The German and Italian interior ministers have called for an EU mission to be installed on the border between Libya and Niger to stem migrant crossings to Europe.
In a letter to the European Commission dated 11 May, of which AFP obtained a copy on Sunday (14 May), ministers Thomas de Maizière and Marco Minniti said they “are convinced that we all must do more” to “prevent that hundreds of thousands of people once again risk their lives in Libya and on the Mediterranean Sea in the hands of smugglers”.
Italy had already registered nearly 42,500 migrants coming by sea by mid-April this year and 97% of them arrived from Libya, the letter said. It called for the setting up of “an EU Mission at the border between Libya and Niger as soon as possible”.
To close the migrant route from Niger to Libya, the ministers are seeking “support for growth and development programmes in local communities” along the border. Other measures include “technical and financial support” for Libyan authorities fighting illegal migration, particularly at the border with Niger.
On the other hand, Explosions in Tripoli’s Abu Sleem, Salahedeen and Airport Road districts late this evening have heightened fears of a major battle between hardline, mainly Misratan brigades and local brigades, notably those under Ghneiwa Al-Kikli, Haithem Al-Tajouri, Hashem Bishr and Abdul Raouf Kara.
Following a reported meeting in Salahedeen earlier this week between Misratan hardliner brigades vowing to impose themselves on the capital, Tripoli has been rife with rumours that something was about to happen.
At the time of writing, there were no further details about the fighting, although there were reports that Ghneiwa’s headquarters in Abu Sleem had been attacked. Explosions there are said to be the work of a group calling itself Fakhr Libya. It is still unclear what exactly led to the explosion, but one theory is that Ghneiwa’s munitions were targeted by saboteurs who had slipped into his headquarters.
In the same context, Tripoli university students will be unable to take scheduled exams tomorrow as the entire campus goes on strike to protest the kidnapping of a second staff member.
Student unions have announced that demonstrations are slated to start at 10am to express the fury of students and teachers at what the university says are repeated security violations.
The trigger for this latest protest was the kidnapping of lecturer Dr Said Mayouf this week in the Hadba district near the university.  His car was reportedly shot at by gunmen who then abducted him.
Mayouf’s seizure is the second kidnapping connected to the university in recent weeks. Just under a month ago another member of the teaching staff, Dr Salem Beitelmal, was seized by gunmen not far from his home on the western outskirts of the capital.
The university has been no exception to the violence in the capital since the Libya Dawn takeover in 2014.  Security guards were intimated by thugs, one student appeared in a class brandishing a pistol and in August that year the university closed entirely for some days in protest at the anarchy that rained on the campus.
On the political side, Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi in Cairo talks with Khalifa Hafter today called for the end of the UN-imposed weapons embargo on Libya.
Sisi said this was needed so the Libyan National Army could fight terrorism. He also claimed that militants were being aided with munitions and fighters by “external parties” seeking to interfere in Libya’s affairs.
According to the Egyptian president’s spokesman Alaa Yousef, Sisi also told Hafter that a unified and restored Libyan army was essential.
Both men reportedly said that the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) had to be made to work through amendments and that it was the only way to allow state institutions to be rebuilt.
Hafter, long supported by Sisi, praised Egypt’s role in seeking to restore stability in Libya.
No mention was made of rumours that Presidency Council head Faiez Serraj would soon arrive in Cairo for talks with Hafter and potentially hosted by Sisi.
The last occasion the two key players in Libya were in Cairo at the same time Hafter refused to meet Serraj, a decision that reportedly angered Sisi.
However the two did finally hold talks in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago. Sisi was in the UAE at the same time and there were unconfirmed reports that he saw Hafter and Serraj.