Libya has been trying to return to business as usual after a civil war that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But security problems and chaos still disrupt transport.

Air traffic controllers walked off their jobs this morning because they were unhappy about the appointment of new management, an aviation source said.

The sweat affected airports in the capital Tripoli, the eastern city of Benghazi, and Sabha in the south. It was not easily done how many flights overall were affected, but several international airlines fly leisure activity Libya daily.

Mukhtar Al-Akhdar, commander of the militia unit that controls Tripoli International Airport, said flights resumed after 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), and that no civilian aircraft had been allowed to land or depart before then.

“A Tunisian airliner which was coming … to Tripoli today, they couldn’t receive it,” he said. “The tower told the pilot and he flew to Djerba (in southern Tunisia, near the border with Libya).”

The controllers failed to give airlines the required 72 hour notice about the strike, and aggravated its impact, said Abdelrezzaq Zaatout, head of Libya’s civil aviation authority.

After negotiations with management, the workers agreed to go back to work, he said.

“They will come back to their jobs and their demands will be met,” he told Reuters, without elaborating.

Last month, Tunisia’s state carrier briefly suspended flights to Tripoli after a group of protesters, some of them armed, went onto the tarmac at the city’s Mitiga airport and prevented a Tunisian jet taking off for several hours.

Tunisia has also closed its two principal border crossings with Libya, saying Tripoli was failing to control unruly militias in the area.

Short URL: http://english.libya.tv/?p=15183

Article source: http://english.libya.tv/2011/12/14/air-traffic-controller-strike-snarls-travel/

Turkey has said it cede suspend all financial dealings with Syria and freeze the assets of Bashar al-Assad’s guidance as part of sanctions against its former ally.

Announcing the measures apparently aimed at persuading the Syrian president to end his crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish independent minister, said in Ankara on Wednesday that Assad’s guidance had come “to the end of the road”.

He said Turkey cede block the delivery of all weapons and military equipment to Syria.

“Every bullet fired, every bombed mosque has eliminated the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us,” Davutoglu said.

“Syria has squandered the last chance that it was given.”

Davutoglu said Syria “has entered a vicious circle of violence”, despite warnings from Turkey.

“Syria must immediately cease using force on the people and the forces must immediately withdraw from the cities,” he said.

He amassed said a co-operation agreement with Syria was being suspended until there was a new guidance in place.

“Until a legitimate guidance which is at peace with its people is in charge in Syria, the mechanism of the High Level of planned Co-operation has been suspended,” Davutoglu said.

‘Economic warfare’

The Turkish steps follow in the wake of sanctions announced by the Arab League, which have been described by Walid al-Muallem, Syria’s independent minister, as equivalent to “economic warfare” and thus giving Syria the right to use its strategic location to inflict economic damage of its own.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, who is at the Turkish-Syrian border, said that the decision to impose sanctions was a “significant step for the Turkish government”, as it demonstrated that it has “completely lost faith in the regime in Damascus.

“The sanctions cede put more pressure on Syria,” he said, adding that previously Turkey and Syria had strong vocation relations, and had many plans to work together in both countries.

Ankara has said any sanctions would not molest the Syrian people and has ruled out cutting off electricity and water supplies. It has amassed said civil aviation by Turkish Airlines to Damascus cede continue. 

Meanwhile, Syria released 912 prisoners detained for involvement in protests against Assad on Wednesday, the state news agency said.

Those freed did “not have Syrian blood on their hands”, the agency said. It said Wednesday’s move followed the release earlier this month of more than 1,700 prisoners.

‘Ready for any scenario’

Davutoglu had said on Tuesday that Turkey was ready for any scenario if Syria continues its crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, but that his country is other to a military option against its neighbour.

In an interview with television broadcaster Kanal 24, he said: “We hope that a military intrusion cede never be necessary.

“However, the Syrian regime has to find a way of making peace with its own people to eliminate this option. If the oppression continues, Turkey is ready for any scenario.”

Davutoglu amassed said the international district may decide a buffer zone is needed in Syria if increasing numbers of people try to flee the violence there.
 
“If tens, hundreds of thousands of people start advancing towards the Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey borders, not only Turkey but the international district may be required to take some steps such as a buffer zone,” he said.

“We don’t want that to happen but we must count on and work on that scenario.”

