The weekly newsletter from May 27th to 02nd of june 2021
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Egypt
The curse of the Royal Mummies Parade afflicts United Media Services after a disappointing Ramadan drama season
As part of its restructuring of the drama, entertainment and media market in Egypt, the United Media Services Company owned by the General Intelligence Service announced the restructuring of its board of directors headed by the former assistant governor of the Central Bank and former CEO of the Arab African Bank, Hassan Abdullah, instead of Tamer Morsi, who was removed from the presidency of the board to its membership. Along with four other members who are; The founder of MediaHub , Mohamed El-Saadi, and Amr El-Feki, president and CEO of “POD” company, which controls the Egyptian advertising market and organizes major conferences. It is the same company that organized the process of transporting the royal mummies. Along with the former Minister of Investment, Ashraf Salman, and the economist, Mohamed Samir.
The company announced in a press conference, which it called “five years of development,” its intention to make an Initial public offering of 20-30% of its shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange by 2024, which was interpreted by the former head of the Tax Authority, Ashraf El-Araby, as a beginning to submitting the company and its subsidiaries to the Financial Supervisory Authority and obligating them. By publishing its budgets and financial statements for public opinion, the selection of the new company president, Hassan Abdullah, raised many question marks, because of the discrepancies he is known to have with the Governor of the Central Bank, Tariq Amer, and the suspicions that Amer had previously raised against him, when he decided in May 2019 to remove Abdullah from his position as deputy at the Central Bank, claiming the existence of financial corruption and the appropriation of public money and granting major clients credit facilities amounting to 9.2 billion pounds, and using part of them to pay off facilities and loans granted to them by the same bank at a value of 2.8 billion pounds, and other banks with a value of 191 million pounds.
With regard to the demise of Tamer Morsi’s star and the reasons for facing the fate of his predecessors, Ahmed Abu Hashima, and before him, Dalia Khorshid, the former Minister of Investment, who had previously led the media and drama scene as a front for the General Intelligence Service, the assistant president of the United Company contented himself with emphasizing during the conference that the last Ramadan drama season achieved the highest revenues in the history of Egyptian drama, pointing out that the Ramadan 2017 drama season recorded losses of 470 million pounds, while the 2021 season achieved profits of 260 million pounds.
The closure of the iron and steel plant is an unfortunate terminus ad quem to a historic industrial fortress
The work of the Iron and Steel Factory in Helwan was officially stopped permanently, starting from Monday, May 31, 2021, in preparation for the start of the final liquidation procedures, despite the widespread labour, popular and union objections, and the lawsuits to stop the decision to liquidate the company, so that the national industry lost one of its fortresses and a national symbol that has its place in the conscience of the Egyptian people. More than 500 workers of the second and third shift protested the decision to stop work and close the factory, and questioned the fate of thousands of workers in light of the new situation, while security forces deployed in all the streets leading to the factory and in front of the gates of the factory to implement the decision to close.
Brazilian harasser arrested
The Public Prosecution ordered the detention of a Brazilian national for four days pending investigations, accusing him of sexually suggesting and insinuating an Egyptian girl, violating the principles and values of the Egyptian society, violating the sanctity of the victim’s private life, and using a private electronic account to commit these crimes.
What remains of human rights violations that activists in Egypt have not faced?
- A group of organizations issued a statement coinciding with the passage of 20 months since the arrest of the lawyer and human rights director of the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, Muhammad Al-Baqer, stressing that he is still subjected to more violations of a large number of his human rights, amid deliberate disregard by the authorities in Egypt to the human rights and international calls for his release and the cessation of these violations against him. "Al-Baqer" was arrested on September 29, 2019, while performing his work when attending the interrogation of his client, the well-known political activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, where the prosecution included them together in Case N° 1356- 2019 Supreme State Security, so that "Al-Baqer" joined the many human rights defenders and jurists who are imprisoned in Egyptian prisons.
