SIRTE, Libya: Libya’s oil blockade would likely end if the central bank supplies the funds for the budget that parliament approved this week, the parliament-appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, told Reuters.
Bashagha was sworn in by the eastern-based parliament in March but Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah, who was installed as prime minister last year through a UN-backed process, has rejected its move leading to a standoff.
Since April, groups in the east have forcibly closed many Libyan oil facilities to demand that Bashagha take power in the capital, blockading much of Libya’s oil output and putting new pressure on world energy prices.
Speaking in the central coastal city of Sirte where he is based while the existing government in Tripoli refuses to cede control, Bashagha also said he did not expect Libya’s political stalemate to trigger a new war.
“As soon as our government receives the budget and it is distributed equitably according to what we mentioned in the budget, then the residents of the fields and the oil crescent will not mind re-exporting the oil,” he said in an interview.
He added that there was a lot of anger at what he called illegal spending by Dbeibah’s government, including corruption and payments to armed groups. Dbeibah has previously denied financial wrongdoing.
“The closure is partial in the oil facilities. It happened as a result of the anger of the residents of the Oil Crescent and the oil fields when they saw the expired government in Tripoli,” Bashagha said.
This week, the parliament approved a 90 billion dinars ($18.6 billion) budget for Bashagha, but the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has so far worked with the Tripoli government and has made no public sign it will hand over the money.
Bashagha said he was confident that CBL governor Sadiq Al-Kabir would provide the funds.
“Do I think Kabir will prevent or reject a budget that has been classified and has allocated funds through specific budget items and includes all Libyan sectors and affects the lives of all Libyans...? I do not think so,” he said.
Bashagha would not comment on what might happen if Kabir does not finance his government, though analysts have warned of a return to economic division between east and west Libya.
The last major bout of conflict in Libya ended in 2020 and many Libyans fear the current political standoff could trigger a new war.
“There will be no movement of force from east to west or west to east,” Bashagha said.
“In light of the presence of a very large foreign force in the western region of Libya, which was supportive of the defense of the capital, how can there be a war?” he said.
He was alluding to the Turkish forces brought to Libya under the previous internationally backed Tripoli government in which he was interior minister that helped fight off a 14-month assault by eastern forces.
Those forces, under commander Khalifa Haftar, are allied to the parliament which now backs Bashagha as prime minister. Some factions in the west fear a Bashagha government would allow Haftar access to Tripoli.
“This is because of a media confusion,” Bashagha said.
“I was one of the leaders of the defense of Tripoli,” he added.
Libya’s Bashagha says oil blockade tied to budget release
https://arab.news/b2p6z
Libya’s Bashagha says oil blockade tied to budget release
- Bashagha, the parliament-appointed prime minister, also said he did not expect Libya’s political stalemate to trigger a new war
‘Future cities will be built for visitors, not just residents,’ Saudi tourism minister tells Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is positioning itself at the forefront of the global travel evolution by designing destinations that will target the tourists of the future, the Kingdom’s tourism minister has said.
Ahmed Al-Khateeb added that sustainability would serve as the guiding principle behind Saudi Arabia’s role in tomorrow’s global travel landscape.
Travelers’ habits and the tourism industry’s revenue sources have shifted dramatically in recent years, he told Arab News in an interview.
“People used to travel in groups. Today, they are traveling in smaller groups. Hotels used to make most of their revenues from rooms — now, they are making more from lounges and restaurants.”
And younger generations, empowered by technology, are also redefining how travel is planned and experienced, Al-Khateeb added. “They are driving their own itineraries on the go, which puts pressure on traditional travel companies that once organized large group trips. We are witnessing big shifts in the global travel market.”
Among the world’s fastest-growing tourism markets, China and India are reshaping international travel flows. “China has become the most important source market for outbound travelers, while India is expected to double its number of travelers in the coming years,” the minister said. “This opens a major opportunity for the Middle East — and Saudi Arabia in particular — to emerge as a top destination for international tourists.”
Since 2019, Saudi Arabia has recorded the fastest tourism growth among all G20 nations, said Al-Khateeb. “We have a very strong domestic market and a very strong religious market. Now, we have opened our doors for leisure, business and holiday travelers — whether they seek the Red Sea coast, the southern mountains, our major cities or our beautiful islands.”
Yet the Kingdom’s long-term vision for tourism extends far beyond the present, with destinations being built to serve both visitors and residents sustainably, he added.
“In the 1950s and 1960s, cities were built for residents,” Al-Khateeb said. “Today, in places like Greece, visitors outnumber residents three to one. The cities of the future must be designed for visitors as well — and that’s what we are doing in Saudi Arabia.”
Sustainability has become a non-negotiable element of all tourism development in the Kingdom, he added. “In the last two decades, sustainability has become extremely important. As we build new destinations like the Red Sea, we are fully aligned with sustainability regulations. Whatever we build today is environmentally friendly, ensuring not only environmental, but also social and economic sustainability.”
This principle lies at the heart of Vision 2030’s tourism transformation: “Sustainability is at our forefront whenever we build or operate any new destination,” he added.
