DUBAI: The EU delegation and EU country missions in Libya said on Friday they were gravely concerned about the deterioration of the situation in the country.
They said the intimidation of the Tripoli-based High State Council members and central bank employees, the closure of oil fields, and disruptions in banking services were exacerbating an already fragile situation.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Libya’s central bank Gov. Sadiq Al-Kabir said he and other senior bank staff had been forced to leave the country to “protect our lives” from potential attacks by armed militia,
“Militias are threatening and terrifying bank staff and are sometimes abducting their children and relatives to force them to go to work,” Kabir told the newspaper via telephone.
He also said attempts by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to replace him were illegal and contravened UN negotiated accords on control of the central bank.
The crisis over the control of the Central Bank of Libya creates another level of instability in the country. This major oil producer is split between eastern and western factions with backing from Turkiye and Russia.
Early this week, the UN Support Mission in Libya called for the suspension of unilateral decisions, lifting force majeure on oil fields, halting escalations and use of force, and protecting central bank employees.
EU missions gravely concerned about Libya situation
https://arab.news/5pwjm
EU missions gravely concerned about Libya situation
WHO alarmed by health workers, civilians ‘forcibly detained’ in Sudan
- The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency
GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Tuesday at reports that more than 70 health workers and around 5,000 civilians were being detained in Nyala in southwestern Sudan.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more and devastated infrastructure.
“We are concerned by reports from Nyala, the capital of Sudan’s South Darfur state, that more than 70 health care workers are being forcibly detained along with about 5,000 civilians,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the detainees are being held in cramped and unhealthy conditions, and there are reports of disease outbreaks,” the UN health agency chief said.
The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction allied earlier this year, forming a coalition based in Nyala.
“WHO is gathering more information on the detentions and conditions of those being held. The situation is complicated by the ongoing insecurity,” said Tedros.
“The reported detentions of health workers and thousands more people is deeply concerning. Health workers and civilians should be protected at all times and we call for their safe and unconditional release.”
The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.
In total, the WHO has recorded 65 attacks on health care in Sudan this year, resulting in 1,620 deaths and 276 injuries. Of those attacks, 54 impacted personnel, 46 impacted facilities and 33 impacted patients.
Earlier Tuesday, UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” in the Kordofan region in southern Sudan.
“I urge all parties to the conflict and states with influence to ensure an immediate ceasefire and to prevent atrocities,” he said.
“Medical facilities and personnel have specific protection against attack under international humanitarian law,” Turk added.