- The Cairo Criminal Court, 3rd Circuit, decided to renew the detention of human rights lawyer Amr Nohan, for another 45 days. This came in connection to the case n°741-2019 limiting the security of a supreme state, which is close to completing two years in pretrial detention, and Nohan faces in The case, accusations of broadcasting, publishing and broadcasting false news and statements, sharing a terrorist group with knowledge and promoting its purposes, and misusing a means of social media.
- Also, the renewal of the detention of the translator, Kholoud Saeed, for another 45 days, on accusation of publishing false news and statements. This came in Case N°1017-2020 Supreme State Security Inspection, which is the second case of Kholoud’s imprisonment after her previous release and rotation on this case, and Kholoud faces accusations Broadcasting, publishing and broadcasting false news and statements, misusing social media, and sharing knowledge of a terrorist group and promoting its purposes.
A group of organizations condemned the referral of researcher Ahmed Samir Santawi, a master’s student at the Central European University in Austria (CEU), to a summary trial before the Emergency Supreme State Security Court, in case N°774-2021, emergency Supreme State Security misdemeanour, and demanded the organizations close this case, And the release of Santawi, so that he can complete his studies, and the Supreme State Security Court is an emergency exceptional court, to which the accused are referred to it in light of the validity of the state of emergency, and its rulings cannot be appealed. The Egyptian and international human rights organizations criticize the use of pretrial detention as a punishment for expressing opinion and requesting the release of The way for the accused of opinion cases. But, instead of responding to these demands in a Santawi’s case, the prosecution replaced pretrial detention with exception trial therefore depriving the accused of his right to a fair trial.
Santawi’s lawyers still do not have access to the case papers or know the referral materials, while these charges could lead to Santawi’s imprisonment for up to five years.
It should be noted that the State Security Prosecution began investigating Santawi in the second case, only one day after he was assaulted by the deputy warden of Leman Tora Prison. He was subjected to previous assaults during his enforced disappearance for nearly 15 days, before his first appearance before the prosecution on February 6, 2021.
The Arab Network for Human Rights Information called on the Minister of Interior to implement the judicial decision to release Ahmed Manna, Muhammad Abdel-Al and Bahaeddin Zaki, and to issue an immediate order to his subordinates in the Al-Haram Police Department’s office to stop their intransigence, violating the law, and waiting for a signal from the National Security officers to agree to their release, which has no basis or origin in the law, but rather represents a violation of the constitution, the law, and Egypt’s obligations under international treaties and covenants.
A group of human rights organizations also condemned the ban of Walid Salem, a doctoral researcher at the University of Washington, from traveling for the second time at dawn on May 24, 2021. His name was included on the lists of people banned from traveling issued by the Attorney General. Salem had booked his flight to France via the French airline where he was heading at the dawn of May 24, 2021, but he was arrested by the Cairo airport. Authorities informed him that his name had been placed on the lists of people banned from traveling by a decision of the Public Prosecutor issued on the previous day, May 23, without giving clear legal reasons or a specific period for the ban from travel. The doctoral researcher was subjected to a travel ban for the first time on May 8, 2020 by the security authorities at Cairo Airport while trying to travel to the United States of America, the country in which he has been residing for 12 years, his bags were searched and his passport was seized. Ali salem got arrested on May 23, 2018, after meeting a university professor, working on his doctoral research dealing with the history of the Egyptian judiciary.
Salem was not summoned by security or requested to investigate the case again, and he was prevented from traveling on his first attempt to travel on May 8, 2020 by the security authorities at Cairo Airport. Salem, through his lawyer, revealed whether or not his name was included in the lists of those banned from traveling in March 2021, a disclosure which result was negative. which prompted Salem to try to travel again, more than two years after his accusation and spending the period of pretrial detention pending the case in which he was accused, and not being convicted in it. Banning Walid Salem from traveling is considered a complementary punishment as he was held in pretrial detention for more than 6 months pending the case, a decision issued more than two and a half years after the accusations made by the Public Prosecution Office. Ones that were issued without clear legal reasons for preventing him from traveling.
