Libyans caught between fear of pandemic and scepticism
Haytham, tall and well-built, turns away customers without masks from a shop entrance in Libya’s capital, telling them to return with a covering or buy one on the spot. “We…
Oil-rich Libya in poverty after decade of conflict
Libya has Africa’s largest proven oil reserves and only seven million people, but a decade of bloody conflict has left its economy shattered and its population mired in poverty. The…
Libya’s fate
This month has seen several failed attempts by foreign powers to broker a ceasefire in Libya.First, Fayez al-Sarraj, who heads Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), refused to travel…
Libyans endure sweltering summer as power cuts persist
On a sweltering night in Libya's capital, Ahlam Fathi watches her son study by candlelight as yet another power cut has plunged the family home into darkness. Despite the large…
Turkish intervention risks Syria scenario for Libya: experts
Turkey’s decision to approve the deployment of troops to Libya risks plunging the North African nation deeper into a Syrian-style proxy war between regional powers including Russia, experts warn. Libya…
Supplies of banknotes from Russia to east Libya accelerated this year
A parallel central bank in eastern Libya stepped up deliveries of new banknotes from Russia this year, before and after eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar launched a military offensive to capture…
What is Russia’s strategy in Libya?
The escalation of conflict in Libya has exposed a great deal of foreign meddling that outside powers, both regional and global, would have preferred to keep under the radar. Russia,…
Libyan wealth fund to hire auditors in push to unfreeze assets
Libya's sovereign wealth fund will appoint auditors within weeks and conclude a wide-ranging examination of its assets by 2019 as part of its efforts to get billions of dollars of…
Ghost of Libya
I went to Libya in 1987 to interview its strongman, Muammar Gaddafi. We spent an evening talking in his colourful Bedouin tent outside the Bab al-Azizya Barracks in Tripoli which…
Money, jihadist threat drive support for new Libya govt
In seeking to establish its authority in the chaos of Libya, the UN-backed new unity government has two major trump cards - control of state funds and fears of rising…
