Turkey Resumes Sending Mercenaries to Libya

A man waving Libyan national flag in Benghazi, Libya (AFP/Getty Images)
A man waving Libyan national flag in Benghazi, Libya (AFP/Getty Images)
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Turkey Resumes Sending Mercenaries to Libya

A man waving Libyan national flag in Benghazi, Libya (AFP/Getty Images)
A man waving Libyan national flag in Benghazi, Libya (AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey has resumed sending Syrian mercenaries to Libya despite local and international demands to withdraw all foreign forces to stabilize the country ahead of the elections at the end of the year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed Friday that the Turkish government sent on March 8 a batch of 380 mercenaries to Libya, while another group of fighters is being prepared to be sent to Turkey with monthly salaries of $500.

There are currently about 7,000 mercenaries from the armed factions loyal to Turkey in Libya, and there are intentions to keep groups of them there to protect the Turkish bases, according to the observatory.

Many mercenaries also do not want to return to Syria, but rather intend to go to Europe via Italy.

Turkey sent about 20,000 Syrian mercenaries to Libya after signing the memorandum of understanding on security and military cooperation with the Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.

As a result, thousands of Syrian mercenaries were dispatched to Libya to support GNA forces in their fight against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Following the ceasefire agreement last October, Turkey withdrew a few thousand mercenaries, but it maintains its military presence in Al-Watiya airbase and Misrata base, in addition to the joint military command center in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, Deputy Presidential Council chief Abdullah al-Lafi said his country needs to re-evaluate its international relations, and differentiate between the forces that supported the establishment of the civil state and those that wanted suppression and marginalization.

Lafi was speaking during a symposium organized by the Center for Political, Economic and Social Studies (SITA) in Ankara entitled “a deeper understanding of the policies of external players towards Libya.”

He stressed that many can’t understand the policies of the international players towards Libya, as the politics and media alter them for their own interests.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.