Middle East Near You

Foreign countries are now openly fighting their proxy war on Libyan soil and deciding on war, peace, and even when the country can resume its oil exports. In an...

Watching the recent military development in Libya, the obvious question is: does the US have a coherent strategy to counter the fast-growing Russian presence in the North African country?...

The League of Arab States (LAS) finally produced its last resolution on Libya, Resolution 8523, after its council met via video conference. On 19 June, Egypt called for the...

In early April 2019, General Khalifa Haftar’s offensive to take Tripoli by force seemed almost certain to succeed. Thirteen months later he not only lost, but was forced to...

Self-styled field marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), is a man with two interdependent missions. The first one is to rule Libya, while the...

Russia’s role in the Libyan crisis has been rather slow to develop, because Moscow was deeply busy with Syria’s civil war.  Sometimes, Russia even appeared disinterested in Libya from...

Since 2011, Libya’s territorial integrity and future has never been so deeply intertwined with the fate of one person, as it stands now. In 2011, the country’s future was...

The ongoing war in Libya did not start last year when Khalifa Haftar launched his attack to unseat the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital of Tripoli...

The latest statement from Turkey about Libya was issued on 10 May by the Foreign Ministry, which threatened the Libyan National Army (LNA) if it targets any Turkish interests...

Years ago, you heard very little about Libya except bad news. The Western media, quite deliberately, excluded good news about the country. Any Libyan story that was picked up...

This month, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Libyan capital and most of western Libya spent at least 20 days without water. This was in addition to living...

The Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, suffered a series of setbacks recently, losing three major cities in western Libya in less than a week....

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is yet to name his new envoy to Libya and head of its United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Ghassan Salame,...

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted for the first time last February that his government has sent Syrian mercenaries to Libya he was only confirming what was already known. Libyan affairs...

This Saturday marks a year since Libya’s Khalifa Haftar ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) to march on Tripoli to expel the Government of National Accord (GNA). On...

The only man to be convicted of the infamous Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, died in 2012 and protested his innocence until his final breath. His fellow Libyan and co-defendant,...

Of all Libya’s neighbours Egypt stands out as the most dangerous. Cairo now holds huge sway over Khalifa Haftar’s camp as his main regional backer to take the capital...

Last Monday, the French government hosted Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar on a brief, unannounced, visit to Paris. Accompanied by his top political advisor, my ex-academic colleague turned politician Fadel...

The UN Envoy and head of its Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has resigned after two-and-a-half years in the job. A UN spokesperson confirmed that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has...

Fathi Bashagha is the Interior Minister in Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), although many observers believe that he is the real power behind the throne. He rarely misses...

On 12 February, the UN Security Council adopted its long-awaited resolution 2510 on Libya endorsing the recommendations made by the Berlin Conference last month. International and regional powers met...

Next Monday marks nine years since the start of the foreign-backed uprising in Libya that toppled and then killed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, plunging the country into ongoing chaos...

On 17 December 2015, the Libyan Political Accord (LPA) was signed in Skhirat, Morocco to the cheers of major powers, regional actors and Libya’s immediate neighbours; it was hailed...

The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to meet yesterday to consult about Libya but the meeting was re-scheduled for today. The meeting was agreed to during 19 January’s...

Twelve world leaders, the UN, the EU, the Arab League and the African Union attended the Berlin Conference on Libya last Sunday. They produced a very detailed communique of...

Diplomatic activities between Moscow, Ankara, Tripoli and Benghazi finally yielded some kind of lull in the nine-month war over control of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. On Sunday 12 January,...

Last Monday marked a turning point in the ongoing battle for Tripoli. The Libyan National Army (LNA) entered the coastal city of Sirte, the home town of former ruler...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is submitting a bill to the Turkish parliament seeking approval for its plans to send troops to Libya. The parliament is expected to approve the...

Millions of Algerians cast their votes on 12 December and chose 74-year-old former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune as their country’s first freely-elected President since independence from France in 1962....

Last Tuesday, 17 December, marked four years since the Libyan Political Accord (LPA) was signed in Skhirat, Morocco creating the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez Al-Sarraj....

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) signed on 27 November two documents with Turkey. One deals with security while the other draws out the maritime boundaries between the two...

On Tuesday the United States House Intelligence Committee, investigating President Donald Trump, issued its report on the impeachment of the republican. Yesterday, the process of impeaching him moved to...