Libya Presidential, Parliamentary Elections to Take Place before September

Imad al-Sayeh, head of the High National Election Commission, gestures during a news conference with Ghassan Salameh, UN special representative for Libya. (Reuters)
Imad al-Sayeh, head of the High National Election Commission, gestures during a news conference with Ghassan Salameh, UN special representative for Libya. (Reuters)
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Libya Presidential, Parliamentary Elections to Take Place before September

Imad al-Sayeh, head of the High National Election Commission, gestures during a news conference with Ghassan Salameh, UN special representative for Libya. (Reuters)
Imad al-Sayeh, head of the High National Election Commission, gestures during a news conference with Ghassan Salameh, UN special representative for Libya. (Reuters)

The upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections will be held before September 30, 2018 according to the UN proposed road map, Head of Libya's Election Commission Imad al-Sayeh confirmed on Sunday.

"The voters' registration process is going well and around one million voters have already been registered as the number is increasing," he said.

"All Libyans are entitled to participate as long as they have a national number," he told Xinuha, confirming that supporters and officials of the former regime are also entitled to take part in the upcoming elections.

"So far, there is no law that determines the conditions for candidates. We are waiting for such a law to be approved," he added.

"According to the UN-proposed action plan, everyone can participate in the elections and there are no labeling or classifications," Sayeh explained, when asked about the possibility for Seif Islam Gadhafi, son of the former leader Moammar Gadhafi, to run in the elections.

For his part, Egypt’s presidential spokesman Bassam Radi called on the need to hold presidential elections in Libya this year and limit itself to these periods of transition.

Radi said in a statement that his country supports the unity of the Libyan territories, the reunification of the Libyans and the extension of security and stability in the cuontry, referring to what he described as Egypt’s great role through its support of the Libyan institutions, starting with the military.

He also stressed that Egypt has always supported the central government and the national army of any government, and it is opposed to all armed militias as it neither recognizes nor helps them.

The Egyptian position always supports citizenship, and stands against ethnic and sectarian division, Radi stressed.

Head of UN Support Mission in Libya, Ghassan Salameh, in September proposed an action plan to end the Libyan political crisis.

The plan includes amendment of the current Libyan political agreement and holding parliamentary and presidential elections.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.