Dbeibeh, Erdogan Discuss Sending More Turkish Military Personnel to Libya

Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
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Dbeibeh, Erdogan Discuss Sending More Turkish Military Personnel to Libya

Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and head of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibeh discussed ongoing preparations to hold the Libyan elections in December, as well as raising the number of Turkish military personnel in the north African country.

The two officials had met in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkish media quoted sources as saying Erdogan and Dbeibeh were worried about the security tensions in the country.

Libyan political sources had said that Dbeibeh may run for president and this possibility has been backed by the candidacy criteria spelled out by the electoral commission and which appeared tailored to the GNU chief. This means that the elections will be held on time.

Erdogan told Dbeibeh on Friday said Turkey will continue to back the GNU on all levels.

The officials reviewed the security and military cooperation and marine zones memoranda of understanding that were signed between Tripoli and Ankara under the GNU’s predecessor, the Government of National Accord.

They agreed that the GNU would submit a new official request to Ankara so that it could increase the number of consultative and military personnel in Tripoli. They also agreed that a new batch of Libyan security personnel would be sent to Turkey to receive training.

Sources speculated that Turkey wanted to increase the number of its personnel in Tripoli due to the growing demands that it withdraw its foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya before the elections.

The 5+5 Joint Military Commission met in Geneva in October and approved a plan for the gradual withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries.

It met again in Cairo last week, announcing that Sudan, Chad and Niger have expressed readiness to cooperate to pull out all their fighters from Libya.

Turkey, on the other hand, continued to fly out and in Syrian mercenaries. It did so a day after the Cairo talks concluded and after such flights had been halted for 15 days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that some 150 mercenaries had returned to Syria, while another 150 were flown to Libya from Turkey.



Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
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Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed

The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable it blamed on Israel.

"All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fibre optic line in Gaza," the PA's telecommunications ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world, AFP reported.

"The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where damage occurred to the fibre optic cable.

"The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday", it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza "for weeks and months".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were "directly targeted by occupation forces".

It said the internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.

"The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organisations to respond to humanitarian cases."

Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian communication ministry, told AFP that "mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity" in Gaza for the time being.

Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.