US envoy: Aid to Libya for flood recovery will accelerate if country moves toward unity

The formation of a unified government in Libya would help accelerate relief efforts in the aftermath of devastating floods that killed nearly 15,000 people in the county last month, the US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, said. (Reuters/File Photo)
Short Url
Updated 05 October 2023
Follow

US envoy: Aid to Libya for flood recovery will accelerate if country moves toward unity

  • The nation is split between two rival governments, in the east and west of the country, that are backed by armed militias and international patrons
  • Storm Daniel caused widespread destruction and claimed thousands of lives when it hit the east of the country on Sept. 10, especially in Derna where two dams collapsed

CHICAGO: The formation of a unified government in Libya would help accelerate relief efforts in the aftermath of devastating floods that killed nearly 15,000 people in the county last month, the US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, said on Thursday.

Storm Daniel caused widespread destruction when it hit the east of the country on Sept. 10. The worst-hit location was Derna, where two dams collapsed and the released water destroyed part of the city. The US has been the largest donor to the international relief efforts that followed.

The storm that was the catalyst for the disaster is blamed on the effects of global warming, but it has also sparked a wider, renewed discussion about the growing need to reunite the divided country and create a road map for democratic elections that can establish a unified government, according to Norland.

Libya has been engulfed by political turmoil and national divisions since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that led to the overthrow and killing of Muammar Qaddafi, who had ruled the North African nation for 42 years.

The nation is split between two rival governments that are backed by armed militias and international patrons. In the west of the country, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah heads the internationally recognized Government of National Unity. In the east, Prime Minister Ossama Hamad heads the Government of National Stability, backed by powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.

“Perhaps it is not by coincidence, but the discussion around reconstruction has also generated renewed debate and focus on electoral laws and the formation of an agreed caretaker government that would lead the country to elections,” Norland said during his briefing on Thursday, attended by Arab News.

There are concerns about funding for relief efforts and humanitarian aid actually reaching those most in need, he added, and moves to bring the divided country back together would help to ease them.

“We hope to see more progress in the coming days and weeks on a pathway to elections and concerted efforts to reconstruct and assist the people of Derna and eastern Libya,” Norland said.

But he added: “I don’t think that anybody believes that will happen overnight.”

Norland said US officials have spent weeks in Libya assessing the country’s needs in support of the international flood-relief effort. He and Gen. Michael Langley, the commander of US Africa Command, visited Tripoli and Benghazi on Sept. 20 and 21 “for meetings with Libyan military and political leaders to reiterate the importance of east-west cooperation in Libya to the long-term recovery and stabilization of the country.”

The international community is looking for a credible road map to elections in the country, Norland said, with the full engagement of all factions and key leaderships including the eastern-based House of Representatives; the High State Council, an advisory body formed under the terms of the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement; the Presidential Council; the Government of National Unity; and the Libyan National Army.

“Over the span of visits to Libya by myself and Gen. Langley, the United States airlifted more than 29 metric tonnes of critical life-saving humanitarian supplies to Benghazi to support the most urgent needs in flood-affected communities,” Norland said.

“We also discussed the urgent need for further progress in the political process, aiming to reach the stage of elections and the formation of a unified government capable of effectively serving all of the people across the country in the wake of this crisis.

“So, indeed, in addition to the immediate humanitarian relief needs of the people in flood-affected areas, a unified national mechanism is required to effectively and efficiently implement reconstruction efforts.”

The US, along with France, Germany, Italy and the UK, has endorsed a UN call for a “unified national mechanism” that can coordinate with local, national and international partners to help deliver relief as part of a transparent and accountable response to aid and reconstruction needs in Libya.

“Unifying relief efforts responds to the demands of the Libyan people and is crucial to facilitate additional support and technical assistance from both the United States and other international. Partners,” Norland said.

America has been the largest donor in the response to the flooding, he added, and the tragedy has created an opportunity for all sides to recognize that they must work together to move forward through a process of political consensus.

“In response to what has happened, the United States has committed $12 million in humanitarian aid, and a program of diplomacy, development and defense engagement, which are ongoing,” Norland said.

“We are the largest donor to the humanitarian response for people affected by the floods in Derna and eastern Libya. Our embassy declared a disaster emergency on the day of the flood, and USAID’s (the US Agency for International Development) Tunis-based director from the Disaster Assistance Response team was activated on Sept. 13 and continues to coordinate with humanitarian partners and Libyan officials across the country to deliver support.”