– Assistant Minister of Interior for the Prisons Sector, Tariq Marzouk, denied the existence of any cases of corona inside prisons, and confirmed that a vaccination campaign for prison inmates began about two weeks ago and is about to end, as 5000 senior prisoners and those with chronic diseases, all prison officers and 1,400 of the prisoners have already been vaccinated from the medical staff in prisons.
This was denied by a number of families of detainees imprisoned in Minya and Tora prisons, where Nima Hisham, the wife of lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer, who has been in pretrial detention since September 2019, denied that her husband received the vaccine in a high-security prison, in the Tora prison complex, despite the family’s request and a lawsuit to receive it. The journalist Heba Anis, the wife of doctor Walid Shawqi, who is being held in pretrial detention, in Tora, for two years and eight months now pending cases 621-2018 and 880-2020, said that she did not know anything about the matter until last week when she visited him, as the sister of one of the prisoners denied. In Minya prison, an inmate’s sister refuted that her brother received any vaccine or knew of any vaccinations inside the new Minya prison especially that and she visisted him last week.
A number of lawyers, who have clients in a number of prisons, including Tora, Abu Zaabal, Al-Qanater, Wadi Al-Natroun and Minya, denied knowing that their clients had received ,until this week, the first dose of the vaccine or even that they were included in the vaccination list inside prisons.
The Renaissance Dam: Egyptian diplomatic efforts in the countries of the Horn of Africa
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Djibouti to start talks with his counterpart, President Ismail Omar Guelleh, to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries in the security, military and economic fields, according to a statement by the presidential spokesperson. The visit of Djibouti, which is the first for an Egyptian president, is part of what two well-informed Egyptian government sources described as a diplomatic move aimed at building rapid confidence in the Horn of Africa; The area of particular importance, as Egypt is locked in a dispute with Ethiopia over the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam, while Cairo is concerned about its relative loss of influence in that region at the entrance to the Red Sea. One of Cairo’s main goals is to establish political relations at the highest level, and rebuild its image in the eyes of African countries, to confront the Ethiopian regional influence, and that Cairo is working to dispel all the assumptions made by the capitals of the Horn of Africa countries that Egypt views them with superiority, or wants to cooperate with them only at the ministerial level.
What negatively affected the Egyptian image is Cairo’s support for former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, a step that was described as a mistake, while Ethiopia supported the revolutionary forces in Sudan, and used its presence in international organizations to develop a diplomatic bloc that supports political intervention in favour of democracy in Sudan. Since 2019, Egypt has become aware that Addis Ababa is presenting itself as a North African Arab country that does not care about the interests of the continent. Besides the diplomatic push, Cairo is also keen to send a message to Ethiopia that it has a strong military presence in pivotal countries in the region, such as Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Tanzania. The visit to Djibouti comes after a series of military cooperation agreements with the Nile Basin countries since the beginning of the year, including Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Sudan.
While the negotiations on the Renaissance Dam under the auspices of the African Union between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia reached a dead end, a Sudanese official said that Ethiopia began early on the second filling of the dam’s reservoir, without reaching an agreement with the two downstream countries, that was denied by Addis Ababa, which insisted that the filling would happen in the coming July and August. In a televised intervention last week, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, said that “if Addis Ababa proceeds with the second filling of the Renaissance Dam without a comprehensive agreement, this matter is considered a violation of its commitments according to the Agreement of Principles, and Ethiopia is considered to have entered the exit phase3. Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Ahmed Hafez, stated that Egypt rejects the statements of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed about Ethiopia’s intention to build a number of dams in different parts of the country. , stressing that this statement once again reveals Ethiopia’s bad faith and its dealings with the Nile and other international rivers that it shares with neighbouring countries as if they were internal rivers subject to its sovereignty and harnessed to serve its interests.
Tunisia
Parliament discusses the deterioration of the health situation and the resumption of flights and investment with Libya and the Constitutional Court an ongoing crisis
Following the exacerbation of the epidemiological situation, the People’s representatives’ Assembly this week paid great attention to the health situation, as the agenda of the plenary session on May 27, 2021 included a dialogue with both the Deanship of Physicians and Dentists, as well as the National Council of the Pharmacists Authority to study the current situation and ways to address it.
