Libya

NOVANEWS Nureddin Sabir, Editor, Redress Information & Analysis, writes: Libyan tribal leaders, local councils, civil society organisations, activists and youth groups have affirmed their support for Libya’s only elected body, the House of Representatives (the parliament) and the Libyan National Army, led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar. In a statement, read out in English in the video below, they also declared their opposition to the United-Nations-brokered body, the so-called “Government of National Accord” (GNA), and the Skhirat Agreement of 2015, which set up that body. Video Player The GNA is led by one Fayez al-Sarraj, a non-entity who acts as front-man for the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and other Islamist groups, many of which are active supporters of terrorism. The MB lost...

NOVANEWS If anyone’s getting bored of me talking about the Libya intervention in 2011, I apologise – and I probably won’t do it again after this. But I just need to clear something up once and for all; because people keep arguing with me about this. Specifically, this post is addressed to anyone who keeps saying “the intervention was legal” or “The United Nations authorized it”. And it isn’t just people arguing with me over email or via Twitter: what’s worse by far is having to watch smug-faced and remorseless politicians or ‘experts’, even five years later, still shrugging their shoulders and saying “well, it was entirely legal this time – we had a UN mandate”. It was their permanent trump card every time someone questioned the legality or legitimacy of the Libya intervention – “We...

NOVANEWS Review of Paolo Sensini’s book, Sowing Chaos: Libya in the Wake of Humanitarian Intervention By Edward Curtin  It is rare for a historian to write a history of a significant issue and bring it into the present time; even rarer when the work coincides with the reemergence of that issue on the world stage. Paolo Sensini has done just that with Sowing Chaos: Libya in the Wake of Humanitarian Intervention (Clarity Press, 2016). It is a revelatory historical analysis of the exploitation and invasion of Libya by colonial and imperialistic powers for more than a century. It is also timely since the western powers, led by the United States, have  once again invaded Libya (2011), overthrown its government, and are in the process (2016) of creating further chaos and destruction by bombing...

NOVANEWS Following in the wake of the Chilcot Report into the Iraq War, British MPs have issued a substantial condemnation of David Cameron and Britain’s key role in the collapse of Libya. It comes far too late; but it is nevertheless a significant moment and acknowledgement of the utter disaster that Britain played a substantial role in, even if France was the primary driver (of what I have called and will continue to call ‘the crime of the century’). The report by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee – consisting of members of Cameron’s own party – has delivered what has been described as a “scathing” verdict on Britain’s involvement in the intervention in 2011, the downfall of Gaddafi and the collapse of the Libyan nation into a failed state and jihadist playground. The report si...

NOVANEWS By Garikai Chengu Global Research   This article was first published on October 19, 2014. This week marks the three-year anniversary of the Western-backed assassination of Libya’s former president, Muammar Gaddafi, and the fall of one of Africa’s greatest nations. In 1967 Colonel Gaddafi inherited one of the poorest nations in Africa; however, by the time he was assassinated, Gaddafi had turned Libya into Africa’s wealthiest nation. Libya had the highest GDP per capita and life expectancy on the continent. Less people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands. After NATO’s intervention in 2011, Libya is now a failed state and its economy is in shambles. As the government’s control slips through their fingers and into to the militia fighters’ hands, oil p...

NOVANEWS A couple of months ago when the UN-sponsored ‘Government of National Accord’(GNA) was sent to take control of all national institutions, Libya was already being ruled by two different, rival parliaments: the Islamist-dominated ‘National Salvation’ government in Tripoli and the internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk in the east. The actual result of this painstaking UN brokered peace process is that Libya now has three rival governments instead of two: and none of them appears capable of governing or unifying the once stable nation. But the UN-backed GNA might be the least capable of the three and has just suffered an embarrassing vote of no confidence: members of the Libyan House of Representatives have voted against the UN ‘Government of National Accord’ by 61...

NOVANEWS By Alexander KUZNETSOV  As recently acknowledged by The Washington Post, US Special Forces are directly involved in military operations in Libya, «coordinating American airstrikes and providing intelligence information» to local forces battling the Islamic State (IS) for Sirte, 450 kilometres to the east of Tripoli. British special forces have also been active in Libya for several months, providing direct military support to brigades from Misurata (Libya’s third largest city situated in the northwest of the country), which are also attacking Sirte. Paradoxically, the British and Americans are supporting irreconcilable enemies in the Libyan conflict as allies. France is also involved in the intervention in Libya. On 26 July, in Libya a helicopter containing three French soldiers...