TRIPOLI: The United Nations Libya mission (UNSMIL) called on Wednesday on Libyan authorities to free political activist Al-Moatassim Al-Areebi and to end arbitrary detentions.
Al-Areebi, 29, was abducted on Monday in the city of Misrata by unidentified armed men in civilian clothes along with his friend Mohamed Shtewi, the mission said in a statement.
UNSMIL said that Shtewi was released “after being beaten” but that the whereabouts of Al-Areebi “remain unknown.”
UNSMIL urged Misrata city’s security and law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the abduction of Al-Areebi, disclose his whereabouts, and secure his safe and immediate release.
Misrata is a port city some 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital Tripoli. The Tripoli government is considered to be in charge of Misrata but has not commented on the case.
“Reports of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment, torture, and deaths in custody committed with impunity continue to plague Libya,” the mission said.
Libya has had little peace or stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted its leader Muammar Qaddafi.
It split in 2014 between eastern factions in Benghazi, the second-largest city, and western factions in Tripoli, with rival administrations governing in each region.
“The Mission has documented cases of at least 60 individuals currently detained across the country for their actual or perceived political affiliation,” UNSMIL said in the statement.
UN mission to Libya says political activist abducted in Misrata
https://arab.news/j3sz4
UN mission to Libya says political activist abducted in Misrata
- Al-Areebi, 29, was abducted on Monday in the city of Misrata by unidentified armed men in civilian clothes
- UNSMIL urged Misrata city’s security and law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the abduction of Al-Areebi
Lebanon foreign minister declines Tehran visit, proposes talks in neutral country
- Lebanon’s foreign minister Youssef Raji cited ‘current conditions’ for the decision not to go to Iran
Lebanon’s foreign minister Youssef Raji said on Wednesday he had declined an invitation to visit Tehran for now, proposing instead talks with Iran in a mutually agreed neutral third country, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.
Raji cited “current conditions” for the decision not to go to Iran, without elaborating, and stressed that the move did not mean rejection of dialogue with Iran. He did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for additional comment.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had extended the invitation last week, seeking talks on bilateral ties.
Raji said Lebanon stood ready to open a new phase of constructive relations with Iran, on the condition that ties be based strictly on mutual respect, full recognition of each country’s independence and sovereignty, and non-interference in internal affairs under any pretext.
In an apparent reference to calls to disarm Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed movement allied for decades to Iran, Raji added that no strong state could be built unless the government held the exclusive right to hold weapons.
Hezbollah, once a dominant political force with wide influence over the Lebanese state, was severely weakened by Israeli strikes last year that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire. It has been under mounting domestic and international pressure to surrender its weapons and place all arms under state control.
In August, Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani visited Beirut, warning Lebanon not to “confuse its enemies with its friends.” In June, Foreign Minister Araqchi said Tehran sought a
“new page” in ties.
