Turmoil in Libya (2011) and post-Gaddafi blowback

[daftandbarmy]

Mount a rescue op to get all foreigners out.Libya cannot protect the workers and a pullout will shut down their oil/gas fields.Maybe that will get their attention.

An interesting article on the state of their oil economy from the US Energy Information Administration:

http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=ly

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest:  U.S. now bombing the heck out of ISIS in LBY ...

• "U.S. Conducts Airstrikes Against ISIL in Sirte, Libya" (Pentagon Info-machine)
• "U.S. Marine Corps helicopters aboard amphibious assault ship and USAF drones lead new round of U.S. air strikes on ISIS in Libya" (The Aviationist)
• "U.S. launches strikes targeting IS in Libya" (AP)
• "US Begins Sustained Air Campaign Against ISIS in Libya" (Reuters, via Newsweek)
• "US fighter jets target ISIL in Libya for first time" (Al Jazeera English)

 

[CougarKing]

The latest in the fight against IS in Libya:

Army Times

U.S.-backed Libyan forces take over Islamic State HQ
Rami Musa, The Associated Press 3:07 p.m. EDT August 10, 2016
22nd MEU Performs Contingency Operations

BENGHAZI, Libya — U.S.-backed Libyan forces said on Wednesday they have taken over the Islamic State group's headquarters in Sirte, the militants' final bastion in Libya, breaking a weeks-long stalemate with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

The fighters said that they had seized control of the sprawling convention center that was used as ISIS's headquarters in the coastal city. The fighters, who are mainly from the nearby city of Misrata, launched their offensive against ISIS in June. They also said that they had seized the city's main hospital of Ibn Sina from ISIS militants.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Pirates or IS militants or another faction?

Marine Insight

Rescue Vessel Bourbon Argos Attacked By Armed Men
By MI News Network | In: Shipping News | Last Updated on August 29, 2016

On 17 August 2016, while conducting search and rescue operations off the Libyan coast, the MSF rescue vessel Bourbon Argos was approached and attacked by a group of armed men onboard an unidentified speedboat. MSF strongly condemns this violent act towards a medical humanitarian organisation whose sole objective in the Mediterranean is to conduct search and rescue activities in the absence of safe and legal channels for those fleeing armed conflict, disasters and extreme poverty, who lack safe and legal channels to flee.

The attack occurred 24 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast. Armed men on board the speedboat fired shots toward the Bourbon Argos from a distance of 400 to 500 metres and then boarded the vessel. There were no rescued people onboard that day, and neither the crew members nor the MSF staff were harmed.

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from LBY media, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...:

The spokesman of Khalifa Haftar’s forces, Ahmed Al-Mismari, vowed in a presser last Thursday that their forces will bomb the Canadian ship that is laden with humanitarian aids, which will likely arrive in Ganfouda in mid-December.

The Canadian ship is going to distribute humanitarian aids and medicines to the civilians trapped in Ganfouda.

“The Canadian ship will come to Ganfouda with evil intentions in the disguise of humanitarian assistance,” Al-Mismari said in the presser that was aired by Al-Thanni government’s Libya Al-Rasmiya TV.

He added that when human rights are used for such ends, then the Canadian ship must rethink its journey to Ganfouda because the security of the country is much more important than the human rights that are sponsored by the traitors.

“All ports and terminals in Benghazi and Derna are closed, except for the Brega and Tobruk commercial ports. This is because we have issued an order treating all the ports in military operations’ areas as shutdown ports,” Al-Mismari added.

He remarked that their forces are going to bomb any party that toys with the Libyan policy in its territorial waters.

Al-Mismari also likened the attempt of the Canadian ship to distribute aids to Ganfouda besieged people to that of the Turkish Mavi Marmara to break off the Israeli siege on Gaza when he said; “This ship is like the Mavi Marmara ship that wanted to enter Israel and Gaza.”

 

[daftandbarmy]

This from LBY media, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...:

I'd bomb it too if all it was carrying was AIDS

 

[George Wallace]

:rofl:

A little black humour never hurt anyone.......(Until thin skinned PC folk became involved.)

 

[The Bread Guy]

I'd bomb it too if all it was carrying was AIDS

Proofreading team -- UP!

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from LBY media, shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) ...:

The spokesman of Khalifa Haftar’s forces, Ahmed Al-Mismari, vowed in a presser last Thursday that their forces will bomb the Canadian ship that is laden with humanitarian (aid), which will likely arrive in Ganfouda in mid-December.

The Canadian ship is going to distribute humanitarian aids and medicines to the civilians trapped in Ganfouda ...

Update*:  delay in shipment ...

A flotilla was planned to set sail on December 10th with humanitarian aid for the suffering civilians of Ganfouda. Activists from the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Libya and others committed to join the trip in hopes of delivering the much needed aid to the Benghazi suburb.

In an official press conference on December 1st, a Colonel for General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, which is known as the Libyan National Army (LNA), stated on National Libyan TV that any attempt to send humanitarian aid, even if Canadian, will be bombed and attacked by air strikes and ground artillery. The UN and international community have yet to condemn the complete disregard for human rights by the LNA.

The flotilla has been named after a little girl, “Fatouha,” whose home was bombed and family members killed in Ganfouda. Activists, including medical experts, intend on delivering humanitarian aid including food packages, water, basic medicine and sanitary supplies.

Organizers are seeking the support of international humanitarian organizations including the UN OCHA, the ICRC, the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) to endorse and confirm the nature of the supplies on board so that there is no doubt of the ship’s contents.

A final date for departure is yet to be announced.

* - Statemement from a web site called freeganfouda.org, claiming to represent a group of some 130 families trapped/"held hostage" in the neighbourhood of Benghazi by forces (led by this guy) opposing the U.N.-sanctioned-government.  The URL's registered via Domains by Proxy, so not much to see there.  The group's Twitter account says it's based in the U.S.  All that said, caveat lector ...

 

[daftandbarmy]

Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown, Libya

I particularly enjoyed the part where he was unmasked as a former Boy Scout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4cDUDSVn0