Libya’s unity government late on Tuesday announced that it would halt its participation in UN talks aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country, where a fragile truce has been repeatedly broken.
The pullout came after a barrage of rocket fire hit the port in the capital Tripoli — the target of a months-long operation by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to oust the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA).
“We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva [Switzerland] until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor [Haftar] and his violations” of the truce, the GNA said in a news release. “Without a lasting ceasefire ... negotiations make no sense. There can be no peace under the bombing.”
Photo: Reuters
The port strikes were the latest contraventions of a tenuous truce that came into effect last month, brokered by Russia, which backs Haftar, and Turkey, which supports the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
“It is clear the objective of the systematic bombardments of the residential areas, the airport and the port, in addition to the total blockage of the oil installations, is to provoke crises for the citizens in all the aspects of their life,” the GNA statement said.
It added that Haftar’s forces were “trying in vain” to destabilize the state, having failed to seize power.
UN Support Mission in Libya head Ghassan Salame on Tuesday launched the second round of talks in the latest international effort to end fighting between the warring sides, with five senior officers from the GNA and five appointed by Haftar’s Libyan National Army taking part.
A first round of the talks ended with no result earlier this month, but Salame said that there was “more hope” this time, mainly because of the approval of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “lasting ceasefire.”
Haftar in April last year launched his offensive on Tripoli, but after rapid advances his forces stalled on the edges of the capital.
The fighting has left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced about 140,000, the UN has reported.
Further talks were planned to start in Geneva on Wednesday next week on finding a solution.
Last month, world leaders agreed at a Berlin summit to end all meddling in the conflict and stop the flow of weapons, but little has changed on the ground since then.
EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to launch a naval mission to Libya to enforce an arms embargo, which the UN has said was being broken by air, land and sea.
The naval operation would be authorized to intervene to stop weapons shipments to Libya.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of