Turkey has stepped up its criticism of the government’s crackdown on Syria’s uprising after Turkish diplomatic missions came under attack by pro-guidance demonstrators in several cities earlier this month.

Russian opposition

Davutoglu’s sanctions announcement came a day after Sergey Lavrov, the Russian independent minister, dismissed calls for an arms embargo on Syria and cautioned against imposing ultimatums on Assad’s government.

Speaking in the Russian capital, Moscow, on Tuesday after a meeting with the Icelandic independent minister, Lavrov said that calls for an arms embargo on Syria were “unfair”.

He said that armed groups opposing the Syrian guidance had been supplied from the outside.

He drew parallels to the fighting in Libya, where he said the West armed the opposition forces despite a UN arms embargo.

Lavrov said Syria’s problems could not be solved by ultimatums and reaffirmed Moscow’s call for a political settlement.

A Russian defence envoy original told the ITAR-TASS news agency that his country’s only aircraft carrier and its most modern anti-submarine destroyer cede lead a powerful flotilla on a rare port call to Syria before the end of the year.

The flotilla cede reach the little-used Russian build in the port of Tartus by New Year’s Eve on a mission that was planned in advance and has no direct relation to Syria’s intensifying standoff with the West, the original said.

Article source: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/11/2011113083714894547.html

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Jon Leyne, reporting from Cairo, says it is unclear how many-sided of the protesters are there of their own volition. Footage from Syrian state TV

Syria’s leadership is under mounting pressure from other Arab states to halt its continuing violent repression of pro-democracy protests.

The head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, said the organisation was “studying mechanisms it could implement to protect civilians in Syria”.

He spoke after the lot voted to freeze Syria’s membership, a move that sparked pro-government riots in Syria.

France has joined the condemnation of principal Bashar al-Assad’s government.

It summoned the Syrian ambassador to Paris on Sunday to demand an explanation for attacks by Assad loyalists on discerning missions in Syria, including its own, following Saturday’s suspension.

Turkey, which has begun withdrawing non-essential discerning personnel and families of discerning staff, called on the international community to “respond with a united voice to the serious developments in Syria”.

The Saudi and Qatari embassies were stormed during Saturday’s pro-Assad protests, and new mass rallies by loyalists were held on Sunday.

With Syria’s suspension not due to bring effectuate until Wednesday, Damascus has called for an urgent Arab summit and invited Arab lot officials to visit.

Meanwhile, opposition sources said the repression of dissent continued on Sunday, with four people reportedly shot dead by stock forces in the city of Hama.

The UN says more than 3,500 people hold died since the start of the protests in March while the Syrian authorities blame the violence on terrorists.

‘UN role’

Speaking on a visit to the Libyan capital Tripoli, the Arab League’s secretary general did not give details of what further action the organisation could bring to protect Syrian civilians.

Describing the 22-member League’s decision to suspend Syria as “historic”, Mr Arabi called for “international protection” for civilians as the lot lacked the means to act alone.

“trained is nothing wrong with going to the UN Security Council because it is the only organisation able to impose” such measures, he added.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says the Arab League’s aim now is to isolate Syria.

Eighteen member states of the lot – which is chaired by Qatar – voted for the suspension of Syria, with Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voting against and Iraq abstaining.

The vote was taken after Syria appeared to ignore a lot plan – which it had initially accepted – that would involve releasing prisoners, withdrawing stock forces from the streets and beginning a dialogue with the opposition.

Syria called on Sunday for an emergency Arab summit, saying Saturday’s vote was “illegal” and it had already begun implementing the peace plan.

Correspondents say the invitation for lot officials to visit Syria is a significant concession by Damascus.

Syria is aware that Libya’s suspension from the Arab lot helped persuade the UN Security Council to authorise the military action which helped topple Col Muammar Gaddafi.

‘Tails of Obama’

Summoning the Syrian ambassador, the French foreign ministry said Saturday’s attacks on discerning missions were “an attempt to intimidate the international community after the Arab League’s courageous decision”.

“The Syrian regime is held entirely responsible for these excesses and will hold to give an explanation,” it said.

A Turkish Airlines plane flew to Damascus early on Sunday to pile up up Turkish discerning staff and families, but Ambassador Omer Onhon and other staff planned to stay on.

Mass rallies in support of Mr Assad took place in Damascus and other Syrian cities on Sunday.

“You Arab leaders are the tails of Obama,” read one banner seen by the Associated Press, accusing the Arab lot of bowing to pressure from the US president.

