Libya News Latest Updates

[BLACKEAGLE]

Libya: Corinthia Signs €320M Contract to Build Medina Tower in Tripoli

The Medina Tower project. How it will look when it is completed in 40 months time

In the presence of the Chairman of the Investment Board of Libya, Eng G. Guider and the Deputy Minister for Planning Ali Essaleh, the signing was carried out on Friday morning of the award of the contract - worth €320 million - for the construction of the Medina Tower, a 40-storey building project on a central seafront site in the heart of Tripoli.

The signing, at the Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel in the heart of the Libyan capital follows three years of negotiations, was signed by the technical director of the project, Bashir El Saleh, and the Maltese Managing Director of the Tower Joint Stock Company, Reuben Xuereb.

A symbolic ceremony presided by the chairman of Medina Tower, Taher Siala, and Yousef Abdelmaula, Vice Chairman of the Corinthia Group, has awarded the contract for the sub and superstructure works with Turkish contractor Koray.

The Medina Tower will comprise luxury residential units, class A office space, a commercial centre housing some of the top fashion brands, restaurants offering a wide international cuisine and a luxury spa with extensive leisure facilities.

The project the first of its kind in Libya, will take 40 months to complete. It will bring to the city an address where locals and foreigners alike can live in luxury, work in modern and technologically advanced office spaces, and enjoy the unique commercial and leisure facilities that this high rise iconic building will offer.

The Medina Tower, built on an 11,000 square metre plot of land, will cover 200,000 square metres of built-up area over 40 floors above ground, and four floors of underground parking that can accommodate up to 900 cars.

Maltese entrepreneur Mr Alfred Pisani, Chairman of the Corinthia Group, that also owns Palm City Residences just outside of Tripoli, described the occasion as another major milestone for the group that is now focused and excited about this new project in Tripoli.

Mr Pisani said that last year Libya went through a challenging period, and they had to deal with some very difficult and trying moments. “We have, however, remained focused and determined to push ahead with our investment plans and we are pleased to report that the hard work and determination has now paid off as we are about to break ground on this landmark development in the heart of Tripoli".
Libya: Corinthia Signs €320M Contract to Build Medina Tower in Tripoli

Libya: Oil, Gas Revenues Total $54.9 Billion in 2012
The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Sunday that the country’s oil and gas revenues for the year 2012 total $54.9 billion.

According to a press release by NOC, the revenues are calculated according to an average daily oil production at 1.350 million barrels per day at a price of $100 per barrel.

In the meantime, the Libyan Gulf Oil company has announced a new oil discovery in concession MN4 that is owned totally by NOC and is located 150 kms southwest of Gadams.

The total Libyan oil production during the period between January 1 to July 31, 2012 is 302 million barrels of oil.

NOC also said it has registered an increase in oil production of five percent during the same period or what amounted to $562 million.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Libyan Economy the Fastest Growing in the World

By Karen Dabrowska

The Libyan economy will be the fastest growing in the world in 2012, as oil production and exports have rebounded faster than originally predicted, Business Monitor International reports in its latest publication Algeria & Libya: Business Forecast Report which includes a 10-year forecast to 2020.

Business Monitor projects real GDP growth expanding 58.9% this year, following an estimated contraction of 49.2% in 2011. Despite massive reconstruction needs, gross fixed capital formation will remain weak as investors wait on the side lines until a clearer picture of the security situation and political transformation emerges.

The faster than expected improvement in domestic oil production and exports are the key factors driving the broader macroeconomic recovery, particularly given the pronounced destruction to underlying infrastructure as a result of the 2011 war. At this stage, the Libyan story remains all about oil and there is little prospect that significant reconstruction projects can get off the ground before 2013.

The hydrocarbon sector has recently posted remarkable recovery since last year’s revolution brought a total halt to international shipments. According to an official from the National Oil Corporation crude oil exports hit a post-war record in April due to the rapid return of production, delays to March shipments, and continued trouble with the country’s largest refinery, Ras Lanouf.

At the moment officials are targeting the full resumption of pre-war crude production – estimated at 1.65m barrels a day in mid-2012. Business Monitor has revised its 2012 hydrocarbon production forecasts upwards and now estimates that total liquids output, including condensates, natural gas liquids, and refinery gains, will average 1.66m b/d this year while net exports could average as much as 1.44m b/d.

