Khalifa Haftar
Russians nationals detained in Chad desert say they are tourists
A group of Russians detained by the police in a part of northern Chad where the army has been battling a rebel invasion from Libya said on Wednesday that they were tourists who had come to sightsee in the Sahara Desert. The roughly 10 Russians were picked up last week by the police near the town of Faya Largeau because they were in a military operational zone, according to national police spokesperson Amane Issac Azina. Azina said they had not broken any laws and had not been arrested, but rather evacuated to the capital N’Djamena for their own safety. “We decided this time to visit the Republic of Chad because it is very interesting,” one of the Russians, Alexey Kamerzanov, told Reuters at an N’Djamena hotel. “Usually world travellers do not visit the Republic of Chad because it’s not the...
Egypt says plans railway lines extending to Libya, Sudan
Egypt’s transport minister Sunday announced proposals to construct a railway line to reach the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa, and to extend a line in the north to Libya’s Benghazi. The announcement came as part of Egyptian government efforts to overhaul the country’s transport system, including an ailing railway network with a poor safety record. The government decided on “a number rail transport projects that could be carried out in cooperation with investors,” Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir told a news conference in Cairo. They include “building an Aswan-Toshka railway line that will extend to the city of Wadi Halfa in Sudan,” he said, referring to locations in Egypt’s south and a city just across the border. He also said there were plans to extend the Marsa Matrouh-Salloum line, in Egy...
US: Malta seizes $1 billion in counterfeit Libyan money
Maltese authorities have seized counterfeit Libyan money worth $1.1 billion that was printed by a Russian firm and worsen the north African country’s economic problems, the US State Department said. There was no official statement on Saturday from Valletta although Malta Today newspaper had published a report about $1.1 billion in counterfeit money seized in Malta on its Facebook site that was no longer available. “The United States commends the Government of the Republic of Malta’s announcement May 26 of its seizure of $1.1 billion of counterfeit Libyan currency printed by Joint Stock Company Goznak – a Russian state-owned company – and ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity,” the State Department said. “The Central Bank of Libya headquartered in Tripoli is Libya’s only legitimate cen...
Libya’s GNA says it is targeting retreating renegade strongman’s forces
Libya’s internationally recognised government has launched air strikes against forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar after his forces announced they were pulling back from Tripoli front lines. Air strikes by the Government of National Accord (GNA) targeted several locations in the west of the country, including in the Haftar stronghold of Tarhouna near the capital, Tripoli, according to GNA army spokesperson Colonel Mohamed Qanunu. In Tarhouna, two military vehicles and a vehicle carrying ammunition that belonged to Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) were destroyed, the spokesperson said. On Thursday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said the GNA carried out five air operations against forces loyal to Haftar in the past 24 hours. A day earlier, the LNA announced it w...
