Libya's Factions Make Progress in Central Bank Crisis Talks, Says UN Libya Mission

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Libya's Factions Make Progress in Central Bank Crisis Talks, Says UN Libya Mission

A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A view of the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli, Libya, August 26, 2024. REUTERS/Aymen Sahli/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Libya's rival factions made progress on talks over the central bank crisis and will continue discussions on Thursday to reach a final agreement, the UN Libya mission said on Wednesday, in a bid to defuse a crisis that has slashed oil output and exports.

"The participants of the two (legislative) chambers made progress in agreeing on the general principles governing the interim period leading to the appointment of a new governor and board of directors for the Central Bank," the United Nations Libya mission (UNSMIL) said in a statement.

According to Reuters, the meeting hosted by UNSMIL featured representatives from the Benghazi-based House of Representatives, the High Council of State and the Presidential Council, which are both based in Tripoli.

The standoff began last month when western Libyan factions moved to oust a veteran central bank governor, prompting eastern factions to declare a shutdown to all oil output.

Although Libya's two legislative bodies said last week they agreed to jointly appoint a central bank governor within 30 days, the situation remains fluid and uncertain.

Libyan oil exports fell around 81% last week, Kpler data showed on Wednesday, as the National Oil Corporation cancelled cargoes amid a crisis over control of Libya's central bank and oil revenue.



Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
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Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.