Dbeibah Reopens Land Border Crossing Between Libya, Sudan

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
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Dbeibah Reopens Land Border Crossing Between Libya, Sudan

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah announced on Monday reopening the land border crossing with Sudan.

He pledged to provide infrastructure to improve the economy between the two countries.

The announcement came during the opening session of the Libyan-Sudanese Economic Forum, which kicked off its activities on Monday in Tripoli under the title “Free Zone for Transit Trade.”

Dbeibah affirmed that Libya will work on developing the economic cooperation with all neighboring countries, especially Sudan.

He further underscored the importance of developing bilateral economic cooperation and holding a joint ministerial committee meeting.

Dbeibah later invited Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the Sudanese Prime Minister to visit Tripoli.

Separately, Dbeibah ordered the establishment of a body independent from the Health Ministry to follow up on oncology centers and help organize and secure the needed medicines.

He held an expanded meeting to discuss the matter with Health Minister Ramadan Abu Janah, the directors of oncology centers, the head of the Medical Supply Authority, and the director of the National Center for Decision Support.

The meeting touched on the challenges and obstacles facing the body and preventing it from carrying out its tasks, as well as the work mechanism of the medical centers.

He underlined the need to find radical solutions for the work of the centers, provide organized services to patients, and work according to an electronic system.



US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.