CAIRO: Libya’s National Oil Corporation said on Friday that recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63 percent of the country’s total oil production, as a conflict between rival eastern and western factions continues.
The North African country’s oil blockade has widened, with eastern leaders demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor, a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.
The crisis over control of the Central Bank of Libya threatens a new bout of instability in a major oil producer split between eastern and western factions that have drawn backing from Turkiye and Russia.
Highlighting that the oil sector represents the backbone of the Libyan economy, NOC said restarting the halted oilfields will require huge costs and double technical efforts.
It said the reasons for the oil closure have “nothing to do” with the company, adding that its teams are assessing losses resulting from the closures.
The repeated shutdowns have resulted in the loss of a large portion of the country’s oil production, caused a deterioration of the sector’s infrastructure, and dissipated efforts to increase production, the NOC added in its statement.
Eastern factions have vowed to keep Libya’s oil output shuttered until the internationally recognized Presidency Council and Government of National Unity in Tripoli in the west return veteran central bank governor Sadiq Al-Kabir to his post.
Presidency Council chief Mohammed Al-Menfi said he was dismissing Kabir earlier this month, a move rejected by the eastern-based House of Representatives parliament and eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.
Libya’s oil production plunges 63 percent due to oilfield closures, NOC says
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Libya’s oil production plunges 63 percent due to oilfield closures, NOC says
- The crisis over control of the Central Bank of Libya threatens a new bout of instability in a major oil producer
Algeria president re-elected with 84.3 percent of votes: official results
- Tebboune was far ahead of his only two challengers
- More than 24 million Algerians were registered to vote in this election
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has won a second term with 84.3 percent of the vote in last week’s election, final results announced Saturday showed, down from an initial count contested by rivals.
The preliminary results issued by the North African country’s electoral authority ANIE on Sunday gave Tebboune nearly 95 percent support, prompting other candidates to challenge the results in appeals to the Constitutional Court.
The court’s president, Omar Belhadj, announced on Saturday the official count, with Tebboune far ahead of his only two challengers.
“We announce that Mr.Abdelmadjid Tebboune is elected for a second term, and will assume his responsibilities when he swears in,” Belhadj said in remarks broadcast live on national TV and radio stations.
The 78-year-old incumbent had been widely expected to breeze through the election and was focused instead on securing a high turnout, which according to Belhadj stood at 46.1 percent in the September 7 ballot.
More than 24 million Algerians were registered to vote in this election.
Tebboune was elected in December 2019 with 58 percent of the vote, despite a record abstention rate above 60 percent, amid the mass Hirak pro-democracy protests.
Presidential candidate Abdelaali Hassani, who heads the moderate Islamist party the Movement of Society for Peace, on Tuesday submitted his challenge to the vote count, a day after denouncing the results as “fraud.”
Youcef Aouchiche, head of the center-left Socialist Forces Front, later followed suit, accusing the electoral authority ANIE of “forging” the result.
In an unprecedented move, all three campaigns — including Tebboune’s — also issued a joint statement late Sunday alleging “irregularities” in ANIE’s results, adding they wanted to make the public aware of “vagueness and contradictions in the participation figures.”
The preliminary results announced by ANIE said that Tebboune had won “94.65 percent of the vote,” with Hassani receiving 3.17 percent and Aouchiche 2.16 percent.
The final results gave Hassani 9.56 percent of the votes, and Aouchiche 6.14 percent.
Tebboune became president after widely boycotted elections and mass pro-democracy protests from 2019 that died out under his tenure as policing ramped up and hundreds were put in jail.
He had touted economic successes during his first term, including more jobs and higher wages in Africa’s largest exporter of natural gas.
Although Algeria’s economy has grown at an annual rate of about four percent over the past two years, it remains heavily dependent on oil and gas to fund its social programs.
Turkiye arrests suspected Istanbul church attack planner linked to Daesh
- One Turkish citizen was killed by two Daesh gunmen at the Italian Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul in January
ANKARA: Turkish authorities have arrested a Daesh militant believed to be involved in planning an attack on the Santa Maria Italian Church in Istanbul earlier this year, the country’s intelligence agency said on Saturday.