As the Libyan economy is one of the least diversified markets in the world, the sharp recovery in oil production is clearly the main driver of headline growth in the near term. According to estimates by the IMF, hydrocarbons account for 70% of GDP, more than 95% of exports and 90% of government revenues.

While this underscores the lack of development in the non-hydrocarbon economy and raises questions about whether any new government will be able to make significant headway in bolstering the private sector, it should also provide a degree of solace that last year’s contraction will prove only temporary.

Business Monitor states that Libya’s long term economic outlook until 2021 is by no means certain, not least because of the volatile political climate. Its forecasts are based on the assumption that reform efforts will be piecemeal at best and prone to sudden reversals. As a result, the hydrocarbon sector will remain the key driver of growth.

However, even this industry’s ability to sustain forward momentum is in doubt in the light of uncertainties surrounding the domestic policy trajectory.
Libyan Economy the Fastest Growing in the World

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Magarief Says Attack on US Consulate in Benghazi Unrelated to Anti-Islam Film


Mohammed al-Magarief, the president of Libya's General Assembly said on Wednesday that the deadly September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was a pre-planned assault that had "nothing to do with" an anti-Islam online video.

In an interview with NBC News, Magarief said that the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds with such accuracy that the attack had to have been planned and carried out by experienced militants.

When asked if the offensive anti-Islam movie - which sparked violent protests across the Muslim world - had anything to do with the assault, Magarief replied: "Not on this attack."

"Reaction should have been, if it was genuine, should have been six months earlier. So it was postponed until the 11th of September," he said, adding: "They chose this date, 11th of September, to carry a certain message."

The attack on the consulate, which killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and four other Americans, was initially said to have been part of a protest over the film, but the White House later called it a "terrorist attack".

Magarief told NBC there were no protesters at the consulate before the attack, which he said came in two waves - with militants firing grenades at the consulate and then attacking an annex with mortar rounds.

"It's a pre-planned act of terrorism," he said, adding that the film had "nothing to do with this attack."

Magarief said that based on the accuracy of the assault, he believes the attackers must have had training and experience using the weapons.

Magarief said that while Libyans appeared to be behind the attack that "these Libyans do not represent the Libyan people or Libyan population in any sense of the word."

Libyan officials have condemned the attack and have vowed to help the United States bring the perpetrators to justice.

Magarief Says Attack on US Consulate in Benghazi Unrelated to Anti-Islam Film

 

[Syrian Lion]

Blackeagle?? are you trying to hide the AL and NATO failure in Libya??? we all know that Libyans are still fighting each other.... and France have 35% of Libyan oil..... and now USA also got a piece of the Libyan cake by putting it's Marines in Libya for "safety of American embassy".... but later on it will grow on to become a base......

The NATO revolution in Libya is nothing but a failure...... and now Alqaeda is holding some of Libya....

 

[Nishan_101]

Libya: Corinthia Signs €320M Contract to Build Medina Tower in Tripoli

The Medina Tower project. How it will look when it is completed in 40 months time

In the presence of the Chairman of the Investment Board of Libya, Eng G. Guider and the Deputy Minister for Planning Ali Essaleh, the signing was carried out on Friday morning of the award of the contract - worth €320 million - for the construction of the Medina Tower, a 40-storey building project on a central seafront site in the heart of Tripoli.

The signing, at the Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel in the heart of the Libyan capital follows three years of negotiations, was signed by the technical director of the project, Bashir El Saleh, and the Maltese Managing Director of the Tower Joint Stock Company, Reuben Xuereb.

A symbolic ceremony presided by the chairman of Medina Tower, Taher Siala, and Yousef Abdelmaula, Vice Chairman of the Corinthia Group, has awarded the contract for the sub and superstructure works with Turkish contractor Koray.

The Medina Tower will comprise luxury residential units, class A office space, a commercial centre housing some of the top fashion brands, restaurants offering a wide international cuisine and a luxury spa with extensive leisure facilities.

The project the first of its kind in Libya, will take 40 months to complete. It will bring to the city an address where locals and foreigners alike can live in luxury, work in modern and technologically advanced office spaces, and enjoy the unique commercial and leisure facilities that this high rise iconic building will offer.

