Libyen

Military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces dominate eastern Libya, held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, his forces and the Kremlin said. Haftar, who sponsors a rival administration to Libya's UN-backed government in Tripoli, has long cultivated close relations with Moscow and relies heavily on Russian mercenary group Wagner for military support.

The authorities in eastern Libya want to rebuild the town of Derna as quickly as possible, nearly two weeks after a flash flood destroyed more than 20 percent of the Libyan port city.

Hundreds of people have protested in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, venting anger against authorities and demanding accountability one week after a flood killed thousands of residents and destroyed entire neighbourhoods.

The UN system is providing aid to areas in eastern Libya impacted by the weekend floods and a disaster assessment team has been deployed to support government response and relief operations, the UN said on Wednesday.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh on Monday sacked Foreign Minister Najla Al-Mangoush. … The move came one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that he had met with Al-Mangoush in Rome, Italy, last week.

On Friday evening, the air force of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) bombarded Chadian rebel positions on the Libyan side of the border, before launching an airborne assault, its press office said. The LNA did not specify which Chadian armed faction was the target of its operation. A number of rebel groups operate out of the Tibesti mountains which straddle the border.

After calling for elections in Libya ahead of government unification for years, the United Nations now says unification should come before voting. Its Libya envoy, Abdoulaye Bathily, said on Tuesday that it is imperative stakeholders agree on a unified government that could then lead Libya into elections.

At least 55 people were reported killed and over 100 injured - including civilians - in fighting between the Deterrence Apparatus for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DACOT) and the 444 Brigade, on 14 and 15 August, the head of the UN political mission in Libya, UNSMIL, told the Security Council.

Two powerful militias that back Libya's UN-supported government have clashed in the capital, Tripoli, killing 55 people and injuring 146 others, medics say. The fierce fighting, which erupted on Monday until late on Tuesday, forced the city's main airport to close.

The Tripoli-based High State Council (HSC) on Sunday chose Mohammed Takala in a run-off by 67 votes to 62, unseating its former head Khaled al-Mishri, who had led the HSC since 2018. The introduction of a new leader at the helm of a key political institution could add more uncertainly to the country’s already divided politics.