The Dean of Dentists confirmed during this session that there is a severe shortage of expert dentists. As for the Secretary General of the National Council of the Deanship of Physicians, he attributed the reason for the deterioration of the health system to Tunisia’s lack of specialized doctors due to the emigration of doctors. He also did not deny the existence of some breaches in the vaccination system, but he seeks to fix it and work on improving it.
The Dean of Dentists confirmed during this session that there is a severe shortage of expert dentists. As for the Secretary General of the National Council of the Deanship of Physicians, he attributed the reason for the deterioration of the health system to Tunisia’s lack of specialized doctors due to the emigration of doctors. He also did not deny the existence of some breaches in the vaccination system, but he seeks to fix it and work on improving it.
Concerning the draft law on the Constitutional Court, which is still controversial, ends on Thursday, June 3, 2021, the first ten-day period in which the temporary body to monitor the constitutionality of bills will issue its decision regarding the appeal submitted by a number of Democratic Bloc deputies to the draft law on amending the Constitutional Court law. The subject of the response of the President of the Republic after its ratification again.
The political barometer of Sigma Conseil indicates the decline of Ennahda in the Tunisian political sphere. The Heart of Tunisia is discussing the internationalization of the Nabil Karoui case
Parliament Speaker and Ennahda Movement Chairman Rached Ghannouchi topped the ranking of the total distrust index with 77%, followed by the movement’s leader Ali Laaraied with 65% and Seifeddine Makhlouf third with 64%, according to the political barometer for the month of May of Sigma Conseil Foundation in cooperation with Al-Maghrib newspaper. As for the President of the Republic, he is still at the forefront of the intentions of probing opinions, as the percentage of Tunisians trust in him reached 41%, followed by the Director of the Ennahda Movement, Dr. “Abdel Latif Mekki” and MP “Safi Saeed” with 32%.
It seems that the movement has recently witnessed tension and turmoil in its relations, as Representative Zied Laadhari submitted his resignation from the General Secretariat and the Executive Office on May 27, 2021.
On the other hand, and in a follow-up to the case of the head of the Heart of Tunisia party, Nabil Karoui, the “I Watch” organization confirmed to Al-Maghrib newspaper that the first investigative judge in the economic and financial pole had made a request to Parliament to lift the immunity of MP Ghazi Karoui. In the same context, The Heart of Tunisia party condemned Nabil Karoui’s detention for exceeding the permissible legal period, demanding his immediate release, and members of the movement headed by Oussema Khelfi sent a letter to the President of the Republic in this context, demanding his release, and Khelifi confirmed during a press conference held by the party their intention to convey their voice to the rest of the countries and demand the right of the Karoui at the international level.
The Prime Minister is in continuous efforts externally and internally to save the economic situation
Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi will pay a three-day visit to the State of Qatar, during which he will meet with senior Qatari officials. This visit represents an important opportunity to further strengthen the existing relations and cooperation between the two countries in all fields, especially in the economic field. The Prime Minister is accompanied on this visit by a ministerial delegation. He called for work to raising the pace and volume of Qatari investments in Tunisia through more investment in our country and diversification of its fields.
For his part, the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz 2nd affirmed Qatar’s support for Tunisia and its standing with it in order to overcome the interim difficulties, especially after the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz 2nd Tunisia’s success in many fields, especially in the field of vocational training, expressing Qatar’s desire to raise the Tunisian presence on its lands by attracting more Tunisian talent in the coming period in various fields such as tourism, medicine, engineering and information technology, especially as Qatar is about to host the World Cup football in 2022.
After his visit to Qatar, he will meet on the 2nd and 3rd of this month with French Prime Minister Jean Castix on the occasion of the Third Franco-Tunisian Cooperation Council, which raises several issues, including economic growth, security, education, and training agreements on this occasion.