Norland touched briefly on questions about efforts by Russia to engage in the relief effort in the country. He noted that the controversial Russian state-funded private military company Wagner Group is operating in Libya and said it had “contributed” to the divisions and problems there. But he added that it is up to the Libyan people to “decide for themselves” whether or not Russia can be helpful to them.

The US will support Libya in its efforts to unify its military and government to help ensure the most effective international response to the humanitarian crisis in the country, he added.


China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

China coast guard says it conducted patrols around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

  • Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal
BEIJING: China’s coast guard said it had conducted patrols around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Saturday to safeguard China’s territorial rights.
The coast guard has continued to strengthen law enforcement patrols in the territorial waters and surrounding areas of Scarborough Shoal since the beginning of November, and “resolutely safeguarding the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” it said in a statement.
Tensions between China and the Philippines over disputed areas of the South China Sea have escalated throughout the year, particularly over the Scarborough Shoal.

13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting

Updated 13 min 18 sec ago
Follow

13 more killed in Pakistan sectarian fighting

  • Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40

Peshawar: Sectarian feuding in northwest Pakistan killed 13 more people, a local government official said Saturday, as warring Sunnis and Shiites defied repeated ceasefire orders in recent conflict claiming 124 lives.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram district — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
Fresh fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then 10 days of fighting with light and heavy weapons has brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
A Kurram local government official put the death toll at 124 on Saturday after 13 more people were killed in the past two days.
Two were Sunni and 11 Shiite, he said, whilst more than 50 people have been wounded in fresh fighting which continued Saturday morning.
“There is a severe lack of trust between the two sides, and neither tribe is willing to comply with government orders to cease hostilities,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Police report that many people want to flee the area due to the violence, but the deteriorating security situation makes it impossible,” he added.
A seven-day ceasefire deal was announced by the provincial government last weekend but failed to hold. Another 10-day truce was brokered Wednesday but it also failed to stymie the fighting.
A senior security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the total death toll of 124.
“There is a fear of more fatalities,” he said. “None of the provincial government’s initiated measures have been fully implemented to restore peace.”
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between the communities adhering to different sects of Islam.


Schools shut as heavy storm approaches India coast

Updated 59 min ago
Follow

Schools shut as heavy storm approaches India coast

  • Cyclonic storm Fengal is forecast to make landfall in Tamil Nadu state with sustained winds of 70-80 kilometers an hour
  • The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one meter that posed a flood risk

BENGALURU: Schools in India’s south were shut and hundreds of people moved inland to storm shelters ahead of a powerful cyclone storm set to hit the region on Saturday.
Cyclonic storm Fengal is forecast to make landfall in Tamil Nadu state with sustained winds of 70-80 kilometers an hour (43-50 mph) in the afternoon, India’s weather bureau said.
The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one meter (three feet) that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas.
Schools and colleges in numerous districts across Tamil Nadu were shut and at least 471 people had been moved to relief camps, the Economic Times newspaper reported.
Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific — are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.
Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this week, killing at least 12 people including six children.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.
Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.
A warming atmosphere also allows them to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.
But better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls.


Thailand flooding kills nine, displaces thousands

Updated 30 November 2024
Follow

Thailand flooding kills nine, displaces thousands

  • ‘Very heavy rain’ could continue to affect some areas of the country’s south through next week
  • The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents

BANGKOK: Flooding driven by heavy rains in southern Thailand has killed nine people and displaced more than 13,000, officials said Saturday, as rescue teams using boats and jet skis worked to reach stranded residents.
Local media footage showed residents wading through murky, chest-deep water and cars submerged in flooded streets.
“Flooding across eight provinces in southern Thailand has affected 553,921 households and claimed nine lives, prompting agencies to mobilize urgent assistance,” the country’s disaster agency said on its official Facebook page.
More than 13,000 people had been forced to flee their homes, with temporary shelters set up in schools and temples, it added.
Nampa, a resident of coastal Songkhla province, told state broadcaster Thai PBS she was concerned about the dwindling food supplies.
“We are doing fine now, but I am not sure how long can we stay in this condition,” she said.
Two hospitals in nearby Pattani province suspended operations to prevent floodwaters from damaging medical facilities.
In neighboring north Malaysia, the rains have forced the evacuation of at least 80,000 people to temporary shelters this week, with disaster officials there saying at least four people have been killed.
The Thai Meteorological Department has warned that “very heavy rain” could continue to affect some areas of the country’s south through next week.
The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents and designated 50 million baht ($1.7 million) in flood relief for each province.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Friday on social media platform X that the goal was to “restore normalcy as quickly as possible.”
While Thailand experiences annual monsoon rains, scientists say man-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Widespread flooding across the country in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes.


