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.



Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
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Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo

Libya's eastern-based parliament has approved a national reconciliation and transitional justice law, three lawmakers said, a measure aimed at reunifying the oil-producing country after over a decade of factional conflict.

The House of Representatives (HoR) spokesperson, Abdullah Belaihaq, said on the X platform that the legislation was passed on Tuesday by a majority of the session's attendees in Libya's largest second city Benghazi.

However, implementing the law could be challenging as Libya has been divided since a 2014 civil war that spawned two rival administrations vying for power in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

"I hope that it (the law) will be in effect all over the country and will not face any difficulty," House member Abdulmenam Alorafi told Reuters by phone on Wednesday.

The United Nations mission to Libya has repeatedly called for an inclusive, rights-based transitional justice and reconciliation process in the North African country.

A political process to end years of institutional division and outright warfare has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.

In Tripoli, there is the Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah that was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021, but the parliament no longer recognizes its legitimacy. Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections.

There are two competing legislative bodies - the HoR that was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition, and the High Council of State in Tripoli formed as part of a 2015 political agreement and drawn from a parliament first elected in 2012.

The Tripoli-based Presidential Council, which came to power with GNU, has been working on a reconciliation project and holding "a comprehensive conference" with the support of the UN and African Union. But it has been unable to bring all rival groups together because of their continuing differences.