back to Israel’s establishment and “will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”
Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with US president-elect Donald Trump to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the presidency said on Thursday.
Erdogan “congratulated Trump on his election victory” and “expressed his desire to develop cooperation between Turkiye and the United States in the period ahead,” it said in a statement.
Erdogan was twice hosted at the White House by Trump during his first term, but has never been received there by current President Joe Biden.
Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers
- They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years
JERUSALEM: Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years. The Israel-Hamas war is still raging in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and most of the population has been internally displaced, often multiple times.
It was unclear if it would apply in the occupied West Bank, where Israel already has a longstanding policy of demolishing the family homes of attackers. Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years.
Dr. Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, said that if the law comes before the Supreme Court, it is likely to be struck down based on previous Israeli cases regarding deportation.
“The bottom line is this is completely non-constitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” said Shamir-Borer.
Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. It withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 but has reoccupied parts of the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community. Palestinians there have permanent residency and are allowed to apply for citizenship, but most choose not to, and those who do face a series of obstacles.
Palestinians living in Israel make up around 20 percent of the country’s population. They have citizenship and the right to vote but face widespread discrimination. Many also have close family ties to those in the territories and most sympathize with the Palestinian cause.