The Medina Tower, built on an 11,000 square metre plot of land, will cover 200,000 square metres of built-up area over 40 floors above ground, and four floors of underground parking that can accommodate up to 900 cars.

Maltese entrepreneur Mr Alfred Pisani, Chairman of the Corinthia Group, that also owns Palm City Residences just outside of Tripoli, described the occasion as another major milestone for the group that is now focused and excited about this new project in Tripoli.

Mr Pisani said that last year Libya went through a challenging period, and they had to deal with some very difficult and trying moments. “We have, however, remained focused and determined to push ahead with our investment plans and we are pleased to report that the hard work and determination has now paid off as we are about to break ground on this landmark development in the heart of Tripoli".
Libya: Corinthia Signs €320M Contract to Build Medina Tower in Tripoli

Libya: Oil, Gas Revenues Total $54.9 Billion in 2012
The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Sunday that the country’s oil and gas revenues for the year 2012 total $54.9 billion.

According to a press release by NOC, the revenues are calculated according to an average daily oil production at 1.350 million barrels per day at a price of $100 per barrel.

In the meantime, the Libyan Gulf Oil company has announced a new oil discovery in concession MN4 that is owned totally by NOC and is located 150 kms southwest of Gadams.

The total Libyan oil production during the period between January 1 to July 31, 2012 is 302 million barrels of oil.

NOC also said it has registered an increase in oil production of five percent during the same period or what amounted to $562 million.

Better to open different types of R&D facilities in Libya to promote research and development that will make the economy oil free and people will look in to productive work.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Libyans rise up against militias' dominance

Benghazi civilans take action, arguing government failed to rein in ultra-conservative groups such as Ansar al-Sharia.

Benghazi, Libya - The killings at the US consulate in Benghazi earlier this month have laid bare a cultural war between ultra-conservatives and the rest of the population that has been brewing in Libya ever since the early days of the rebellion that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

On Friday, about 10,000 civilians, sick of what they view as the increasing impunity and lawlessness of militias, evicted Ansar al-Sharia, and several other similar armed groups that have rejected recent moves from authorities to integrate them into the nation’s nascent security forces, from their compounds in central Benghazi.

The military was in control of the sites at the time of writing.

In interviews with Al Jazeera, dozens of people in Benghazi said that the killings of Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador, and three other US staff members during a protest over a video deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad on September 11 were carried out by individuals who are not representative of their country, or their religion.

Abdu Hamid Sayed Lakhdar, an elder of the al-Ferjani tribe from eastern Benghazi, said that local tribal leaders were united in their calls for the government to be more proactive in asserting law, justice and security.

"This is not just about Benghazi. The government has made a lot of mistakes and all Libyans are being ignored," he said, calling for national unity.

"We are doing this [taking a public stand against the militias] because of what happened to the American consulate, and also what happen to the foreign graves."

Libyan authorities and the FBI are currently investigating who was behind the attack, and many details remain unclear.

Many locals blame individual members of Ansar al-Sharia, an ultra-conservative militia that splintered from its more prominent fellow armed group Rafallah el-Sehati earlier in the year.

'Security and morality'

Days before the demonstrators forced Ansar al-Sharia from their Benghazi headquarters, Al Jazeera interviewed a senior member of the militia, and visited a hospital where it was, until Friday, providing security.

The spokesperson, who asked to be quoted by the pseudonym Abu Mohammed, said that the militia had nothing to do with the attack. Ansar al-Sharia was against the killings and looting of the consulate, he said, denying reports from witnesses that its members were photographed at the September 11 protest.

"We are busy guarding our bases and the hospital [on the night of the attack]. We did not order our members to go to the protest," he said. "We welcome all the Western countries that help us."

Abu Mohammed rejected the assertion by President Mohamed al-Magarief that a sub-faction of Ansar al-Sharia linked to al-Qaeda had planned the attack. The assault was orchestrated by Gaddafi loyalists in the government, he argued.

"The top priority for Ansar al-Sharia is to protect Benghazi and to encourage people to respect sharia law," he said.

Asked about the recent attacks on Sufi shrines, which many said his group was responsible for, Abu Mohammed said that Ansar al-Sharia is opposed to the way Sufis practise Islam, but that it was not behind the destruction of the graves or shrines.

