Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/352862
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 JULY 2014 4 News Libya in crisis Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam employed as propaganda tool against Islamist threat • US embassy evacuated in clear sign of worsening violence in and around Tripoli A senior government official has told Malta- Today that this week, the son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, ad- dressed the troubled nation on radio, warning against the threat of Islamists and radical groups affiliated to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Although not confirmed, the radio broadcast is thought to have been transmitted on national radio. On Friday, foreign affairs minister George Vel- la pointed out that fighters from Iraq and Syria had infiltrated Islamist militias in the east of the country and in parliament called on Libyans to reject fundamentalism before it was too late. The intense rivalry between the Zintani and Misrata forces, the two major militias who are battling it out in Tripoli, also exposes religious and political divides which go beyond Libyan borders. While the relatively liberal and secular Zintani forces are backed by Mahmoud Jibril, a number of western countries and the United Arab Emir- ates, the Misrata militias are closer to the Islam- ists in the east of the country and are allegedly funded by Qatar. Moreover, Khalifa Hifter, a former general in Gaddafi's army has been launching attacks against Islamists in Benghazi, where radical militias are demanding the imposition of Is- lamic law, or Sharia. The 17 February Martyrs and Ansar al-Sharia brigades were linked to the events in the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens. On Sunday, a Filipino construction worker was beheaded after being kidnapped for ransom by militiamen in Benghazi on 15 July. The man was abducted at a checkpoint to- gether with a Libyan and a Pakistani. The victim was allegedly singled out because he was a non- Muslim and although the Filipino's employers negotiated with the abductors, they discovered his body in a state of advanced decomposition four days later in a hospital. Evacuations Yesterday, the United States shut down its embassy in Libya and evacuated its diplomats to neighbouring Tunisia under military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in the capital, Tripoli. The US is just the latest in a number of coun- tries to have closed down their diplomatic mis- sions in Libya. Turkey also announced that it had closed down its embassy and militia clashes in Benghazi have prompted the United Nations, aid groups and foreign envoys to leave the east- ern city. "Due to the ongoing violence resulting from clashes between Libyan militias in the imme- diate vicinity of the US Embassy in Tripoli, we have temporarily relocated all of our personnel out of Libya," US government spokeswoman Marie Harf said. The evacuation was accompanied by the re- lease of a new State Department travel warning about Libya, urging Americans not to go to the country and recommending that those already there leave immediately. "The Libyan government has not been able to adequately build its military and police forces and improve security,'' it said. "Many military-grade weapons remain in the hands of private individuals, including anti-air- craft weapons that may be used against civilian aviation." American staff at the Tripoli embassy, which had already been operating with limited staff- ing, left the capital around dawn and travelled by road to neighbouring Tunisia, according to Harf. As fighting between rival militias intensi- fied, a number of other countries, including the Philippines, also ordered the evacuation of their countrymen in Libya. Malta sets up crisis unit for possible mass evacuation Speaking in Parliament on Friday, foreign minister George Vella confirmed that an inter- ministerial crisis unit has been set up in prepa- ration for a possible evacuation of foreigners from Libya. Earlier that day, a government spokesperson told MaltaToday that "an inter-ministerial co- ordination crisis centre on the Libya situation has been set up and has been meeting regularly for the past two weeks." With the situation in Libya worsening, the Maltese government is in the process of creat- ing reception centres, including a centre at Ta' Kandja, which could possibly host evacuees on a temporary basis. Vella also informed parliament that an agree- ment was in place between all EU countries that if an evacuation is ordered, it would be coordinated on an EU level. With a number of countries already having ordered an evacuation, the possibility of Malta hosting thousands of foreigners currently in Libya, is looking very possible. However, since this crisis is happening in the midst of summer, when hotel occupancy rates are at their highest, the crisis committee is setting up alternative reception centres in the eventuality of a mass evacuation. Minister Vella said the government was making all necessary preparations to ensure that "Malta isn't overwhelmed by a wave of evacuees." Although the situation in Libya is worsening, Malta and other European countries have so far resisted calls for a major evacuation. No-fly zone The heads of mission to Libya appointed by EU states are still evaluating the situation in the country, and as agreed, will only evacuate European missions in a joint announcement. There has been no decision to that extent so far. But yesterday EU envoys called for a ceasefire mandated by the United Nations, a move that may have little effect without direct interven- tion as rival militias intensified attacks. A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Min- istry was not in a position to confirm whether NATO will be closing the airspace in Libya. Reports on Twitter have claimed that the Libyan airspace could be closed on Monday. "The government has received no official com- munication in this sense," a spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry said. It is understood that EU member states have been briefed on two possible scenarios, one of which includes NATO closing all Libyan airspace. The second option would see Libya closing its western airspace. In the eventuality that NATO closes the Lib- yan airspace, informed sources said this does not spark an automatic evacuation of foreign nationals on Libyan soil. Sources said evacua- tions will only take place on agreement among the EU heads of mission to Libya. Escalation in violence Tripoli has been embroiled for weeks in in- ter-militia violence that has killed and wound- ed dozens on all sides. The fighting has been particularly intense at the city's airport. The battle over the capital's airport has now entered its third week and is being waged by a powerful group from the western city of Zin- tan, which controls the facility, and Islamist- led groups, including fighters from Misrata, east of Tripoli. Although the fighting has been largely limited to the capital's outskirts, Tripoli is witnessing one of its worst spells of violence since the top- pling of Muammar Gaddafi three years ago. The battle in Tripoli began earlier this month when fighters - mostly from the western city of Misrata - launched a surprise assault on the airport, under control of rival militias from the western mountain town of Zintan. PM not allowed to fly out of Tripoli On Friday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Al- Thinni and a group of ministers were prevented from flying out of Mitiga airport in Tripoli. Thinni was heading to Tobruk for meetings when they were stopped by Libya's Supreme Security Committee, the militia controlling the air base. Mitiga was supposedly "handed back" to the government in a ceremony a fortnight ago, the third time in two years. Even at the time, how- ever, the "handover" was seen as a ruse to make the public believe that the air base was now un- der state control. A number of flights are nonetheless being op- erated from the airbase, including a number of international ones. Al Thinni Khalifa Hifter Foreign Minister George Vella in Reporter Foreign Minister George Vella will be the main guest of the current affairs programme Reporter to be aired tomorrow when the programme will focus on the crisis in the Mediterranean. The programme will look at the situa- tion in Libya, the plight of migrants and the conflicts in Gaza and Syria. Other guests include shadow foreign minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and in- ternational analyst Stephen Calleya. The programme is hosted by Media- Today managing editor Saviour Balzan and is screened live on TVM at 8.45pm, with a repeat on TVM2 on Tuesday at 5.45pm.