Libyan Dialogue to Resume in Morocco’s Bouznika on Tuesday

Moroccan FM Nasser Bourita (C) chairs a meeting of representatives of Libya's rival administrations in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Rabat, on Sept. 6, 2020. (AFP)
Moroccan FM Nasser Bourita (C) chairs a meeting of representatives of Libya's rival administrations in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Rabat, on Sept. 6, 2020. (AFP)
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Libyan Dialogue to Resume in Morocco’s Bouznika on Tuesday

Moroccan FM Nasser Bourita (C) chairs a meeting of representatives of Libya's rival administrations in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Rabat, on Sept. 6, 2020. (AFP)
Moroccan FM Nasser Bourita (C) chairs a meeting of representatives of Libya's rival administrations in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Rabat, on Sept. 6, 2020. (AFP)

Rival Libyan factions will resume on Tuesday their dialogue in an attempt to resolve their country’s crisis.

The second round of talks between the High Council of State and east-based parliament will resume at the Moroccan resort town of Bouznika.

Informed sources in Rabat told Asharq Al-Awsat that the talks were supposed to be held on Sunday but were pushed to Tuesday due to disputes over the agenda.

The talks will be held amid reports of differences among Moroccan officials over how to handle the file. Moroccan sources dismissed the claims as “foreign meddling aimed at scuttling Rabat’s role in resolving the Libyan crisis.”

They stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that all Moroccan state institutions were in agreement on how to approach the crisis.

Magnus Norell, Adjunct Scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, had recently spoken of the “silent role” played by Moroccan intelligence over the years in combating terrorism and preventing human and drug trafficking to Europe. This experience can help in reaching an agreement between the rival Libyan parties.

The Libyan conflict cannot be separated from its regional environment, he explained.

Meanwhile, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tuesday’s talks will seek to reach an agreement on uniting Libyan eastern and western state institutions. This will be followed by the formation of a government of experts and the restructuring of the Presidential Council. The talks will culminate in the signing of an agreement over the first rounds of talks at Bouznika that concluded earlier this month.

Many observers believe that Government of National Accord (GNA) chief, Fayez al-Sarraj’s decision to step down from his post in October will help the Morocco negotiations.

Separately, Egyptian and Libyan sources said that Egypt hosted, UN-sponsored preliminary talks between the Libyan National Army and GNA.

The meeting at the resort town of Hurghada was aimed at paving the way for the resumption of the Geneva dialogue between the warring parties as part of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission. The talks will also tackle the security and military arrangements for the strategic city of Sirte.

Despite the optimism of Egyptian authorities that a breakthrough can be achieved, Libyan sources accused Turkey of attempting to undermine the negotiations by pressuring the GNA to commit to its demand for the military to pull out of Sirte and al-Jufra and transform them into arms-free zones.

The LNA, meanwhile, refuses the participation of GNA forces in securing the “oil crescent” region.



Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Netanyahu Aide Faces Indictment over Gaza Leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges pending a hearing, Israel's attorney general has said, for allegedly leaking top secret military information during Israel's war in Gaza.

Netanyahu's close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which legal authorities began investigating in late 2024.

Netanyahu has described probes against Urich and other aides as politically motivated and on Monday said that Urich had not harmed state security. Urich's attorneys said the charges were baseless and that their client's innocence would be proven beyond doubt, reported Reuters.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement late on Sunday that Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild.

Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August 2024.

The hostages' deaths sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostages' families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for political reasons.

Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the group has said it was Israel's fault no deal had been reached.

Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than 30 captives that Hamas was set to free if a ceasefire had been reached, according to a defense official at the time.

The Bild article in question was published days after the hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. It outlined Hamas' negotiation strategy in the indirect ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu's allegations against the militant group over the deadlock.

Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does not comment on its sources and that its article relied on authentic documents. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect negotiations in Doha, aimed at reaching another truce.

In his statement on Monday, Netanyahu said Baharav-Miara's announcement was "appalling" and that its timing raised serious questions.

Netanyahu's government has for months been seeking the dismissal of Baharav-Miara. The attorney general, appointed by the previous government, has sparred with Netanyahu's cabinet over the legality of some of its policies.