Libya’s UN Mission forms panel to propose ways to solve election impasse

The UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced on Tuesday it had formed a committee to propose ways to resolve contentious issues hindering the holding of long-awaited national elections. (AFP/File)
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Updated 04 February 2025
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Libya’s UN Mission forms panel to propose ways to solve election impasse

  • An UNSMIL statement named the advisory committee’s 13 men and seven women members and said they would meet for the first time next week in Tripoli
  • The committee’s proposals would be submitted to the Mission “for consideration for the subsequent phase of the political process“

TRIPOLI: The UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced on Tuesday it had formed a committee to propose ways to resolve contentious issues hindering the holding of long-awaited national elections.
A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.
Libya has had little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing in each area.
An UNSMIL statement named the advisory committee’s 13 men and seven women members and said they would meet for the first time next week in Tripoli.
“The role of the Advisory Committee will be developing technically sound and politically viable proposals for resolving outstanding contentious issues to enable the holding of elections,” said UNSMIL.
UNSMIL said that the committee’s proposals would be submitted to the Mission “for consideration for the subsequent phase of the political process.”
“The Advisory Committee is not a decision-making body or a dialogue forum. It is time-bound and is expected to conclude its work in a short time frame,” the Mission explained.
UNSMIL said members were chosen for professionalism, expertise in legal, constitutional and/or electoral issues; an ability to build compromise and an understanding of Libya’s political challenges.

A Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021 but the Benghazi-based House of Representatives (HoR) no longer recognizes its legitimacy.
Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections.
Many Libyans have voiced skepticism that their political leaders are negotiating in good faith, believing them to be unwilling to bring forward elections that might remove them from their positions of power.
“Libyans are aware of the damaging effects that the current political divisions are having on their country, its unity, sovereignty and stability,” the Mission added.
The HoR was elected in 2014, while in Tripoli there is a High State Council that was formed as part of a 2015 political agreement and drawn from a parliament elected in 2012.
Last month UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Hanna Serwaa Tetteh of Ghana as special representative for Libya and head of UNSMIL, succeeding Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal.


Trump says ‘real pain is yet to come’ for Houthis, Iran

Updated 5 sec ago
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Trump says ‘real pain is yet to come’ for Houthis, Iran

  • The Houthis began targeting shipping after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians
  • Trump’s threat comes as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leaking of a secret text chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump vowed Monday that strikes on Yemen’s Houthis will continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping, warning the rebels and their Iranian backers of “real pain” to come.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Shortly after Trump’s threat, Yemeni rebel media said two US strikes Monday hit the island of Kamaran, off the Hodeida coast.
Houthi-held parts of Yemen have faced near daily attacks since the US launched a military offensive on March 15 to stop them threatening vessels in key maritime routes. The first day alone, US officials said they killed senior Houthi leaders, while the rebels’ health ministry said 53 people were killed.
Since then, rebels have announced the continued targeting of US military ships and Israel.
In his post Monday, Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
Trump’s threat comes as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leaking of a secret text chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.
It also comes amid a sharpening of Trump’s rhetoric toward Tehran, with the president threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.
The Houthis began targeting shipping after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.
“Our attacks will continue until they are no longer a threat to Freedom of Navigation,” Trump said.
The rising rhetoric from the Trump administration comes as it copes with the phone text scandal.
The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was accidentally included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the Yemen air strikes.
The officials, including Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.
Trump has rejected calls to sack Waltz or Hegseth and branded the scandal a “witch hunt.”
“This case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
 

 


Two killed in attack on Sudan refugee camp: medical source

Updated 23 min 9 sec ago
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Two killed in attack on Sudan refugee camp: medical source

  • A volunteer aid group in El-Fasher had earlier reported “intense bombardments” at the camp and explosive drones flying over the city

KHARTOUM: At least two people were killed in an attack on a refugee camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state, a medical source told AFP late Monday, blaming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The source at the Saudi hospital in the state capital, El-Fasher, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack on the Abu Shouk refugee camp also left seven wounded.
A volunteer aid group in El-Fasher had earlier reported “intense bombardments” at the camp and explosive drones flying over the city.
The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has been battling the military, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, since April 2023.
The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises. More than 12 million people have been uprooted, tens of thousands killed, and a UN-backed assessment declared famine in parts of the country.
While the military has reclaimed the capital Khartoum in recent days, Africa’s third-largest country remains essentially divided in two.
The army holds sway in the east and north, while the RSF controls most of the vast Darfur region in the west and parts of the south.
El-Fasher is the only regional state capital the RSF has not conquered, despite besieging the city for months.
On Monday night, the paramilitaries announced they had killed scores of soldiers and driven the army out of the Khor Al-Daleb region of South Kordofan state, near areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, which has entered into an alliance with the RSF.