At the national level, on the morning of Thursday, May 27, 2021, at the headquarters of the public service interests in the Kasbah, a 5+ 5 session was held between the government and the Tunisian General Labour Union under the supervision of Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi and a delegation from the Tunisian General Labour Union headed by its Secretary General. The government is the situation of the economic system that is threatened with collapse due to several factors, including what he called “the refusal of some employees to work in a number of sectors,” which affects the legal status of the state and the literature of union work.
For his part, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian General labour Union, Noureddine Taboubi, highlighted that the credibility of negotiation with the government and with the two perspectives alike is one of the pillars of the dialogue, noting that today’s session examined the necessary mechanisms to activate and materialize the February 06 agreement and issue the relevant regulatory orders while following the administrative track. At the level of the Administrative Court, some technical difficulties will be decided upon in a meeting at the end of the week
Kais Saiid continues his accusations against the Parliament and follows up the development of the field of cooperation with Libya after the recent visit of the Tunisian official delegation
At the invitation of the President of the Republic, Kais Saiid, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed El Manfi, President of the Libyan Presidential Council, paid an official visit to Tunisia during the period from 29 to 31 May 2021. This meeting constitutes a renewed occasion to discuss bilateral cooperation dossiers and ways to develop them. The President of the Republic affirmed his keenness to address outstanding issues related to the diplomatic field, and did not fail to stress that foreign files are within the powers of The Presidency of the Republic and that, by following up on these files, it seeks to achieve the unity of the state and its institutions.
In his meeting with the Minister of Defence, the President of the Republic raised several issues, including the leaked documents from the Presidency of the Republic, which accuse the President of the Republic of plotting a coup, and it is noticeable during this visit that the President used simplified phrases and a speech that everyone understands, unlike his previous dialogues, as he emphasized the existence of one state with its institutions. And its diplomacy and representatives, stressing the need for coherence and harmony between these institutions and the unity of the state. He also stated that the Ministry of Justice had submitted 25 requests to lift immunity for some deputies so far, but the Council ignored these requests and they were not even discussed during the plenary sessions.
In response to these accusations, MP Maher Madhioub commented that he verified the authenticity of this news himself by writing to the parliament, and that the Legislative Council is not a hiding place for fugitives from justice, and made it clear that the parliament has so far received a sole request from Representative Saiid Jaziri, calling on the President of the Republic to publish a list A nominal clarification of those included in these requests. But, Representative Samia Abbou denied that and confirmed that she was able, through a request for access to information, to access 29 requests to terminate immunity that have been addressed to the Assembly since 2014. Representative Mabrouk Korchid also directed , in his capacity as a member of the House of Representatives office in charge of the judiciary and bodies, two correspondences, asking the Minister of Justice to provide him with the full list and names, resolving the controversy and pledging to present the results to the Assembly’s office and inform public opinion about it.
The President of the Republic also received, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at the Carthage Palace, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad. During the meeting, the Head of State stressed the need for Tunisia to continue to play its role in defending the Palestinian right in all international and regional forums, and in the framework of its follow-up in his relentless pursuit of the upcoming regional events, the President of the Republic reiterated his firm determination to hold the Francophone Summit in the best conditions, and instructed that Tunisia’s pledge to embrace this event on its appointed date must be adhered to, and that the National Committee for organizing the Summit should provide all the reasons for success for this important event.
Incidents of violence against women and a massive campaign of bullying and racism continue against an Egyptian resident in Tunisia because of his criticism of the situation
After successive incidents and grave violations against women such as Refka Cherni and Aroua Troudu, a new case arises today, but within the professional context, where workers and members of the main union in the sewing factory in Al-Batin in Kairouan were subjected to severe beatings and extreme violence with sticks by the director of the Italian factory, which let to their transfer to the Al aghaliba Hospital, which necessitated the intervention of the Tunisian General Labour Union. The latter filed a complaint against the factory owner, and also called for the invitation of the Italian ambassador in the wake of that incident.
