Diplomatic efforts on Libya have turned to preventing renewed violence near the strategically important coastal city of Sirte and the resource rich region known as the oil crescent beyond.
Speaking at a UN Security Council session on Libya, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a demilitarised zone could be created to prevent fresh clashes around Sirte as eastern and western factions and their international backers squared off in the centre of the country.
“The conflict has entered a new phase with foreign interference reaching unprecedented levels, including in the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting,” Mr Guterres said.
In recent months, violence has escalated in Libya after an intervention by Turkey to bolster the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. Following a succession of victories against the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, GNA forces are now poised on the outskirts of Sirte.
“GNA units, with significant external support, continued their advance eastward and are now 25 kilometres west of Sirte after two previous attempts to gain control of the city,” Mr Guterres said.
“However, we are very concerned about the alarming military build-up around the city and the high level of direct foreign interference in the conflict in violation of the UN arms embargo,” he added.
Sirte and Jufra to the south are the gateway to the oil crescent and a series of ports and oil terminals to the east. The eastern strip of the Gulf of Sirte is the location for four of Libya’s six hydrocarbon export terminals. More than 50 per cent of crude oil exports leave Libya through the four facilities.
Restarting oil exports from Libya has been a major tranche of UN efforts to build towards a peace deal in the country. On Wednesday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted measures on the Es Sider oil terminal, to the east of Sirte, paving the way for higher oil exports from the Opec member.
Despite the move, which was welcomed by the UN, Petroleum Facilities Guard forces in control of the port have continued to block a tanker from entering Es Sider.
Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, addressed the Security Council calling for a ceasefire and for signatories to the Berlin Conference on Libya held in January this year to carry out its conclusions.
“Six months after the conference, the UAE regrets the deterioration of the security situation in country. This downward spiral can be attributed to the continuous foreign and regional interference in Libya's internal affairs,” Dr Gargash said.
The summit of world powers in Berlin sought to build on a tentative truce in Libya and find a path to peace after years of instability.
In the months since, violence has increased and the principal point of progress, a recommitment to Libya’s long-flouted arms embargo, lies in tatters.
The country is now more awash with arms and foreign fighters than before.
Dr Gargash decried in particular the presence of 10,000 Syrian mercenaries in Libya, saying this figure was twice the number that could be found in the country six months ago.
"The growing presence of mercenaries and foreign fighters exacerbates the conflict," he said.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke at the UN ahead of a European Parliament debate on Turkey’s influence in Libya and the wider region.
"We all took strong commitments in the Berlin conference in January and it's now time to translate our words into concrete actions," he said.
"The polarisation that has turned Libya into a theatre for proxy-war needs to stop. Action in support of one or the other Libyan parties needs to stop," the EU commissioner added.
The conflict in Libya has increasingly intersected with conflicts in the wider region, drawing in European countries and fracturing Nato, pitting France and Turkey against each other.
The standoff between the EU and Turkey centres on the decades-old dispute over Cyprus and the island’s frozen conflict.
In December last year the GNA in Tripoli and Turkey confirmed a new maritime
border deal in the Mediterranean Sea in exchange for subsequent military co-operation, which has had a profound effect on the ground in the North African nation.
The UAE, Egypt, France, Cyprus and Greece condemned the agreements that would give Turkey access to potentially lucrative natural gas reserves in the area.
Speaking in the European Parliament on Thursday, Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party, a centre-right coalition in the parliament that includes the parties of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, condemned Turkey’s actions in the region.
“The Turkish government’s actions are currently aggravating tensions in the Mediterranean region, putting stability and security in Europe in danger,” Mr Weber said.
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
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Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