Stealth destroyer to be home for first hypersonic weapon on a US warship

Updated 30 November 2024
Follow

Stealth destroyer to be home for first hypersonic weapon on a US warship

  • The USS Zumwalt is at a Mississippi shipyard where workers have installed missile tubes that replace twin turrets from a gun system that was never activated

The US Navy is transforming a costly flub into a potent weapon with the first shipborne hypersonic weapon, which is being retrofitted aboard the first of its three stealthy destroyers.
The USS Zumwalt is at a Mississippi shipyard where workers have installed missile tubes that replace twin turrets from a gun system that was never activated because it was too expensive. Once the system is complete, the Zumwalt will provide a platform for conducting fast, precision strikes from greater distances, adding to the usefulness of the warship.
“It was a costly blunder but the Navy could take victory from the jaws of defeat here, and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform,” said Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute.
The US has had several types of hypersonic weapons in development for the past two decades, but recent tests by both Russia and China have added pressure to the US military to hasten their production.
Hypersonic weapons travel beyond Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, with added maneuverability making them harder to shoot down.
Last year, The Washington Post reported that among the documents leaked by former Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was a defense department briefing that confirmed China had recently tested an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon called the DF-27. While the Pentagon had previously acknowledged the weapon’s development, it had not recognized its testing.
One of the US programs in development and planned for the Zumwalt is “Conventional Prompt Strike.” It would launch like a ballistic missile and then release a hypersonic glide vehicle that would travel at speeds seven to eight times faster than the speed of sound before hitting the target. The weapon system is being developed jointly by the Navy and Army. Each of the Zumwalt-class destroyers would be equipped with four missile tubes, each with three of the missiles for a total of 12 hypersonic weapons per ship.
In choosing the Zumwalt, the Navy is attempting to add to the usefulness of a $7.5 billion warship that is considered by critics to be an expensive mistake despite serving as a test platform for multiple innovations.
The Zumwalt was envisioned as providing land-attack capability with an Advanced Gun System with rocket-assisted projectiles to open the way for Marines to charge ashore. But the system featuring 155 mm guns hidden in stealthy turrets was canceled because each of the rocket-assisted projectiles cost between $800,000 and $1 million.
Despite the stain on its reputation, the three Zumwalt-class destroyers remain the Navy’s most advanced surface warship in terms of new technologies. Those innovations include electric propulsion, an angular shape to minimize radar signature, an unconventional wave-piercing hull, automated fire and damage control and a composite deckhouse that hides radar and other sensors.
The Zumwalt arrived at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, in August 2023 and was removed from the water for the complex work of integrating the new weapon system. It is due to be undocked this week in preparation for the next round of tests and its return to the fleet, shipyard spokeswoman Kimberly Aguillard said.
A US hypersonic weapon was successfully tested over the summer and development of the missiles is continuing. The Navy wants to begin testing the system aboard the Zumwalt in 2027 or 2028, according to the Navy.
The US weapon system will come at a steep price. It would cost nearly $18 billion to buy 300 of the weapons and maintain them over 20 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Critics say there is too little bang for the buck.
“This particular missile costs more than a dozen tanks. All it gets you is a precise non-nuclear explosion, some place far far away. Is it really worth the money? The answer is most of the time the missile costs much more than any target you can destroy with it,” said Loren Thompson, a longtime military analyst in Washington, D.C.
But they provide the capability for Navy vessels to strike an enemy from a distance of thousands of kilometers — outside the range of most enemy weapons — and there is no effective defense against them, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Ray Spicer, CEO of the US Naval Institute, a think tank, and former commander of an aircraft carrier strike force.
Conventional missiles that cost less aren’t much of a bargain if they are unable to reach their targets, Spicer said, adding the US military really has no choice but to pursue them.
“The adversary has them. We never want to be outdone,” he said.
The US is accelerating development because hypersonics have been identified as vital to US national security with “survivable and lethal capabilities,” said James Weber, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies.
“Fielding new capabilities that are based on hypersonic technologies is a priority for the defense department to sustain and strengthen our integrated deterrence, and to build enduring advantages,” he said.