Libya Parliament Seeks to Work with UN to Form ‘National Unity’ Govt.

Libyan MPs visit the Egyptian parliament. (Libya parliament)
Libyan MPs visit the Egyptian parliament. (Libya parliament)
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Libya Parliament Seeks to Work with UN to Form ‘National Unity’ Govt.

Libyan MPs visit the Egyptian parliament. (Libya parliament)
Libyan MPs visit the Egyptian parliament. (Libya parliament)

Libyan lawmakers concluded on Saturday a series of meetings in Cairo aimed at forming a liaison committee to work with the United Nations mission in Libya to form a national unity government.

The MPs welcomed all international efforts aimed at resolving the Libyan crisis, reiterating, however, their rejection of attempts to undermine the authority of the parliament, given that it represents the people.

They urged the parliament speaker to kick off discussions with local and external forces to clarify the legislature’s stance, discuss various proposals and initiatives and work on garnering the greatest national consensus over a solution.

This should all culminate in elections “as soon as possible,” they said, while hoping that the parallel parliaments in Libya would eventually be united.

Some 90 lawmakers, including 35 from the western region, visited on Friday the Egyptian parliament where they met with first undersecretary Al-Sayyed al-Sharif and deputy Speaker of the Arab parliament Saadeddine al-Jamal.

In a concluding statement, the lawmakers underscored the unity of Libyan territory, expressing their support for the operation waged by the Libyan National Army to liberate Tripoli from criminal gangs and militias.



Report: France Issues New Arrest Warrant for Syria's Assad

A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Report: France Issues New Arrest Warrant for Syria's Assad

A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)

Two French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, the second such move by France's judicial authorities, a source said on Tuesday.

Assad, who was ousted late last year in a lightning offensive by opposition forces, is held responsible in the warrant issued on Monday as "commander-in-chief of the armed forces" for a bombing in the Syrian city of Daraa in 2017 that killed a civilian, a source close to the case, asking not to be named, told AFP.

This mandate was issued as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian national and former French teacher, who was killed on June 7, 2017 following the bombing of his home by Syrian army helicopters.

The French judiciary considers that Assad ordered and provided the means for this attack, according to the source.

Six senior Syrian army officials are already the target of French arrest warrants over the case in an investigation that began in 2018.

"This case represents the culmination of a long fight for justice, in which I and my family believed from the start," said Omar Abou Nabout, the victim's son, in a statement.

He expressed hope that "a trial will take place and that the perpetrators will be arrested and judged, wherever they are".

French authorities in November 2023 issued a first arrest warrant against Assad over chemical attacks in 2013 where more than a thousand people, according to American intelligence, were killed by sarin gas.

While considering Assad's participation in these attacks "likely", public prosecutors last year issued an appeal against the warrant on the grounds that Assad should have immunity as a head of state.

However, his ouster has now changed his status and potential immunity. Assad and his family fled to Russia after his fall, according to Russian authorities.