Latest news with #Tripoli-based
Straits Times
16 minutes ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Libyan coast guards train in Greece under plan to stem migrant flows
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo ATHENS - Libyan coast guard officers have started training on the Greek island of Crete as part of a plan to strengthen cooperation and help the two countries stem a surge in migrant arrivals, Greek sources said on Wednesday. Relations between Greece and Libya have been strained by a maritime boundary agreement signed in 2019 between the Tripoli-based Libyan government and Turkey, Greece's long-standing foe. A tender that Greece launched this year to develop hydrocarbon resources off Crete revived those tensions, while a spike in migrant flows from North Africa to Europe has prompted Athens to deploy frigates off Libya and pass legislation banning migrants arriving from Libya by sea from requesting asylum. The division of Libya by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade has further complicated relations. Greece says it is determined to continue talking to both the Tripoli-based government and a parallel administration based in Benghazi to the east. So far, coast guard officers from eastern Libya have been training in Greece, including areas such as patrolling and search and rescue operations. Coast guard officers from western Libya are expected to also participate in the training, the sources said. As part of efforts to improve relations, Athens last week invited Libya's internationally recognised government in Tripoli to start talks on demarcating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea. Missions from both countries are expected to hold talks on maritime zones in the coming months, the Greek sources said. REUTERS
Libya Review
2 days ago
- Politics
- Libya Review
Benghazi Court Nullifies ICC Jurisdiction Over Libya
The South Benghazi Primary Court has issued an urgent judicial order rejecting the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Libya. The court declared the ICC's mandate in Libya invalid, delivering a major legal blow to the international tribunal's authority in the country. The decision came after a formal request was submitted by the Prime Minister of the Libyan Government-designate, Osama Hammad, who contested the legitimacy of the outgoing Government of National Unity (GNU) under Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba to accept the ICC's jurisdiction. The court's ruling was described as an urgent judicial writ with immediate enforceability, reinforcing Libya's judicial sovereignty and raising questions over external interference in the country's legal affairs. This landmark ruling marks a significant moment in Libya's legal and political trajectory, especially as tensions persist between rival governments in the east and west of the country. Libya has long been a focus of the ICC due to war crimes allegations and ongoing conflict. However, the latest ruling may limit future cooperation with the court, potentially shielding Libyan figures from international prosecution. The case signals growing efforts by the Libyan eastern authorities to assert full legal independence and contest actions taken by the Tripoli-based GNU. Legal experts expect the decision to trigger further debate within international legal and diplomatic circles.
Libya Review
2 days ago
- Politics
- Libya Review
Former Greek FM Accuses Turkey of Using Libya to Pressure Athens
Former Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has claimed that Libya plays a key role in Turkey's strategic plan to encircle Greece. Speaking to the Greek outlet D News, Kotzias described the plan as a 'crab system', with Turkey acting as the body and Libya forming the 'southern claw' alongside Albania and North Macedonia as the 'upper claw'. Kotzias argued that Turkey is exploiting Libya as a tool to exert international pressure on Greece, presenting itself as a 'protector of smaller states'. He pointed out that the 2019 maritime agreement signed between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government is being used to challenge Greece's maritime rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. He accused Turkey of violating international maritime law and the sovereign rights of Greek islands. Criticising Athens, Kotzias said that Greece had made 'serious diplomatic mistakes' by failing to engage both the Libyan government in Tripoli and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya. He claimed this diplomatic vacuum has enabled Turkey to expand its presence by building military bases and airfields in southern Libya. Kotzias called for resolving the maritime dispute between Greece and Libya through the International Court of Justice (ICJ), noting that Libya—unlike Turkey—is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He also highlighted that Libya has previously signed maritime agreements with Malta and Tunisia, suggesting that legal avenues remain viable if Athens acts strategically. Should Libya refuse dialogue or ICJ arbitration, Kotzias suggested that Greece could exert pressure through the European Union, including restricting EU funding to Libya if it continues to align with Ankara. Tags: CreteGreecelibyaMediterraneanNicos KotziasTurkey
Libya Review
3 days ago
- Politics
- Libya Review
Libyan Government Condemns Dbaiba's ICC Authorization as Illegitimate
On Sunday, Libya's eastern-based government, led by Prime Minister Osama Hammad, announced its rejection of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes committed in Libya from 2011 to 2027. The rejection came in response to a declaration made by the rival Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbaiba, which had accepted the ICC's mandate under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute. In a legal memorandum sent to the ICC and made public on Sunday, Justice Minister Khaled Massoud described the GNU's declaration as 'legally void' and without constitutional legitimacy. He argued that the GNU is a 'defunct' administration that lost its legal authority after a vote of no confidence by the House of Representatives, and therefore lacks the power to engage in international legal commitments affecting national sovereignty. The Hammad government accused the GNU of violating Libyan sovereignty and attempting to bypass the national judiciary. The memorandum stressed that any acceptance of ICC jurisdiction must come from a legitimate, constitutionally mandated authority. It warned the Court against proceeding based on what it described as 'unilateral and unauthorized steps' taken by a politically contested entity. Massoud called on the ICC to respect Libya's internal legal framework and the authority of its legitimate institutions. He added that accepting the GNU's declaration would undermine the role of the Libyan judicial system and breach the principles of national sovereignty. The statement directly challenges an announcement made in May by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who told the UN Security Council that Libya had granted jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed over the past decade. He called it a crucial step toward justice and accountability. Tags: icclibyaLibyan GovernmentWar Crimes
The Star
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Greece invites Libya to maritime zone talks to ease strained ties
FILE PHOTO: Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has invited Libya's internationally recognised government in Tripoli to start talks on demarcating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday. The move is aimed at mending relations between the two neighbours, strained by a controversial maritime deal signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Turkey, Greece's long-standing foe, which mapped out a sea area close to the Greek island of Crete. "We invite - and I think you may soon see progress in this area - we invite the Tripoli government to discuss with Greece the delimitation of a continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone," Mitsotakis told local Skai television. Greece this year launched a new tender to develop its hydrocarbon resources off Crete, a move that Libya has objected to, saying some of the blocks infringed its own maritime zones. Law and order has been weak in Libya since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade. Therefore, any communication with Libya was not easy, Mitsotakis said. He indicated that Greece was determined to continue talking to both the Tripoli-based government and a parallel administration based in Benghazi. In recent months, Athens has sought closer cooperation with Libya to help stem a surge in migrant arrivals from the North African country to Greece's southern islands of Gavdos and Crete and passed legislation banning migrants arriving from Libyaby sea from requesting asylum. In an incident earlier this month, the European Union migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece were denied entry to the eastern part of divided Libya, shortly after meeting the internationally recognised government that controls the west of Libya. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Angeliki Koutantou, William Maclean)