On the other hand, following a Facebook post criticizing the public services in Tunisia, the Egyptian residing in Tunisia, Nicolas Youssef, was subjected to a massive campaign of bullying and racism.
Strikes continue in many sectors and Tozeur teachers stand up to Rachid Khiari for the sake of their colleague
The Tunisian Organization of Young Doctors announced in a statement that the students of the Faculty of Medicine in Tunis had entered an open sit-in, following the failure of the meeting that brought together student representatives with the Dean of the College. On Friday morning, the teachers of Tozeur state carried out a two-hour strike at the invitation of the university branch of junior education in Tozeur and a protest n front of the state headquarters against the method of stopping a teacher while performing his duty and to denounce the attack on the sanctity of the educational institution and intimidation of his students. In Tozeur, the educator was released after many hours of investigation regarding his publication of the summons issued by the military court related to MP Rashed Khiari, and the lawyer confirmed that the investigations are still ongoing, stressing that the method of arrest is very dangerous, which is a kidnapping, which intimidated the students.
After the state did not fulfill its promises, the engineers in the public sector decided to continue their strike, and called for the presentation of the dossier before the National Security Council.
The Judges syndicate is following up on the latest developments in the case of Tayeb Rached and Zouhaier Akrimi
In a follow-up to the famous case of judges Tayeb Rached and Zouhaier Akrimi, syndicate of Tunisian Judges warned that the maximum legal deadlines for deciding on this file had expired. It also called on the Judicial Council to publish a reasonable amount of information about the progress of disciplinary investigation, given that the launch of its conduct has taken place since November 24, 2020, and without any official communication about it, despite the seriousness of this case and its relevance to the proper functioning of an authority of the state and the vital justice system and what it requires as far as respect for the right of judicial and non-judicial public in getting the correct and reliable information on this path.
Gammoudi reveals suspicions of corruption, and Parliament writes to the President of the Republic for the path of transitional justice
In another context, the Chairman of the Administrative Reform Committee of the House of Representatives demanded on Monday, May 31, 2021, the Governor of the Central Bank, Marouane Abbasi, clarifications regarding suspicious financial transactions of foreign economic companies established in Tunisia in collusion with parties to the Ministry of Trade and regarding a restaurant ticket company and the looting of Tunisia’s resources of hard currency with fake invoices despite the law criminalizing and forbidding brokerage on foreign companies.
In a follow-up to the path of transitional justice and the restoration of victims’ rights, the Committee for the Martyrs and Wounded of the Revolution and the Implementation of the General Amnesty Law and Transitional Justice held a session on Monday, May 31, 2021, to discuss how the government monitors the implementation of the recommendations of the Truth and Dignity authority, and prepares its work program for the coming period. On the beginning of the session, the deputies regretted the failure to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Dignity Commission to date, especially with regards to offering apologies to the victims of tyranny, the failure to issue any judicial ruling by the specialized judicial departments for transitional justice, the failure to review legislation that was a tool of tyranny, and neither the initiation of institutional reform nor the provision of a vision to preserve Memory and reparation for the victims. They also valued the achievements made last year, such as publishing the report of the Truth and Dignity Commission, as well as announcing the opening of a special account for the Dignity Fund and the issuance of the list of martyrs and wounded.
The representatives were exposed to the Dignity Fund, which has not been activated so far, and called on the government to expedite the implementation Issuing the order related to renaming the Supreme Council of the Resistance and the Martyrs and Wounded of the Revolution and Terrorist Operations to include: For transitional justice and speeding up reparations for the victims, the committee decided to write to the President of the Republic about an apology to the victims and to request setting an appointment from the Prime Minister, to listen to representatives of the Supreme Judicial Council specialized in transitional justice, and to conduct a field visit to the National Archives to see how the paper and audiovisual archives of the Truth and Dignity Commission are preserved. .
For the sake of the World Bank, the Tunisian citizen bears a new wave of price increases, and the government continues its borrowing policy
This period witnessed unprecedented increases in many basic groceries and others, as the price of wheat and barley increased, as well as sugar for family consumption, and the tariff of collective transportation within and between cities.