"We have a problem with the Sufis because they supported Gaddafi's regime and they believe in magic," he said.

He declined to elaborate on whether the brigade sees it as part of its mission to force Sufis to change the ways they practise Islam, or unveiled women to cover up, saying these issues get misconstrued by foreign media.

"Some people are trying to pressure Ansar al-Sharia, in the government, in the army, in the interior ministry," he said.

"Some Gaddafi loyalists are working in the government and the army, especially in Tripoli and the west of the country."

Imposing presence

Abu Mohammed said Ansar al-Sharia had refused to come under the control of the defence ministry because it is a civilian group, and that it would give up its arms when the security forces were established.

His confidence in his comrades' trustworthiness rang slightly hollow when, informed that we had attempted to request an interview at one of the Ansar al-Sharia headquarters the previous day, he scolded my Libyan fixer.

"You took her there?!" he exclaimed, a shocked expression crossing his face.

He need not have worried, as his comrades had informed us that the movement did not speak to foreign journalists, or random women.

Our visit to the Jalaa Hospital was more successful. The hospital is Benghazi's only emergency medical facility, and treated thousands of rebels during the fighting last year.

The Ansar al-Sharia guards had an imposing presence. None deviated from the uniform of a black T-shirt, camouflage trousers and beard.

The men were working as volunteers, hospital staff said. They provided 25 guards at the hospital at a time, with dozens more on call if needed, they said.

Until they were kicked out by demonstrators on Friday, the militia had at least three bases in Benghazi.

They controlled a former military barracks, a base in the neighbourhood of Benina, and had inherited the former headquarters of Gaddafi's internal security forces from other ultra-conservative militias.

Their main base is in Derna, another eastern coastal city with a history of resistance to the Gaddafi regime.

'Faultless behaviour'

In the absence of fully functional government security forces, the hospital administration said they had little choice but to call in the militia in June after constantly being forced to close because of shootings.

"We requested help from Ansar al-Sharia only after we had repeatedly been to the defence ministry, the government, the police … [Ansar al-Sharia] was our last resort," said Fadia El-Bargati, a spokesperson for the hospital.

"A lot of people don't like Ansar al-Sharia, but their behaviour here has been faultless," she said. "Most of them are unemployed, they do all this without pay."

This does not necessarily mean the members are not receiving some other salary. Other sources, including Libya's deputy defence minister Mohamed Taynaz, say it is likely that Ansar al-Sharia and Rafallah el-Sehat are receiving foreign funding.

The group's role in the hospital was not just about security. They also acted as "moral guardians".

El-Bargati cites the group’s religious values as one of the reasons the hospital administration called on Ansar al-Sharia rather than another militia.

Posters promising patients punishment in the afterlife for smoking, and advising them of the best way to pray, lined the corridors of the hospital.

Nervous reaction

A Filipino nurse became nervous when asked how he felt about the new guards.

"I have a wife and daughter here," he said, declining to comment further.

Abu Mohammed said the brigade had just 100 members, which is much lower than estimates from locals outside the militia. When challenged on this number, he refused to give further details.

On Friday, at least 3,000 people showed up to a counter-protest which Ansar al-Sharia called, in what amounted to the most open display of its power to date.

Many new members have been recruited in recent months. Few of its members are well-known, most commentators agree, including the group's leader Mohammad Ali al-Zahawi.

Abu Mohammed denied that many of the fighters had spent time in Iraq or Afghanistan, saying they were mostly very young. Neither is the brigade sending fighters to Syria, he said.

In contrast, he acknowledged that Rafallah el-Sehati, the militia which Ansar al-Sharia sprung from, has sent many fighters to battle President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

'Jihadist' ideology

Ansar al-Sharia might be relatively new, but it represents a broader ultra-conservative movement that has deep roots in Libyan society, particularly in the east of the country.

Omar Suleiman, a political analyst at the University of Benghazi, said that the contemporary conception of jihad as a form of political struggle against illegitimate government, or foreigners who disrespect Islam, could be traced to resistance to Italian colonial rule.

"This concept of jihad is rooted deeply in our psyche since this period [1911 to 1942]," he said.

