ISIS Terrorist Attack Kills Seven in West Libya

The scene of the terrorist attack east of Tripoli on Thursday, August 23, 2018. (Reuters)
The scene of the terrorist attack east of Tripoli on Thursday, August 23, 2018. (Reuters)
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ISIS Terrorist Attack Kills Seven in West Libya

The scene of the terrorist attack east of Tripoli on Thursday, August 23, 2018. (Reuters)
The scene of the terrorist attack east of Tripoli on Thursday, August 23, 2018. (Reuters)

ISIS affiliates killed seven security personnel and injured at least 10 others Thursday in an attack on a security checkpoint in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

This attack took place shortly after the broadcast of a voice recording by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to incite his supporters to launch more terrorist attacks in several Arab countries, including Libya.

In a statement, head of Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj pledged to pursue the perpetrators of Thursday’s attack.

“They will not escape impunity and will not find a safe place for them in Libya."

He pointed out that he has given instructions to the ministry of interior and security services to probe the attack and arrest the perpetrators.

“This terrible crime is carried out only by criminals, who have been stripped out of their humanity and of all values and religious and moral laws," Sarraj said in his statement.

“Such crimes will only increase the Libyans' determination to fight terrorism.”

“Our country faces a terrorist enemy that targets its stability. We will exert all efforts to fight it and obtain every possible support to monitor, prosecute and punish the perpetrators,” Sarraj stressed.

Separately, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes Von der Muhll announced that she encourages all initiatives within the framework of UN mediation aimed at achieving reconciliation and stability in Libya.

In response to France's position on the Italian initiative backed by Washington to hold a conference on Libya, she said that Paris stresses that the political solution, under the auspices of the UN, is the only way to establish stability in a sustainable manner in Libya.

She stressed the need to adopt a constitutional basis to carry out presidential and legislative elections, which was set and approved by the main Libyan parties during the May Paris conference that brought together rival Libyan factions.

The gatherers agreed during the talks to held presidential and parliamentary elections in December.

Moreover, the French official said that Paris was following up on Italian efforts to hold a conference on Libya later this year.

After receiving American backing, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been seeking to organize an international conference on Libya in the fall.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.