UN envoy announces high-level meeting on Libya

The gathering  will take place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meeting Ghassan Salame, the United Nations Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), has announced a high level meeting chaired by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres will take place next month following talks that Mr Salame is holding in the country this week Mr Salame who took up his position last month, made the announcement from Tripoli where he held a tele-briefing with the Security Council from the UN headquarters there, highlighting his  on-the-ground approach to…

Fighting terrorism Macron’s top priority

French President Emmanuel Macron has made the fight against “Islamic terrorism” in Syria and Iraq the top priority in his foreign policy agenda. Speaking on Tuesday to French diplomats gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Macron called the Islamic State group “our enemy.” “Restoring peace and stability – Iraq then Syria – is vital priority for France,” he said. He proposed creating a new contact group including the other permanent members of the UN Security Council to help handle negotiations with Syria. The group will first meet at the…

The Other Humanitarians in the Mediterranean: Tunisia’s Fishermen

Tunisian fishermen living near the Libyan border have been rescuing migrants and recovering the dead for years. With the recent curbs on NGO boats, and an emboldened Libyan coast guard, they may bear the burden of Mediterranean rescues once again. ZARZIS, TUNISIA – There are no signs to mark what lies beneath the rocky mounds of dirt and sparse browning weeds in this vacant government lot down a rugged, unpaved road near Tunisia’s coast. But Chamseddine Marzoug, a former fisherman, cannot forget. “In the corner over there, there is a man without a head,” said Marzoug,…

Tourism: amusement park opens in Tunisia

The first amusement park opened in Sfax on Monday and is set to become a major visitor and tourist attraction for the entire region. Built across an area of 18,000 sqm at a cost of 22 million Tunisian dinars, Sfax Land is equipped with all the latest rides and attractions as well as a large restaurant area. “We chose Sfax to fill the gap in terms of entertainment with respect to Tunis, Sousse and Djerba,” said Naim Hobeika, director general of developer Zinadi Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Lebanese giant…

Libya seizes foreign tanker, trawler

Libya seized a foreign oil tanker and trawler Wednesday off the country’s western coast and detained their crews for questioning in Tripoli, the navy and coast guard said. “The Rex, a Tanzanian-flagged tanker registered in Zanzibar, was intercepted” loaded with a suspected illegal cargo of Libyan diesel, navy spokesman General Ayoub Kacem told AFP. A coastguard official in Tripoli, Colonel Abu Ajila Abdelbarri, said the vessel had been under surveillance for several days. He said a Maltese trawler was also seized for fishing in Libyan waters without authorisation.  The two…