 


Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead

Updated 01 April 2025
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Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead

  • Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement

AÏTAROUN, Lebanon: In the war-devastated southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun on Monday, residents marked the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr among their dead.
Relatives crowded the village’s cemeteries to pray for the more than 100 residents, including fighters from Hezbollah, killed during the war between the militant group and Israel that ended with a fragile ceasefire in November.
“We defied the entire world by being here in Aitaroun to celebrate Eid with our martyrs,” Siham Ftouni said near the grave of her son, a rescuer with an Islamic health organization affiliated with Hezbollah.
“Their blood permitted us to come back to our village,” she said.
During the war, Lebanese state media reported that Israeli troops used explosives in Aitaroun and two nearby villages to blow up houses. The town square is heavily damaged.
Few people have returned to live or to reopen businesses.
The story is the same in other villages in southern Lebanon.
In Aitaroun, more than 90 of the village’s dead — including some who died from natural causes — were buried only a month ago when Israeli troops pulled out.
Under the ceasefire, Israel had 60 days to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, but it did not pull most of them back until February 18 after the initial deadline was extended.
On Monday, beneath yellow Hezbollah flags, Ftouni and other women clad in black let their grief pour out.
A young girl sat near the grave of a woman, holding her photo surrounded by flowers.
Other pictures, of infants and young men in military uniform, lay on top of graves, and the sound of funeral orations triggered tears.
Some visitors handed out sweets and other foods to mourners who came from further away.
“This year, Eid is different from the years before,” said Salim Sayyed, 60, a farmer originally from Aitaroun. “Aitaroun, which lost more than 120 martyrs including many women and children, is living a sad Eid.”
He added: “The will to live will remain stronger than death.”
The war saw the killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, and the group’s military infrastructure was devastated. Yet it continues to proclaim victory after more than a year of conflict that escalated to full-blown war and killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon.
Despite the ceasefire deal, Israeli troops remain inside Lebanon at five points it deems strategic.
Both Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of truce violations.
Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
On Friday Israel bombed southern Beirut for the first time since the truce after rockets were fired toward its territory.
Imad Hijazi, 55, a taxi driver, said the security uncertainty was no deterrent to those wanting to spend Eid beside the graves of their loved ones.
“The sadness was immense. Everyone was shaken by the loss of loved ones. I lost 23 members of my family in an Israeli strike,” Hijazi said.
“I was ashamed to convey Eid greetings to my relatives or my friends.”


At least 322 children reportedly killed in Gaza in 10 days: UN

Updated 01 April 2025
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At least 322 children reportedly killed in Gaza in 10 days: UN

UNITED NATIONS: Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza has reportedly left at least 322 children dead and 609 wounded in the Palestinian territory in the past 10 days, UNICEF said Monday.
The figures include children who were reportedly killed or wounded when the surgical department of Al Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, was hit in an attack on March 23, the UN children’s agency said in a statement.
UNICEF said most of these children were displaced, and sheltering in makeshift tents or damaged homes.
Ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas, Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive.
“The ceasefire in Gaza provided a desperately needed lifeline for Gaza’s children and hope for a path to recovery,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“But children have again been plunged into a cycle of deadly violence and deprivation.”
Russell added: “All parties must adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect children.”
The UNICEF statement said that after nearly 18 months of war, more than 15,000 children have reportedly been killed, over 34,000 reportedly injured, and nearly one million children have been displaced repeatedly and denied basic services.
UNICEF called for an end to hostilities and for Israel to end its ban on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, which has been in force since March 2.
It also said children who are sick or wounded should be evacuated to receive medical attention.
“Food, safe water, shelter, and medical care have become increasingly scarce. Without these essential supplies, malnutrition, diseases and other preventable conditions will likely surge, leading to an increase in preventable child deaths,” UNICEF said.
“The world must not stand by and allow the killing and suffering of children to continue,” it added.


Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall

Updated 01 April 2025
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Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall

  • “The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road”

DAMASCUS: Eid Al-Fitr in Syria was charged with newfound joy this year, as thousands freely celebrated the holiday for the first time after the fall of Bashar Assad.
From the early morning hours, crowds of men, women and children flocked to pray at Damascus’s historic Umayyad Mosque in the Old City.
“This is the first time we truly feel the joy of Eid, after getting rid of Assad’s tyrannical regime,” Fatima Othman told AFP.
Following prayer, worshippers exchanged Eid greetings while street vendors sold colorful balloons and toys to children posing for photos with their parents.
“Our celebration is doubled after Assad’s fall,” said Ghassan Youssef, a resident of the capital.
A few kilometers (miles) away, on the slopes of Mount Qasyun overlooking Damascus — a site previously off-limits to Syrians until Assad was deposed on December 8 — a few thousand people gathered at Unknown Soldier Square for an open-air prayer.
Among them were members of the security forces and the army, dressed in uniform and armed. The road leading to the square was packed, according to an AFP photographer.
Some worshippers distributed sweets to celebrate, while the three-star Syrian flag, adopted by the new authorities, waved in the air.
Under the previous government, access to the Unknown Soldier monument was typically restricted to Assad and his close associates, who would lay wreaths there during national ceremonies.
The memorial, where a giant screen broadcast the Eid prayer, is near the presidential palace.
There, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa prayed alongside Syria’s new mufti Osama Al-Rifai and several cabinet ministers in the presence of a large crowd.
He later delivered a speech emphasising the country faced “a long and arduous road to reconstruction but possesses all the resources needed to recover.”
This came two days after the formation of a new government, which faces daunting challenges in a country devastated by 14 years of civil war.
Wael Hamamiya, who had been in Sweden since the early days of the conflict, returned to Damascus to celebrate Eid with his family.
“This is my first Eid here in nearly 15 years. I truly feel the celebration in its full meaning,” he told AFP, beaming.
“Everyone who has come is over the moon. This is the celebration of celebrations!“
The occasion was more somber for some Syrians, who were able to visit the graves of loved ones that had been off-limits during Assad reign, especially in former opposition strongholds.
At Al-Rawda Cafe in Damascus, 36-year-old Amer Hallaq chatted with friends after returning from exile in Berlin where he ended up after dodging compulsory military service in 2014.
“For years, I thought I’d never see my family again or celebrate Eid with them,” Hallaq said.
“The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road.”