In order to address this difficult economic situation, which has worsened since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the European Union grants Tunisia 300 million euros at the beginning of June 2021, within the framework of the full financial assistance programme. This amount represents the first instalment of a loan of 600 million euros pledged by the Union a to confront the Corona pandemic.
The epidemiological situation is still worrying, and Kaiouan is in a critical situation
Despite the decrease in the number of injuries and deaths, the health situation is still alarming, especially with the outbreak of the African strain. On Friday, May 28, 2021, the Minister of Health announced the registration of two new cases of the South African mutated strain, bringing the total number of infections with this strain. in this regard, Mehdi also warned of the spread of a fourth wave of the virus during this summer.
Mohamed Rouis, the regional director of health in Kairouan, confirmed that the epidemiological situation in the region is very serious and that the rates of infection with the Corona virus are very high, reaching 50% of the total analyzes in some regions.
Libya
Dabaiba and Al-Manfi seek to keep the elections on schedule, both internally and externally
The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, discussed with the President of the Libyan Presidential Council, Muhammad Al-Manfi in Tunisia, the holding of the upcoming Libyan elections in December. The ambassador also discussed with the President of the Libyan Presidential Council, a number of other issues such as reconciliation between Libyans, the expulsion of foreign fighters. Al-Manfi confirmed during his visit to Tunisia that he discussed with Tunisian President Kais Saied a number of issues, including security cooperation, in light of this stage, which he described as very dangerous.
In the same context, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, from the French capital, Paris, announced the agreement to activate the Libyan-French joint committee suspended since 2002. The head of government stressed the important role of France in strengthening political legitimacy in Libya and the importance of continuing this role in its support for the extension of national sovereignty the expulsion of mercenaries and the unification of the military establishment. Dabaiba valued the role of France and the European Union in supporting Libya to confront irregular migration and combat terrorism and organized crime. For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed France’s commitment to supporting Libya and its stability, and working with international and regional partners to achieve this. Macron added that France will aid the government of national unity by supporting the security aspect and also implementing the ceasefire agreement. He also stressed upon working with the government to build a unified army that guarantees the stability of all parts of the country, appreciating the efforts of the joint military committee in this file, and indicated that France will support the political process. Macron noted that It is a priority for France and the European Union to support the government, secure land and sea borders, and cooperate with neighbouring African countries to achieve this, while stressing on the health sector. Macron indicated that a number of French doctors will be sent to Libya immediately to contribute to the treatment of dozens of children with cancer.
The President of the Presidential Council, Muhammad al-Manfi, also confirmed the Council’s support for the High National Elections Commission, to hold the elections scheduled for December 24. This came during his visit to the headquarters of the Commission in the capital, Tripoli, today, Tuesday, accompanied by his deputy, Musa al-Koni, according to a statement by the Commission on its website.
Haftar threatens the Tripoli armed brigades
Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar said that “there will be no peace with the occupation or the mercenaries,” stressing that “there is no peace except in the hands of the Libyan state.” Haftar added during the army’s military parade in Benghazi: “We shall be able to go to war again should the international agreement and elections are obstructed, And we say to our enemies, if you return, we will return” , and he continued: “Let us give a wide opportunity to a just and peaceful solution in Libya, which requires the exit of foreign forces and the dissolution of armed groups deployed in the capital, Tripoli”. He added that there is no peace with the occupation, nor mercenaries, and there is no peace except in the hands of the state. In Libya, after the army was about to liberate the capital, Tripoli.