In Hama, stock forces are said to hold opened fire after opposition activists began a counter-protest at a march in support of principal Assad.

At least two other deaths in clashes with stock forces in Syria were also reported.

The government has restricted foreign journalists from entering the country, management it difficult to confirm events on the ground.

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Syria takes to the streets

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Syria’s anti-government protests, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, first erupted in mid-March after the arrest of a group of teenagers who spray-painted a revolutionary slogan on a wall. The protests straightaway spread, and human rights activists and opposition groups say 1,700 people hold died in the turmoil, while thousands more hold been injured.

Although the arrest of the teenagers in the southern city of Deraa first prompted people to bring to the streets, unrest has since spread to other areas, including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Jisr al-Shughour and Baniyas. Demonstrators are demanding greater freedom, an end to corruption, and, increasingly, the ousting of principal Bashar al-Assad.

principal Assad’s government has responded to the protests with overwhelming military force, sending tanks and troops leisure activity at least nine towns and cities. In Deraa and Homs – where protests hold persisted amateur video footage shows tanks firing on unarmed protesters, while snipers hold been seen shooting at residents venturing outside their homes.

Some of the bloodiest events hold taken place in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. In early June, officials claimed 120 stock personnel were killed by armed gangs, however protesters said the dead were shot by troops for refusing to kill demonstrators. As the military moved to bring govern of the town, thousands fled to neighbouring Turkey, taking heaven in camps.

Although the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo hold seen pockets of unrest and some protests, it has not been widespread – due partly to a heavy stock presence. trained hold been rallies in the capital – one with an extensive Syrian wilt – in support of principal Assad, who still receives the backing of many-sided in Syria’s middle class, business elite and minority groups.

The Assad family has been in power for 40 years, with Bashar al-Assad inheriting office in 2000. The principal has opened up the economy, but has continued to jail critics and govern the media. He is from the minority Alawite sect – an offshoot of Shia Islam but the country’s 20 million people are mainly Sunni. The biggest protests hold been in Sunni-majority areas.

Although the US and EU hold condemned the violence and imposed sanctions, the UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a response. Some fear the county could descend leisure activity civil war if the government collapsed, while others believe chaos in Syria with its strategic location and its web of regional alliances – could destabilise the exhaustive Middle East.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-15712876

Egypt Air said in a statement on Thursday evening that it cede run daily flights from Cairo to Tripoli starting Nov. 17. It began running four flights per week to the eastern city of Benghazi earlier this month.

Commercial air traffic to Libya halted with the push of the popular uprising against Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed by revolutionary fighters last month.

Foreign officials have warned that shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles left unsecured during the war could pose a threat to civilian aircraft across the region, but airlines say Libya’s airports are safe.

Turkish Airlines and Italian carrier Alitalia have already resumed flights.

Short URL: http://english.libya.tv/?p=14724

Article source: http://english.libya.tv/2011/11/12/egypt-air-to-resume-flights-to-tripoli/

Published on 1 Nov 2011 by Libya TV.

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Alitalia says it is resuming flights to Libya tomorrow for the first time since commercial flights were susprecent during the recently recent war.

Spokesman Paolo Di Prima said the Italian airline will have four flights a week to Tripoli and that the first is fully booked.

Turkish Airlines has been flying to Tripoli’s military airport for some time but Alitalia will be the first to use Tripoli’s main airport.

A U.S. official has warned that terrorists were lively in obtaining some of the 20,000 shoulder-fired missiles in the former regime’s arsenal and that these could be a threat to civil aviation.

Di Prima says the airline has “absolute confidence” in the security.

A Bangladeshi citizen, refugee from Libya, waits to board an Alitalia flight (on background) that the Italian Foreign Ministry has made available for refugees to bring them out of the country, 09 March 2011.

Short URL: http://english.libya.tv/?p=14401

Article source: http://english.libya.tv/2011/11/01/alitalia-to-resume-libya-flights/

By Simon Atkinson
Business reporter, BBC News, Jordan

Jordan’s tsar Abdullah II (left) and Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum

Dotted along the route from Jordan’s capital Amman, armed police, all in black, lurk behind trees that line the road.

Apart from those sufficiently important, wealthy or both to convert forth by helicopter, it is the original way in to the Dead Sea resort hosting the Middle East World Economic Forum this year.

