Algeria’s Declaration stresses need to keep Libya’s unity

Military official of Libyan National Army said that they launched a military operation targeting the militants loyal to extremists of Benghazi’s Shura Council Movement on Tuesday, saying that they launched over six raids targeting their strongholds in the Libyan city. Fifteen fighters loyal to east Libya's renegade General Haftar were killed on Monday in a new offensive against Islamist jihadi fighters in Benghazi.

Another 55 troops were injured in the assault on two strongholds belonging to the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries. Haftar's forces, the Libyan National Army (LNA), had previously announced victory over Benghazi's Islamist forces in March after they overpowered the Shura Council's power-base.

Islamist fighters - including those with affiliations to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group - responded with repeated guerrilla attacks on LNA forces in east Benghazi. Islamist fighters destroyed Benghazi's landmark Safina building on 28 April, reportedly in order to create a clear avenue for snipers located in the Souq al-Hout district.

In the same context, Libyan parliamentarian Ali Al Saeedi accused the Algerian government of not adopting a neutral position from the current Libyan crisis, saying that they were keen to express their resentment over the position adopted by the Algerian government during their meeting with the delegation of African Union. He stressed that the Algerian government turned to support the Islamist movements in Libya at the expense of the other parties.

On the other hand, Seven illegal migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck which was left abandoned on the shores of Qarabulli town, around 65km east of Tripoli. Libyan authorities found the truck with thirty four African migrants held inside, seven of whom appeared to have died of suffocation.

“We sent over people to investigate and found a truck with 34 migrants inside who were moved to the anti-illegal immigration division’s Tripoli branch and were provided with first aid, but unfortunately, seven of them were found dead, but the remaining 28 were given first aid and thank god they are in good health,” a police officer said.

According to the migrants, smugglers packed them into the back of the truck to transport them to a boat which they would use to cross the Mediterranean. The migrants said the truck driver left the vehicle on the side of the road after unknown gunmen began firing at the tyres. They were locked inside the truck for two days before officers found them early Sunday morning.

On the political side, The foreign ministers of Tunisia and Egypt arrived in Algiers today for the latest round of tripartite talks seeking to find a solution to the Libyan crisis and the political deadlock. The Algerian foreign ministry says this is the latest step in concerted diplomatic drive by the three countries to help Libya and restore stability. Bolstering security efforts is top of the list.

Today and tomorrow’s discussions are being hosted by Algeria’s Maghreb, African and Arab Affairs Minister Abdelkader Messahel, who in April toured Libya talking with most of the key players.

 In February, the three countries agreed the ‘Tunis Declaration,’ an initiative seeking to get mediation efforts quickly back on track. Tunisia’s efforts were lauded by UN envoy Martin Kobler last month, when he and the Tunisian foreign minister Khemaies Jhinaoui and Sameh Shoukry agreed that limited changes to the Libyan Political Agreement were needed.

In May, at a conference neighbouring states attended by the Tripartite foreign ministers along with their counterparts from Sudan, Chad, Niger and Libya, all sides insisted that they hoped their future meetings would be in Tripoli.