Barzani, Johnson Discuss Energy Exports to Replace Russian Oil, Gas

 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holding talks with Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani in London on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (EPA)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holding talks with Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani in London on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (EPA)
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Barzani, Johnson Discuss Energy Exports to Replace Russian Oil, Gas

 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holding talks with Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani in London on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (EPA)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holding talks with Kurdish PM Masrour Barzani in London on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. (EPA)

Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani spoke with his British counterpart Boris Johnson about his desire to export energy to Europe and reduce reliance on Russian oil and gas, Reuters reported.

“Prime Minister Barzani spoke about his aspiration to export energy to Europe, and the Prime Minister (Johnson) lauded his efforts to help reduce Western reliance on Russian oil and gas,” a British government readout of a meeting between the two in London said.

In late March, Barzani told an industry conference in Dubai that Kurdistan would soon become an important source of energy.

“I am confident that Kurdistan will soon become an important source of energy for the world's growing demand,” he stressed.

He affirmed that Kurdistan has capacity now to make up for at least some of the shortfalls of oil in Europe.

“We will become a net exporter of gas to the rest of Iraq, to Turkey and Europe in the near future,” he added.



Libyan Authorities Order Detention of Militia Leader over Killing of UN-sanctioned Human Trafficker

A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
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Libyan Authorities Order Detention of Militia Leader over Killing of UN-sanctioned Human Trafficker

A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)

Libya’s chief prosecutor ordered the detention of a militia leader and one of his aides pending an investigation into the killing of one of the country’s most notorious human traffickers.

Mohamed Bahroun, commander of the First Support Battalion and an influential militia leader, as well as one of his associates, handed themselves over after allegations surfaced about their role in last week’s killing of Abdel-Rahman Milad in the capital, Tripoli, The AP reported.

The office of General Prosecutor al-Sediq al-Sour said in a statement late Saturday that prosecutors ordered both men to remain detained after they were interrogated and shown evidence of their involvement in Milad's slaying.

Milad, sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council and imprisoned in Libya on trafficking charges, was shot and killed on Sep. 1 while in his vehicle in the Sayyad area, in the western part of Tripoli.

The late human trafficker and Bahroun hailed from the western town of Zawiya where Milad commanded a notorious coast guard unit. Both rose to prominence during the chaos after a NATO-backed uprising — that turned into civil war — toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

UN experts monitoring sanctions claimed Milad and other coast guard members “are directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats" by opening fire to intercept the vessels.

The intercepted migrants are held in government-run detention centers rife with practices that amount to crimes against humanity, according to UN-commissioned investigators. The abuse often accompanies attempts to extort money from the families of the imprisoned migrants before releasing them or allowing them to leave Libya on traffickers’ boats to Europe.

Milad had denied any links to human smuggling and said traffickers wear uniforms similar to those of his men. He was jailed for about six months between October 2020 and April 2021 on human trafficking and fuel smuggling charges.