Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
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America's new Libya strategy: is it about Libya or about kicking Russia out of Libya?
Last May, three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Biden-Harris Administration released what it called “Global Fragility Act”: a policy paper aimed at ending conflicts around the globe or, at least, containing their aftermaths away from the United States. Libya featured high in that document, not only as an...
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Land for peace initiatives are non-starters for Israel
Israel has burnt every olive branch offered by the Palestinians, starting with the late Yasser Arafat’s famous 1974 speech at the UN when he told the occupation state, “I came with the olive branch in one hand and the freedom fighter’s gun in the other. Do not let the...
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Can Cairo torpedo the UN’s plans in Libya despite its rapprochement with foe Ankara?
Egypt warmly welcomed Turkiye’s Foreign Minister for the first time in a decade that saw relations between the two countries soured over, mainly, what Ankara saw as a “coup” that deposed its Muslim Brotherhood ally, the late President Mohammed Morsi. Mr. Cavusoglu’s visit to Cairo came after his boss,...
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Libya has a water problem despite its abundance of ‘black gold’
Libya is one of the driest countries in the Middle East-North Africa region, which is itself home to eleven of the fifteen driest countries in the world. The average annual rainfall in Libya is less than 26mm, with rain mainly in the winter months, and occasionally in early spring,...
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Will a sudden agreement in Libya mean elections this year?
The aim of the UN mission in Libya has always been to help the country reach the end of the transitional period which has been in progress since the 2011 civil war ended. Each UN envoy tried in his or her own way to reach that goal through complicated...
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Libyans still insist on simultaneous presidential and legislative elections
The latest meeting of ambassadors of the countries with stakes in Libya, sometimes known as the Libya Contact Group, ended with a call for both presidential and legislative elections in the country this year and support for UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. The meeting in Washington on 23 February was...
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Why are foreign ‘bogeymen’ allowed to hamper Libya’s progress 12 years after the revolution?
It is 12 years since the so-called Arab Spring visited Libya and ended the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s government, plunging the country into chaos, violence and civil war. The promise back in 2011 was that Libya would become a flourishing oasis of stability, peace and democracy on the southern...
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Netanyahu’s six lies in one interview
In his first major international interview since returning to power, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to CNN earlier this month. He demonstrated that he is still a prolific liar misleading the public very deliberately about various policy issues. One thing stood out throughout the entire interview: Netanyahu is...
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The irony of Israel offering to make peace between Russia and Ukraine
Occupiers do not criticise other occupiers, do they? It does not make sense, and it sounds ridiculous if they do. For example, imagine Tel Aviv criticising Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and how, innocent Israel might choose its words in making an official statement of such criticism? The idea of...
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Time for social media companies to end their anti-Palestine bias
Try searching Facebook for this name, Hassan Nasrallah, and result comes back with a warning that says “Are you sure you want to continue? The term you searched for is sometimes associated with activities of Dangerous Individuals and Organisations, which isn’t allowed on Facebook.” The warning does not explain...
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Why has the director of the CIA just visited Libya?
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arrived unannounced in Tripoli on 12 January for a brief visit that lasted just a few hours. In the first leg of the visit, William Burns met Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in the Libyan capital, along with Foreign Minister...
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Dbeibeh has few options left after a Libyan court suspended his hydrocarbon deal with Ankara
Social media in Libya is abuzz following the news that a Tripoli court has suspended the implementation of the Libya-Turkiye hydrocarbon exploration deal that was signed last October between Ankara and the Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh-led Government of National Unity (GNU). The Memorandum of Understanding gives Turkish oil companies the...
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UN envoys to Libya fail because of the body’s failure
When his name was circulating last summer as a candidate for the position of United Nations envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily was almost unknown except within the halls of the UN itself. A former history professor and former Senegalese minster Bathily served in a number of roles for the...
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Should anyone be embarrassed by Netanyahu’s return to power?
Have you ever heard of Kach? No? Never mind, but if you do not know what Kach was then it is likely that you do not know who Itamar Ben-Gvir is. In fact, the Israeli parliamentarian has a well-documented history of racism and has been convicted of hate speech...
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The long overdue China-Arab summit highlights Beijing’s increasing assertiveness
On 9 December, Saudi Arabia hosted the first Arab-China summit, a rare event marking Beijing’s new approach to relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The summit which brought together all Arab states and China came five months after another summit that saw President Joe Biden...
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What might a second Lockerbie trial look like?
Libyan Abu Agila Muhammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi will appear for the second time before a federal court in Washington DC next Tuesday where he will be told formally of the charges against him. Mas’ud first appeared in court eight days ago after he was kidnapped from his bedroom in...
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How did a Libyan man kidnapped in Tripoli end up facing trial in US custody?
On 12 December, Libyan citizen Abu Agila Muhammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, 74, appeared in a federal court in Washington D.C., accused of helping blow up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December, 1988, Killing 270 people of 21 nationalities. Mas’ud’s story began when a little after...
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How far can the ICC go in seeking out Israel for its crimes in Palestine?
Last February, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it has jurisdiction over Gaza, Occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. The office of the Prosecutor, the announcement said, the “Government of Palestine” has accepted the Rome Statute, which established the Court over two decades earlier. This means the Government...
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What has the EU done for Libya so far?
The European Union (EU) is supposed to have a common regional policy, particularly in relation to its immediate neighbourhood, which includes the entire North African region. Such a policy is assumed to represent the bloc’s response, as a whole, to regional issues, including that of security. And the bloc...
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Athens-Tripoli row: Why is Greece so angry with Libya?
On 17, November, a plane carrying Greece’s Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, landed in Mitiga International Airport, in Tripoli, but the visitor refused to disembark once he was told that his counterpart, Najla Al-Mangoush, was waiting to welcome him. Instead, he decided to leave Tripoli and head for Benghazi, Eastern...
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Libya’s wily and opportunistic elite promise elections but prepare for war
The mood in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, is sombre and uncertain. While people go about their daily routine they are busy trying to figure out if another war is coming or not. They are still reeling from the sudden eruption of violence last August between two local militias that killed...
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Arab leaders claim to promote Palestine, but actually do the opposite
The Arab League summit which has just ended in Algiers was hailed by Algerian officials, pro government media and commentators as a success despite all of its shortcomings manifested in the absence of leaders of key countries such as Saudi Arabia and Morocco who were represented by their respective...
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Will the UN’s first African Envoy to Libya succeed where others have failed?
After nearly a year, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, secured the approval of the Security Council to appoint his choice of Special Envoy to Libya. The new Envoy is a former Senegalese minister and experienced UN diplomat, Abdoulaye Bathily. He is also to head the UN’s mission in...
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How to prevent Israel’s Arab friends from becoming its lobby in Algeria-hosted Arab Summit?
Re-emerging Algeria badly needs to host a major event like the summit of the League of Arab States (LAS) which is due to convene in the capital, Algiers, on 1 – 2 November. The country has been through almost three years of social disturbances that forced the former president...