The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said the suspect, whom it identified as Viskhan Soltamatov, was believed to be the key figure behind the Jan. 28, 2024 attack. He was detained by MIT and police during a joint operation in Istanbul, the agency said.
MIT said Soltamatov was also believed to have supplied the weapon used in the assault.
One Turkish citizen was killed by two Daesh gunmen at the Italian Santa Maria Catholic Church in Istanbul in January.
The church attack was orchestrated by Daesh-linked operatives from the group’s Khorasan Province, a faction active in Afghanistan. In April, Turkiye had arrested 48 people believed to be linked to the attack.
Tunisian court orders electoral commission to reinstate presidential candidates
- The move by the Administrative Court comes amid growing political tension in the North African country
- Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets on Friday in the country’s biggest march in two years
TUNIS: Tunisia’s highest court on Saturday ordered the electoral commission to reinstate two candidates for a presidential poll in October, warning that failure to do so could jeopardize the legitimacy of the election.
The move by the Administrative Court comes amid growing political tension in the North African country and fears from the opposition and civil society groups about a rigged election that would lead to President Kais Saied winning a second term.
Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets on Friday in the country’s biggest march in two years, protesting against restrictions on freedoms and the undemocratic electoral climate.
The protesters chanted slogans including “Out with dictator Saied.”
Tensions mounted after the electoral commission earlier this month rejected the court’s decision to restore the candidacy of Abdellaif Mekki, Mondher Znaidi and Imed Daimi ahead of the Oct.6 race, citing alleged irregularities in their candidacy filings.
Major parties and civil society groups said that the commission, whose members were appointed by the president himself, had became a tool in the hands of the president against his rivals.
The head of the commission Farouk Bouasker has denied the accusations and said that “the commission is the only constitutional body entrusted with the integrity of the election.”
But the court said on Saturday that the commission is obligated to implement its decision and, if necessary, to review the electoral calendar. It is not clear if this means postponing the election or extending the campaign timeframe.
“Otherwise it would lead to an illegal situation that conflicts with the electoral law and the transparency of the electoral process,” it said.
The court asked Znaidi and Mekki to be included in the race, after they filed a new complaint against the commission’s decision. The third candidate, Daimi, has not filed a second appeal yet.
Saied was democratically elected in 2019, but then tightened his grip on power and began ruling by decree in 2021 in a move the opposition has described as a coup.
Salvagers launch new attempt to tow an oil tanker blown up by Yemen’s Houthis
- EU’s Operation Aspides published images dated Saturday of its vessels escorting ships heading to the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion
DUBAI: A new attempt has begun to try to salvage an oil tanker burning in the Red Sea after attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, a European Union naval mission said Saturday.
The EU’s Operation Aspides published images dated Saturday of its vessels escorting ships heading to the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion.
The mission has “been actively involved in this complex endeavor, by creating a secure environment, which is necessary for the tugboats to conduct the towing operation,” the EU said.
A phone number for the mission rang unanswered Saturday.
The Sounion came under attack from the Houthis beginning Aug. 21. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, who were taken by a French destroyer to nearby Djibouti.
The Houthis later planted explosives aboard the ship and detonated them. That’s led to fears the ship’s 1 million barrels of crude oil could spill into the Red Sea.
The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. One of the sunken vessels, the Tutor, went down after the Houthis planted explosives aboard it and after its crew abandoned it due to an earlier attack, the militia later acknowledged.
Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.
The militia maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
Syria’s Assad names ex-minister Jalali to form cabinet
CAIRO: Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree naming former communications minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali to form a new cabinet, state media said on Saturday.
The new cabinet will replace an outgoing administration which has been serving in a caretaker role since parliamentary elections in mid-July.
Al-Jalali served as communications minister from 2014-2016. He has been subject to EU sanctions.
since 2014 for his “responsibility for the regime’s violent repression of the civilian population.”
According to UN figures, at least 350,000 people have been killed in Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011 from an uprising against Assad’s rule.