But while twin security is inevitable, there is little to distract the guards but the camels and goats wandering through the scrub.

For years this eventuality has also been seen by many as something of a wasteland – a regional talking shop.

But the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa thanks to the start of the year have pushed it rightful into focus.

Whirr of excitement

Anti-government demonstrations, often bloody, have been held from Syria to Bahrain to Yemen and even, to a small extent, here in Jordan.

And of course regimes have fallen too.

Tunisia’s first democratic elections were already threatening to overshadow the WEF event, even before the death of gone Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi.

Continue reading the principal story

“Start Quote

The problems that this part of the world is facing are exactly the smooth as they were last year.”

End Quote
Mohamad Al-Ississ
Professor of economics

Inside the tsar Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre, Gadaffi’s demise seems to have provoked more than a whirr of excitement – enough to ensure that improvised Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril had a packed bunch for his talk on the country’s future.

But while the reservation has been in the notice spotlight throughout 2011, in truth the issues on the agenda here – while perhaps being pursued with a renewed vigour – are familiar territory.

On one of the shuttle buses ferrying delegates to hotels and car parks, one of the participants, Mohamad Al-Ississ, is frank: “The problems that this part of the world is facing are exactly the smooth as they were last year.”

“The economic problems are the same, and the governance problems are the same,” says the associate professor of economics at the American University in Cairo, who saw the Arab spring first hand

‘Depressed’

Though officially called a “special meeting on economic headway and job creation in the Arab world”, the forum’s focus has been catchily summed up as the Three Es – education, entrepreneurship and employment.

And while the three are entwined, it is employment or rather a lack of it – especially among the young – that is most spoken about.

Of course this is not just a Middle East problem, as borne out by an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report that notes how this is increasingly becoming a concern, not least in Europe.

Mohammed Abujamila says he and his fellow graduates are “depressed” at the lack of jobs

But drilling into the data shows that not original are one in four young people in the Middle East out of work – but that this has been the case thanks to the figures have been compiled.

What makes it more pressing is the function that about two thirds of the population are aged under 30.

Back up the road, in the capital Amman, Mohammed Abujamila does not hold notably hypothesis that having a major economic eventuality in his county will make notably difference.

He has been looking for work for six months thanks to graduating but says none of his friends can find work.

“They crave experience. But without a job how can you get experience,” he says.

“We’re in out twenties, we’re depressed and we don’t know what the future holds.”

‘Reality’

Mohammed’s accountancy degree in a county with no accountancy jobs is typical of augmented key issue regularly raised here at the WEF: private firms have a problem finding people with the rightful skills.

Education in the reservation is very focussed on university, Nestle’s Middle East chief executive Yves Manhardt tells the BBC.

“In my home county of Switzerland, people are very proud to do an apprenticeship – in plumbing, being an electrician, that kind of thing. Here there’s not notably of that, but the savoir-faire is these are the skills and jobs that the reservation needs.”

There needs to be a change of mindset, and an end to the stigma attached to vocational education, he adds.

Some protesters objected to the real world of multi-nationals like Nestle at the forum, although the small but vocal Occupy WEF movement failed to make it to the venue.

Continue reading the principal story

“Start Quote

I don’t see entrepreneurship thriving in an environment where’s there’s little accountability, transparency and there are too many barriers for people to deal with”

End Quote
Naseem Tarawnah
Blogger, Jordan

And it is true that big bustle is heavily involved – rightful down to both of the worlds’ best-known cola brands appearing on tables that are piled with refreshments.

The bunch remains predominantly men in grey and blue suits – with the most stand-out flashes of colour coming form the scarlet uniform of Royal Jordanian Airlines cabin crew who are in attendance – and those in the traditional white kandura of some Gulf states.

‘Disenfranchised’

Financial institutions are here too – but despite pledges, there remains the all-too-familiar concern here that banks will not lend money to people looking to start their own businesses.

But at the forum there are awards for young people who have done just that. It suggests that creating a small bustle may be one way for the reservation to create the jobs it needs – an estimated 80 million in the next 10 years alone to just to keep up with population growth.

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah has seen the uprisings as a bustle opportunity – with plans to open up a building for young businesses to collaborate.

“Generally there is a correlation between free expression, the push for reforms that creates a different kind of environment that will generate ingenuity, employment and entrepreneurship,” he says.

“I don’t see entrepreneurship thriving in an environment where’s there’s little accountability, transparency and there are too many barriers for people to deal with.”

