Libyan Airlines Says Pilot Kidnapped in Tripoli

Troops from eastern Libyan forces are seen in Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, Libya April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
Troops from eastern Libyan forces are seen in Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, Libya April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
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Libyan Airlines Says Pilot Kidnapped in Tripoli

Troops from eastern Libyan forces are seen in Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, Libya April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
Troops from eastern Libyan forces are seen in Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, Libya April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

Libyan Airways in Benghazi announced that an armed group kidnapped one of its pilots from his residence in Tripoli on Monday evening.

In a statement, Libyan Airlines said an unknown armed group broke into the hotel room of Captain Nawras Al-Atrash, originally from Benghazi, and took him to an unknown destination. It added that the pilot was kidnapped from an area, which “Tripoli officials claim to be free from terrorism and militias.”

The airlines called on the national army, members of Parliament and the board of directors of the Libyan-African Holding Company for Air Transport, to act fast to secure the pilot’s release.

The Libyan Airlines Board of Directors also urged all pilots working in the city of Tripoli “to be cautious until they return safely to their families.”

Libyan Airways said it valued “all the sacrifices of the National Army” and was seeking to serve “its battle to cleanse the capital of terrorists and spoilers.” But on the back of internal divisions, the company found that there were “premeditated circumstances that stood in the way of the company’s business.”

As fighting continues between the National Army and forces loyal to the government of Fayez Al-Sarraj, observers fear that kidnappings and assassinations on basis of identity may increase in the capital in the coming days against citizens of eastern Libya.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.