Libya

Libya remains entangled in a “cycle of violence, atrocities and impunity”, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council on Wednesday, nearly a decade since the Court began its work in the country.

Religious issues and leadership play an increasingly important role in the lives of many Malians, but international actors are ill-equipped to understand and analyse this. … This paper examines the history of Islam in Mali, as well as the influence of some of the most important Muslim leaders in the country.

Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord on Tuesday reopened Mitiga, Tripoli’s only functioning airport, after almost two months of closure, the transportation minister said.

Germany's foreign minister says he's seeking an end to all "foreign interference" in war-torn Libya. Heiko Maas says this issue is a "fundamental problem" in Libya that will be discussed at a conference on the North African country, which will take place in Berlin later this year.

[…] A report by Amnesty International released Tuesday said warring parties have killed and maimed scores of civilians. The report says both sides are launching indiscriminate attacks and using inaccurate explosive weapons in populated urban areas.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has condemned the airstrike on Monday that killed three children in Al-Fernaj neighborhood in Tripoli, deploring in the strongest possible terms the reckless disregard for the lives of innocent people, and calls for the immediate cessation of such indiscriminate attacks.

The UN envoy for Libya hopes an international conference next month will produce a Security Council resolution committing foreign powers to stopping an escalating proxy war and an accelerated mechanism to enforce an arms embargo. The conference, organised by Germany, is set to be the first major diplomatic push to end fighting that began when eastern-based forces led by Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on Tripoli six months ago.

Libya’s current conflict is emerging as a very different one to what has been fought before in the country, or the world. Fleets of long-range drones carry out strikes, cyber-attacks proclaim the end of governments, and social media propaganda has become all-consuming.

The Council today extended the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia by six months, until 31 March 2020. The deployment of the Operation's naval assets will remain temporarily suspended, as EU member states continue to work in the appropriate fora on a solution on disembarkation as part of the follow-up to the June 2018 European Council conclusions.

Libya's conflict has increasingly become a proxy war between foreign powers, which have been backing various armed groups since the 2011 uprising against Moammar Gadhafi. … Egypt, along with the United Arab Emirates, is a supporter of Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, whose Libya National Army (LNA) has been trying to take Tripoli from forces allied with the internationally recognized government (GNA). Turkey and Qatar both back the GNA.