Tobruk

The mayor of Derna and seven other top officials have been arrested for negligence in connection with the catastrophic flood.

Mohamed Yunus al-Menfi, head of the Presidency Council that administers the internationally-recognized LIbyan government, told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday that his country remains fractured a decade after former U.S. President Barack Obama’s invasion, with constant threats of factional violence.

Libya’s eastern “parliament” – essentially a rival government based in Tobruk, with its own Libyan National Army (LNA) headed by warlord Khalifa Haftar – voted on Tuesday to withdraw its confidence from the “unity government” in Tripoli.

President Donald Trump spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi by telephone on Thursday and agreed to oppose “foreign exploitation” of the situation in Libya, where terrorists, warlords, and rival governments have been fighting ever since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. 

Contents: Libya declares state of emergency, closes Tripoli airport; The deterioration of Libya since the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’

Contents: Russia denies reports of Russian special forces in eastern Libya; Russian intervention comes as fighting between Libya’s militias increases; E-mail problems

CNN brings us a little reminder of the disaster Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton left in Libya at the dawn of Obama’s last full day in office.

The new Libyan “unity” government took a long time to reach the capital of Tripoli, because the Islamist warlords in control of the city would not let them use a plane. They had to sail from Tobruk to Tripoli by boat. They made port at the end of March, but did not get much further than the fortified naval base, where the “Government of National Accord” remains ensconced.

The U.N. envoy has been blocked from flying into Tripoli, which is the national capital, but not the current headquarters of the internationally-recognized legitimate government.

Contents: Italy debates military intervention in Libya after ISIS kills Italian hostages; Looking back at the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ Libya military intervention; Russian media calls Gaddafi’s Libya an ‘oasis of stability’; Police in Turkey use force to shut down opposition newspaper

In Tobruk, which is the current seat of the internationally recognized Libyan government, a member of parliament has been kidnapped, in the midst of a United Nations effort to negotiate a unified government.

Contents: Russia builds military presence in Dagestan after ISIS attack; US, Britain, France, Italy continue plans for Libya invasion against ISIS

The parliament of Libya’s internationally-recognized government, which controls less than half the country, rejected a painstakingly-negotiated United Nations proposal for a unified Libyan government on Monday.

TEL AVIV – Dozens of Russian, American, and British troops have been deployed to Libya ahead of an offensive against the Islamic State, Libyan sources told the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat. The forces are based in the Jamal Abdulnasir military base

Contents: ISIS assault in Libya giving militants control of oil fields; US, Britain, France preparing new Libya military offensive early in 2016

The largest piece of terra nullius in the world is one step closer to having an internationally-recognized government again. The two governments of Libya have signed a UN-brokered agreement to begin building a state in Tripoli, though members of both factions have loudly protested any such deal.

A video of unknown origin has surfaced, apparently showing guards in Tripoli, Libya, beating and berating Saadi Gaddafi, one of the many sons of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Saadi Gaddafi is being tried for the killing of a football player.

The UN brokered Libyan negotiations ended this week on Wednesday after two days of dialogue between the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR). These recent talks were the first since an agreement on July 11, 2015.

The Islamist government of Tripoli, one of two competing national governments in Libya, has sentenced Saif al-Gaddafi, son of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, to death. Few expect that sentence to be rendered, least of all the rebels that have kept Gaddafi in captivity and fear handing him over to be killed will only result in his escape.

Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Ghirani, who represented Tripoli’s Islamist Libyan Dawn government, warned that the lack of communication between European nations and Tripoli would result in an unstoppable deluge of immigrants into Europe.

An unnamed Arab League source tells Gannett’s Defense News that the heads of state of seven Arab countries will meet with Libyan officials on May 18 to discuss possible military intervention in that nation, as the Islamic State continues to expand its influence over large swaths of the country.

Egypt in mourning as ISIS-linked terrorists kill Coptic Christians in Libya; Egypt purchases fighter jets over fears of militias in Libya; Yemen may form second government in Aden

ISIS-linked group takes credit for hotel bombing in Tripoli Libya; Libya’s oil production plummets because of conflict; S&P lowers Russia’s bonds to junk status