Libya: Sarraj’s Surprise Visit Reopens Sharara Oilfield

FILE PHOTO: Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny/File Photo
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Libya: Sarraj’s Surprise Visit Reopens Sharara Oilfield

FILE PHOTO: Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny/File Photo

Libya's biggest oilfield, El Sharara, will reopen, after the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, flew there to persuade protesters to end a blockage.

Production had not restarted yet as oil workers were waiting for orders from state oil firm NOC.

During his visit on Wednesday, Sarraj met with the representatives from the “Fezzan Rage Movement” and leaders from Battalion 30 affiliated with the oil facilities guards.

The Tripoli-based government had earlier announced a development fund worth 1 billion Libyan dinars ($717 million) for the long-neglected south in a bid to appease the protesters.

The GNA’s announcement came despite warnings made by NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla against paying a ransom to the “Fezzan Rage Movement” that had halted crude production at the country's largest oilfield.

NOC said the guards had facilitated the protest.

"Any attempt to pay a ransom to the group which shut down El Sharara (oilfield) would set a dangerous precedent that would threaten the recovery of the Libyan economy," Sanalla said in a statement last week.

The protesters had demanded better state services for the south, which produces around 400,000 bpd of day, but lacks basic facilities such as hospitals or electricity.

Sarraj’s visit Wednesday came as the US State Department announced in a statement that Washington “continues to monitor the situation at the Sharara oil field and supports the call for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of armed elements in the area, which is crucial to allow oil production for the benefit of all Libyans to resume.”

“We call on all parties to resolve issues through constructive dialogue and peaceful means in the spirit of compromise, rather than through threats of violence,” it said.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.