Appeals against Dbeibah, Saif al-Islam's Candidacies Dominate Libya Elections

A woman checks names to receive her electoral card inside a polling station in Tripoli, Libya, on November 8. (AFP)
A woman checks names to receive her electoral card inside a polling station in Tripoli, Libya, on November 8. (AFP)
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Appeals against Dbeibah, Saif al-Islam's Candidacies Dominate Libya Elections

A woman checks names to receive her electoral card inside a polling station in Tripoli, Libya, on November 8. (AFP)
A woman checks names to receive her electoral card inside a polling station in Tripoli, Libya, on November 8. (AFP)

Libya's High National Election Commission extended to Wednesday the deadline for people to receive their voter card for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

It justified the extension by citing the high turnout to receive their cards. It also acknowledged some of the difficulties some people have faced in showing up in person to receive them.

Over 2 million people have received their cards.

Meanwhile, appeals have been submitted against the candidacy of head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibah. Son of late ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, has also appealed his disqualification from the race.

Activists have cited Dbeibah's dual nationality as sufficient reason to dismiss his candidacy.

Meanwhile, the UN mission to Libya expressed alarm on Friday about an incident at a court where Saif al-Islam's lawyer said armed men stopped him from lodging an appeal against his client's disqualification.

The UN Support Mission in Libya said it was alarmed by the reported attack at the appeal court in Sebha on Thursday, strongly condemned any form of electoral-related violence, and reiterated that the electoral process must be protected.

The US Embassy in Libya said it shared the UN mission's concerns over violence related to the Dec. 24 election, which is part of a peace process meant to end a decade of turmoil but has stirred fears of renewed conflict.

The elections commission disqualified Saif al-Islam and 24 others on Wednesday.

Gaddafi's lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, said in a video that armed men had raided the court in the southern city of Sebha, one of only three registration centers, and stopped him entering to lodge his client's appeal.

The Justice Ministry in Tripoli said an armed group had forced everyone to leave the court building.

No faction claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on its Twitter feed, the US Embassy said: "Attacks against judicial or election facilities or judicial or elections personnel are not only criminal acts, punishable under Libyan law, but also undermine Libyans’ right to participate in the political process."

Saif al-Islam's candidacy was rejected on the basis of a 2015 conviction in absentia by a Tripoli court for war crimes committed during the fighting that ousted his father in 2011.

The court in Sebha was able to review the appeal on Sunday.

Meanwhile, head of the Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi stressed that he was "working hard" to ensure that the elections are a success by providing all guarantees that ensure that they are "transparent and free and reflect the will of the Libyan people".

Menfi met with Jan Kubis, outgoing United Nations envoy, on Sunday.

He quoted the diplomat as saying that the UN supports the presidential and parliamentary elections and the international community is hoping that they will be held and allow the Libyans to restore stability and peace.



Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Italian Authorities Arrest 9 for Allegedly Funding Hamas Through Charities

Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinian Hamas members secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Italian authorities arrested nine people linked to three charitable organizations on suspicion of raising millions of euros in funds for the Palestinian group Hamas, anti-terrorism prosecutors said in a statement Saturday. 

The suspects are accused of sending about 7 million euros ($8.2 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas,” the statement said. 

Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, prosecutors said, describing him as the “head of the Italian cell of the Hamas organization.” 

The European Union has Hamas listed on its terror list. 

According to Italian prosecutors, who collaborated with other EU countries in the probe, the illegal funds were delivered through “triangulation operations” via bank transfers or through organizations based abroad to associations based in Gaza, which have been declared illegal by Israel for their ties to Hamas. 

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi wrote on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.” 

There was no immediate comment from the suspects or the associations. 

In January 202, the European Council decided to extend existing restrictive measures against 12 individuals and three entities that support the financing of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 


Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
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Türkiye Holds Military Funeral for Libyan Officers Killed in Plane Crash

The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)
The Libyan national flag flies at half-mast in Tripoli on December 24, 2025, after the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides died in a plane crash in Türkiye. (AFP)

Türkiye held a military funeral ceremony Saturday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.

The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Türkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.

Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.

The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets, each wrapped in a Libyan national flag, were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to their home country.

Türkiye’s military chief, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, was also on the plane headed to Libya, state-run news agency TRT reported.

The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.

Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet's black boxes as an impartial third party.


Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
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Syrian Foreign Ministry: Talks with SDF Have Not Yielded Tangible Results

SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)
SDF fighters are seen at a military parade in Qamishli. (Reuters file)

A source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the talks with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over their integration into state institutions “have not yielded tangible results.”

Discussions about merging the northeastern institutions into the state remain “hypothetical statements without execution,” it told Syria’s state news agency SANA.

Repeated assertions over Syria’s unity are being contradicted by the reality on the ground in the northeast, where the Kurds hold sway and where administrative, security and military institutions continue to be run separately from the state, it added.

The situation “consolidates the division” instead of addressing it, it warned.

It noted that despite the SDF’s continued highlighting of its dialogue with the Syrian state, these discussions have not led to tangible results.

It seems that the SDF is using this approach to absorb the political pressure on it, said the source. The truth is that there is little actual will to move from discussion to application of the March 10 agreement.

This raises doubts over the SDF’s commitment to the deal, it stressed.

Talk about rapprochement between the state and SDF remains meaningless if the agreement is not implemented on the ground within a specific timeframe, the source remarked.

Furthermore, the continued deployment of armed formations on the ground that are not affiliated with the Syrian army are evidence that progress is not being made.

The persistence of the situation undermines Syria’s sovereignty and hampers efforts to restore stability, it warned.