After Gaddafi carried out his coup in 1969, dissidents initially attempted peaceful protest. He hunted them down, and had thousands imprisoned, tortured or killed.

"Then people said that we will not try to reason with Gaddafi anymore, because they saw that the people who had tried dialogue had been imprisoned or killed," Suleiman said. "The language of politics was spoken through violence."

Hundreds of Gaddafi's most vocal opponents were further radicalised after joining fellow Muslim fighters in their US- and Saudi-backed fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, the returnees began raiding security forces supplies to arm themselves. They founded the Libyan Islamic Fighters Group [LIFG], and the fight against Gaddafi intensified.

The veterans of this now-defunct movement were integral to the 2011 revolution, forming militias including the Abu Salim Brigade, the Omar Mukhtar Brigade and Rafallah el-Sehati. Ansar al-Sharia emerged, in turn, from these brigades.

New partners

The rift between these ultra-conservative fighters, whose leaders faced intense repression during Gaddafi's rule, and the members of the former Libyan leader's military and political establishment, who defected to join them, continues in the post-Gaddafi era.

Both sides participated in the revolution as allies, and yet have very different visions of what Libyan society should look like.

The first clue of the depth and complexity of the divide within the rebel movement came with the murder of their leader Abdel Fattah Younis in July 2011.

Incidentally, his ultra-conservative suspected killer was broken out of prison a few weeks before the attack on the US consulate.

"We are very grateful for all the help from our friends around the world have done for us," Suleiman said.

"Everyone in Libya knows that without the help of other countries, something horrible would have happened in Benghazi."

"When the revolution succeeded, and Libya emerged with new friends, especially in the US, France and the UK, some people here did not agree," he explained.

"They are still focused on what has happened to Muslims in Palestine, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan."

Suleiman argued that the new authorities must be careful not to repeat the Gaddafi-era cycle of repression against a new generation of ultra-conservatives, and that the best way to move beyond the past is to engage them as partners in the new Libya.

Civil society stands up

Ahmed Mustafa, a local sheikh, said whoever was behind the attacks on the US consulate, on Sufi shrines and on the graves had a misguided vision of what Islam meant.

"The people who killed the ambassador, and the people who damaged the gravestones and the [Sufi] shrines are not following Islam and our traditions," he said.

Like many people interviewed in Benghazi, he said that while he was upset about the anti-Islam video, this did not change the gratitude he felt towards the foreign countries that had supported the rebels.

"The Libyan people will never forget America's help during the revolution," he said.

At the same time, he argued it was important not to demonise Ansar al-Sharia. "Some people from Ansar al-Sharia denied that they took part in the protest, but some of their members were there," he said.

"Ansar al-Sharia do some good things, and some bad things," he said, noting their work at the hospital and their fighting against Gaddafi's regime.

Will of the people

Friday's protest underlined the lack of popular support amongst civilians for Ansar al-Sharia, and militias in general.

Libyans had already sent a similar message to ultra-conservatives in the July election, in which the ultra-conservative party led by Abdelhakim Belhaj, who had led the LIFG, did not win a single seat.

Whether the country's security forces are strong enough to stand up to the militias, and enforce what appears to be the will of the majority of Libyans, is another matter.

Colonel Ramadan El-Dressi, a commander of the army acting under the control of the Libyan military, said that the government had been following a policy that promoted the militias and undermined the military and police.

"It's true without a doubt that al-Qaeda has a presence in Libya. We need support from the government to protect our people from these extremists," he said.

"We did not overcome 42 years of dictatorship just to let another form of terrorism take over our country."

To date, the government has avoided direct confrontation with the many militia groups, of all political stripes.

It has continued to attribute a series of assassinations and bombings to Gaddafi loyalists, refusing to even consider the many other possible suspects.

One of the biggest challenges the new government faces is striking a difficult balance between taking a firm stand against the militias, and avoiding the type of brutality and persecution that led to the atrocities witnessed under Gaddafi.

Libyans rise up against militias' dominance - Features - Al Jazeera English

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Better to open different types of R&D facilities in Libya to promote research and development that will make the economy oil free and people will look in to productive work.

They have started with fixing up the mess. As you know, there are priorities, you can't start with research when you don't have decent educational system and infrastructure as well as security.