The United States on Monday added its own sanctions to those imposed by the UN last week on six men linked to migrant trafficking from Libya, including two Libyan government officials accused of being masterminds.
Abd Al Rahman Milad, commander of a Libyan coastguard unit at Zawiya, 30 kilometres from Tripoli, and Mohamed Koshlaf, commander of security at the town’s refinery, were involved in mistreating migrants and sinking migrant boats operated by rival smugglers, the US Treasury said.
“Milad and other coast guard members have been directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats using firearms, some reportedly in an attempt to undermine the smuggling business of Koshlaf’s competitors,” the treasury statement said. “Milad’s unit has reportedly confiscated the boat engines of some smugglers who did not pay Milad, leaving them stranded at sea.”
Both officials are also accused of mistreating migrants at sea and in local detention centres: “A member of Milad’s local coastguard unit has been video-recorded striking migrants on a small rubber dingy with a bullwhip.”
The US report, following a similar UN report issued on Friday, makes grim reading for Italian and EU officials, who had pinned their hopes on tackling Libyan people-smuggling by supporting the country’s coastguard.
A memorandum of understanding signed between Italy and Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in February last year promised funding and training for the Libyan coastguard, with EU cash for migrant reception centres.
Instead, UN and US experts say the GNA is employing officials who are masterminding the people-smuggling networks.
“These brutal smuggling groups have tortured, robbed, and enslaved migrants seeking a better life. The United States is isolating these callous individuals from the US financial system,” said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
The UN was equally scathing about the activities of the two officials, who were sanctioned along with two other Libyans and two Libya-based Eritreans.
One of the sanctioned men, Ahman Oumar Al Dabbashi, headed a militia with ties to ISIS that was involved in fierce fighting with rival groups around Zawiya for control of the migrant trade, UN investigators said. "Al Dabbashi is currently active around Zawiya, after violent clashes broke out with other militia and rival smuggling organisations around the coastal area in October 2017, resulting in over 30 deaths including civilians," their report said.
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Read more:
Spain breaks deadlock after rescued migrants cut adrift
UN slaps sanctions on people smugglers in Libya
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As Italy's new government takes a tougher line on migration, closing its ports to boats carrying migrants, its options for tackling smugglers in Libya are fast diminishing. The US sanctions make it an offence to have financial dealings with any of the six sanctioned men, meaning Italy might have to rethink its support for the Libyan coastguard.
The sanctioned smugglers have transported many of the 600,000 migrants who arrived in Italy over the past four years, with the International Organisation for Migration estimating that 20,000 drowned in the attempt.
The US sanctions highlight the failure of the GNA, installed in Tripoli in March 2016, to get a grip on migrant smuggling gangs. With no security forces of its own, it has proven unable to control either migrant smuggling or its own capital, which is held by rival militias who fight periodic battles for control of key districts.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the impetus for sanctions was footage broadcast by CNN last November that the news channel said showed slave auctions of migrants in west Libya.
“We were all horrified by pictures of human beings for sale in Libya last year,” Mr Guterres tweeted on Friday. “I welcome the Security Council’s decision to sanction six traffickers and smugglers. There must be accountability for exploitation and human rights abuses.”
Soon after CNN aired the footage last year, the GNA set up a committee and promised an investigation. To date, no such investigation has reported and nobody has been charged.
The chaos in western Libya is a stark contrast to the east, where the GNA’s rival, the House of Representatives parliament, holds sway from the town of Tobruk. The Libyan National Army loyal to the parliament, commanded by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, has largely vanquished militias in the east, and is now battling to seize the last militia holdout in the coastal town of Derna.
The anarchy in west Libya is an obstacle not just to hopes of tackling migrant smuggling, but to ending the country’s civil war.
An agreement to hold elections in December was brokered by French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on May 29, but some diplomats fear that a fair poll will be next to impossible while western Libya is controlled by a patchwork of rival warlords.
SERIES INFO
Schedule:
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
1st ODI, Wed Apr 10
2nd ODI, Fri Apr 12
3rd ODI, Sun Apr 14
4th ODI, Sun Apr 16
UAE squad
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe squad
Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.
Jiu-jitsu calendar of events for 2017-2018:
August 5:
Round-1 of the President’s Cup in Al Ain.
August 11-13:
Asian Championship in Vietnam.
September 8-9:
Ajman International.
September 16-17
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Ashgabat.
September 22-24:
IJJF Balkan Junior Open, Montenegro.
September 23-24:
Grand Slam Los Angeles.
September 29:
Round-1 Mother of The Nation Cup.
October 13-14:
Al Ain U18 International.
September 20-21:
Al Ain International.
November 3:
Round-2 Mother of The National Cup.
November 4:
Round-2 President’s Cup.
November 10-12:
Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro.
November 24-26:
World Championship, Columbia.
November 30:
World Beach Championship, Columbia.
December 8-9:
Dubai International.
December 23:
Round-3 President’s Cup, Sharjah.
January 12-13:
Grand Slam Abu Dhabi.
January 26-27:
Fujairah International.
February 3:
Round-4 President’s Cup, Al Dhafra.
February 16-17:
Ras Al Khaimah International.
February 23-24:
The Challenge Championship.
March 10-11:
Grand Slam London.
March 16:
Final Round – Mother of The Nation.
March 17:
Final Round – President’s Cup.
More on animal trafficking
