Libya

TRIPOLI, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Libya received a batch of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines on Monday amid the country's stepped-up effort to vaccinate as many people as possible.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Monday along with Health Minister Ali Zanati at the Mitiga International Airport of the capital Tripoli upon the arrival of the vaccines, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said another shipment of the vaccine is expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Dbeibah called on people to get vaccinated as soon as possible "as this is the only way to stop the virus."

TRIPOLI, Aug 2 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Libyan Interior Ministry said that people who breach curfew instructions against COVID-19 could be punished with six months in prison or receive a fine of 200 dinars or both.

The ministry said the decision aims to “save people’s lives, maintain their safety, and prevent rapid spread of the virus.”

Interior Minister Khaled Mazen issued instructions to all security services to implement the instructions.

The Libyan Government has imposed a curfew due to an increased number of COVID-19 infections.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey welcomed the reopening of a strategic coastal road linking Libya's east to its west, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

"We welcome the official opening of the Misrata – Sirte Coastal Road on 30 July 2021, which has been closed for a long time," it said in a statement.

TRIPOLI, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German NGO Sea-Watch says it rescued nearly 100 migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe “fuel burns” – chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater.

Late on Thursday, the vessel Sea-Watch 3 rescued 33 migrants and refugees from two boats which had been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard in the search and rescue zone of the Mediterranean assigned to Malta, the organisation said in a Twitter post early on Friday morning.

TRIPOLI, July 30 (Reuters) - Libya's warring sides reopened the main coast road across the frontline on Friday, a key element of a ceasefire they agreed last year that has involved months of negotiations.

The U.N.-backed 5+5 committee drawn from commander Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and western-based forces that have supported Tripoli-based governments said in a statement the road was open from 0900 GMT.

28 July 2021; MEMO: Libyan militia leader, Al-Kani, accused of major human rights violations and sanctioned by the United States, was shot dead in Libya's eastern Benghazi province yesterday, AP reported officials saying.

According to AP, the officials said Al-Kani was killed along with one of his associates during an exchange of gunfire.

The Libyan Al-Mashhad news website quoted local sources as saying that Al-Kani was "killed in a farm where he resides in Benghazi".

QUBAH, Libya, July 27 (Reuters) - Libya will return to "square one" and the turmoil of 2011 if national elections planned for December are delayed, the speaker of parliament said, with a new rival government likely to set itself up in the east.

The elections are seen in the West as a critical step in efforts to bring stability to Libya, which has been in chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

26 July 2021; MEMO: Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah said there will be no more wars in Libya and that his government will provide Sabha, a region in the south, with all necessary services to alleviate the people's suffering, local media reports.

Dbeibah said at a cabinet meeting in Sabha yesterday that his government is committed to securing the southern region with a plan in place to support the security apparatus to fight crime and terrorism and secure the elections on 24 December.

TRIPOLI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Interior Ministry on Friday said it would start to investigate the armed clashes between two of its security forces that broke out in the capital city a day earlier.

The ministry has been closely following Thursday's events "which led to heavy shootings" in central Tripoli between patrols of the Stabilization Support Department and the Deterrence Department of Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime, it said in a statement.

03 July 2021; MEMO: Coordinator of the UN Mission in Libya, Raisedon Zenenga, announced on Friday the conclusion of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Geneva, without succeeding to reach an agreement on the constitutional basis.

At the concluding session on the fifth day of the LPDF meetings, the UN official called on its members to "pursue a compromise solution that unites the Libyan parties, continue consultations between members, and seek a solution that enhances your unity."