Dabaiba seeks the Italian partnership to rebuild the infrastructure of the oil sector through an ambitious plan to double Libyan oil production
Libya revealed an ambitious plan aimed at augmenting its oil production, up to 3 and 4 million barrels per day, but it faces several obstacles. Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba said, addressing the Italian-Libyan Business Forum held Monday in Rome, that his country’s authorities are seeking to raise the volume of oil production to 4-3 million barrels per day, but he stressed that reaching this goal depends on rebuilding the infrastructure in the oil sector. The Libyan Prime Minister said: We must re-launch all sectors of our economy, noting that Italy is the best partner we can cooperate with to achieve this goal. The Libyan official indicated that he came to Italy to see the future steps that the two countries can take together, in order to achieve such ambitious goals, and the production of the Libyan National Oil Corporation remained at 1.3 million barrels per day, while it was 1.6 million barrels before the fall of the Gaddafi regime…
The Libyan Oil Corporation revealed plans and programs to increase the production of the black gold, awaiting the provision of the necessary budgets, which the government pledged. As a result of the conflicts, the development of the refining and manufacturing sector is one of its goals. Additionally, Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba affirmed his “full support” for the National Oil Corporation at all levels, as it is the only source of food for Libyans and the main source of the national economy. He also stressed the encouragement of investment in the sector because of its ” Great returns” at the level of the country’s national income, and since Libya resumed the process of oil production and export last September 17, it achieved record revenues from the sale of oil and gas that amounted during last February to $1.2 billion. In this vein, Libya intends to raise its oil production to 1.45 million barrels per day by the end of 2021, and to 1.6 million within two years and to 2.1 million within four years, according to previous statements by the head of the corporation, Mustafa Sanalla, by starting production in new fields in the Sirte and Ghadames basins and re-establishing Operating the fields closed by ISIS attacks in 2015.
Despite the grave risks, a significant increase in the number of children among irregular migrants and refugees
The patrol boat of the Libyan Coast Guard managed to rescue 78 migrants of African nationalities who were on their way to the European shores on a rubber boat.
The official spokesman for the Naval Staff Presidency announced on its Facebook page that the boat, Ubari, as soon as it received a distress call, moved after being equipped with the necessary equipment for the rescue and recovery operation to the scene of the accident. The Anti-Illegal Migration Agency is following up the process of caring for these migrants and completing the procedures for their safe deportation to their countries. The United Nations Children’s Fund “UNICEF” also condemned the drowning accident of 3 children off the coast of Zuwara, in western Libya. The organization expressed its sadness over the drowning accident which resulted into the victims being 3 children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years on the shores of the city of Zuwara, western Libya, after the irregular migration of their parents and the sinking of their boat in the sea.
The United Nations confirmed in a tweet via its Twitter account, on Monday, that it is horrific that more than 632 people, including children, die trying to cross the Mediterranean, calling for immediate action at all levels to protect the safety of children and provide safer alternatives, and indicated that Since the beginning of this year, more than 9,659 migrants and refugees, including 483 children, have been intercepted and sent back to Libya. The NGO said that there is an increase of 91% among children compared to the same period in 2020, and revealed that “this increase comes despite the serious risks involved in traveling in one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world. Earlier, horrific pictures were published recently of the bodies of young children washed up on the coast of Libya after the crashes of boats carrying irregular migrants on their way to Europe. The pictures showed the bodies of children swept by the waves after the wrecks of ships that were carrying a number of the migrants and stayed on the beach for more than 3 days without being picked up. The pictures brought back to mind the image of the Syrian child Alan Kurdi that shook the world years ago, and the current period is witnessing a significant increase in the number of migrants’ attempts to cross the Mediterranean, taking advantage of the relative improvement in the weather, last week, more than two thousand migrants set out from Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The discovery of a new mass grave in Tarhuna
The General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons announced the exhumation of four unidentified bodies from a new mass grave in the city of Tarhuna. The team of the General Authority for the Search and Identification of Missing Persons discovered a new mass grave in the agricultural project “5 Kilo” inside the city of Tarhuna and exhumed four unidentified bodies. Last February, the General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons announced the official start of DNA testing procedures to identify the unidentified bodies. In the same month, the Public Prosecution Office said that it had issued internal and international arrest warrants against those responsible for the mass grave crimes that were found in the city of Tarhuna. In addition to circulating their names to all the controlling authorities to take over the task of arresting them and handing them over to the control unit in the office immediately.
Last update : 06/04/2021 - 15:00
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