Saturday 8 May 2021
At sunrise, under cumulonimbus like cloud mountains, a trawler leaves Mazara del Vallo. The skipper has her on slow ahead. Between this little Sicilian port and Tunisia, just over the horizon, are fat catches of sardines, anchovies and prawns. There is almost no hurry in this region, none on the coast this morning. The sea has been flat for days. I began my exploration of western Sicily here because Mazara is its ancient gateway and one of the towns I love best. An easy drive from the station or the airport at Palermo, along a road that takes you past the stunning Greek temple at Segesta, Mazara is the most languid edge of Europe.
Thursday 29/04/2021
Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah receives his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in the capital Tripoli on April 20, 2021. (AFP)
There are many who want a new war in Libya.
Among them there those who do not want the elections to be held as scheduled on December 24.
There are also those who are looking for justifications to keep the Turkish forces and mercenaries in the country, and those who reject, not only the presence of Field Marshal Haftar as the head of the army, but the very existence of a national army.
They want to substitute for the army a national guard that would simply protect the borders and facilities and not interfere with the warlords, smuggling barons, terrorist groups and those involved in corruption and plundering of public money and the thieves of oil and budget allocations.
Can Greece use its position in the European Union to tempt Libya away from Ankara’s fold?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and the Libyan Government of National Unity s Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah attend a signing ceremony after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, April 12, 2021.
April 21, 2021
A series of state visits by leaders of Libya’s new National Unity Government to Athens and Ankara last week laid bare the difficulty Greece faces in swaying the North African country away from its Mediterranean rival Turkey.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Libyan counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took credit for rescuing Libya’s UN-backed government, claiming that help “came from Turkey alone.”
InfoMigrants By Emma Wallis Published on : 2021/04/20
The Italian interior minister has met with Libyan leaders in Tripoli. Migration was at the top of the agenda as ministers from both countries “reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral relations.”
Luciana Lamorgese, Italy’s interior minister, met with the head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohammed Menfi on Monday, April 19. The Italian newspaper
Avvenire called it a flying visit , after Lamorgese took off from Rome at 9 a.m. and returned by the afternoon. Despite its relatively short duration,
Avvenire said the talks had substance.
Migration was high on the agenda as the two officials reaffirmed the significance of bilateral relations between Rome and Tripoli in all fields, an Italian interior ministry press release stated.
April 19, 2021
A high-profile visit by Libya’s new interim prime minister, complete with economic accords, has cheered Turkey up, but Ankara s interests in the war-torn country remain far from guaranteed amid a flurry of rival diplomacy ahead of Libya’s elections in December.
The formation of a new unity government in Libya earlier this year has eroded Turkey’s decisive influence over Tripoli under the previous administration, which drew on Turkish military support to save Tripoli from falling and then make gains on the battlefield against rival eastern forces, backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
To make the most of the transition process by the Dec. 24 elections, Turkey has pinned hope on Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, who took office in mid-March. Dbeibeh received a red-carpet welcome in Ankara on April 12-13, unlike Mohammed al-Menfi, the head of Libya’s new presidency council, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to greet without a ceremony