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LNA Close to Capturing Ras Ajdir Border Crossing from GNA

LNA members equip the military vehicles to get out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. (Reuters)
LNA members equip the military vehicles to get out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. (Reuters)
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LNA Close to Capturing Ras Ajdir Border Crossing from GNA

LNA members equip the military vehicles to get out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. (Reuters)
LNA members equip the military vehicles to get out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. (Reuters)

The Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar, announced it was close to capturing the Ras Ajdir border crossing with Tunisia from the Government of National Accord (GNA).

“A few kilometers sperate the army from seizing the portal,” said an LNA statement late on Wednesday. Ras Ajdir is the last remaining border crossing outside the army’s control.

Forces loyal to the GNA in the nearby city of Zuwara claimed however, that they were in control of Ras Ajdir, denying that the LNA was advancing on the region. The military said it had captured the region of Bou Kammash, 15 kilometers off Zuwara.

Meanwhile, the LNA’s Tariq bin Ziad brigade announced that it had seized control of the “Riqdalin road” military camp that is used by forces loyal to Osama al-Juwaili, one of the senior GNA military commanders. The Tariq bin Ziad forces also seized the nearby city of Zliten, east of Tripoli, amid cheers from the locals.

The brigade said its forces swept the city and secured it as mercenaries loyal to the GNA fled the area. The capture, therefore clears the path towards Ras Ajdir.

The crossing lies 170 kilometers west of Tripoli and was shut just days ago by Tunisian authorities over fears of the spread of the coronavirus. Ras Ajdir is one of two main crossings between Libya and Tunisia. The other is the Wazin and Dehiba crossing.

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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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Iraq, UK Agree on Trade Package Worth up to $15 Billion, Defense Deal

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) shake hands during their meeting in Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and Britain have agreed on a trade package worth up to 12.3 billion pounds ($14.98 billion) and a bilateral defense deal, the Iraqi and British prime ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The deal, envisaging more than 10 times the total of bilateral trade in 2024, was announced after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and British counterpart Keir Starmer at the latter's Downing Street offices.

It includes a 1.2-billion-pound project in which British-made power transmission systems will be used for a grid interconnection project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as a 500-million-pound plan to upgrade the Al-Qayyarah air base in northern Iraq.

A water infrastructure project by a UK-led consortium that will help provide clean water in arid southern and western Iraq is also part of the deal, the statement said. The project would be worth up to 5.3 billion pounds in UK exports.

Sudani and Starmer also signed a defense deal that "establishes the basis for a new era in security cooperation".

Sudani said earlier that the UK-Iraqi security deal would develop bilateral military ties after last year's announcement that the US-led coalition set up to fight ISIS would end its work in Iraq in 2026.

The Iraqi premier began an official visit to the United Kingdom on Monday amid historic geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza and Hezbollah battered in Lebanon during wars with Israel, and Bashar al-Assad toppled in Syria.