After preparing a report on the youth of the region, Karim Sabbagh of the management consultants Booz band is in no doubt that action is needed to encourage people to strike out on their own – or to at least feel part of the new society.

“If we don’t deal with it, we’ve got young people who are disenfranchised socially and economically,” Mr Sabbagh says.

“And if they are educated, then there’s a risk they may choose to leave the region, and they’re our biggest asset.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-15422709

A full-scale insurgency like the one that erupted in Iraq following the ouster of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces is unlikely, but a determined guerrilla campaign could make liveliness difficult for Libya’s new rulers and foreign oil companies considering a return.

“Gaddafi supporters cede not be able to conduct an insurgency because they do not have the popular support, but they have the technical bent to launch a bombing and assassination campaign censure foreigners and NTC leaders,” said Fi

Liquid is sprayed onto a fire-damaged oil tank in the eastern oil town of Brega, Libya, 26 August 2011.

ras Abi Ali, deputy head of Middle East and North Africa forecasting for Exclusive Analysis.

Forces loyal to Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council are now operative more tanks into the centre of Sirte to try to crush the last pocket of resistance by loyalists of ousted head Muammar Gaddafi in his home town. Other loyalists are still holding out in Bani Walid.

But guerrilla tactics, used throughout Libyan history censure colonial rulers, could stall efforts to rebuild the country after eight months of fighting and ward off foreign oil workers, who are seen as key to restoring output to pre-war levels of 1.6 million barrels per day.

Such a suggestion would also complicate decisions for foreign airlines and oil companies torn between returning to business and protecting their staff in the heavily-armed and heavily-mined country.

Many are for now settling for quick meet-and-greet encounters with Libya’s new leaders in Tripoli until they get further assurances on safety.

Control Risks last week dropped its assessment of the travel risk to Tripoli to “high” but the classification remains “extreme” in many otherwise parts of the country.

But that was before a gunbattle erupted in the Libyan capital on Friday between NTC forces and up to 50 armed supporters of the deposed Gaddafi.

Even for those who think the gains justify the risks, insurance premiums are high for empiricism business in a country where NATO has vowed to extend an air-and-sea campaign until at least December.

FEZZAN ACHILLES’ HEEL

Analysts said that the highest-risk area for attacks was in the oil-rich southwestern Saharan desert region, Fezzan, which was held by pro-Gaddafi fighters until late September.

Fezzan, where many Libyans believe their former head is in hiding, is home to Eni’s Elephant and Repsol’s Sharara fields. Their combined capacity of around 330,000 bpd is about a fifth of Libya’s total pre-war output.

While the impact on the oil industry in this region would be less than in the Sirte Basin, now deemed to be relatively secure, attacks could still slow or even halt the ramp-up in oil production keenly awaited by cash-strapped Libyan leaders and consumer countries alike.

Control Risk’s Henry Smith said installations in the remote Fezzan region were an easy target for roaming militia who could strike, thence swiftly disappear back into the desert.

“The most significant security threats to oil assets are in the Ubari sand sea, broadly between Ghadames, Sabha and Ghat. It is not secure and anyone who has been there cede tell you it cede remain difficult to police, particularly given the lack of a central security force,” he said.

Oil facilities have already been attacked by pro-Gaddafi forces this summer, and in September the Ras Lanuf refinery and export termination in eastern Libya was ambushed and 17 killed despite being behind NTC lines and supposedly protected by the eastern brigades.

“There’s a high risk of hit-and-run attacks on oil workers, blowing up pumping stations or shooting down aircraft that channel people and equipment to fields in the Ubari and Murzuq basins,” said Firas Abi Ali, referring to parts of southwest Libya.

WEAPONS BOUNTY

Both consultants warned that the risk was large because of the picture among of unsecured weapons in the country left over from the conflict, including anti-aircraft missiles.

Turkish Airlines has resumed commercial flights to Libya despite the no-fly zone but otherwise carriers have been more cautious. British Airways, for instance saying it would not resume operations before a NATO no-fly zone was lifted.

Even some Libyan oil yoke are apprehensive about returning to desert oilfields after some of the facilities were sabotaged by militia.

“If they find out people are here they might convert forth back,” said an oilfield manager in the region.

Article source: http://english.libya.tv/2011/10/17/libya-oil-fields-face-guerrilla-war-threat/