CAIRO: Libya 's chief prosecutor said Saturday he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country's rival governments and Israel 's chief diplomat.The August 22 meeting caused an uproar across the North African nation. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome in the first-ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel.Libya criminalizes establishing ties with Israel under a 1957 law. The oil-rich country has long been hostile toward Israel and supportive of the Palestinians.In a terse statement Saturday, General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour said the fact-finding mission would probe violations of Libya's rules of boycotting Israel and "investigate the extent of damage to Libya's interests" because of the Mangoush-Cohen meeting.Libya slid into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For years, the country has split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country's east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

CAIRO — Libya’s chief prosecutor says he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country’s rival governments and Israel’s chief diplomat. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome for the first-ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel. In a terse statement, General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour says the fact-finding mission would probe violations of Libya’s rules of boycotting Israel and “investigate the extent of damage to Libya’s interests” because of the Mangoush-Cohen meeting. For years, the country has split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country’s east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s chief prosecutor said Saturday he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country’s rival governments and Israel’s chief diplomat. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome in the first-ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel. In a terse statement Saturday, General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour said the fact-finding mission would probe violations of Libya’s rules of boycotting Israel and “investigate the extent of damage to Libya’s interests” because of the Mangoush-Cohen meeting. For years, the country has split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country’s east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

Share Comment on this story CommentCAIRO — Libya’s chief prosecutor said Saturday he would establish a fact-finding mission to investigate a meeting last month between the foreign minister of one of the country’s rival governments and Israel’s chief diplomat. Najla Mangoush, the foreign minister of the Tripoli-based government, and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met in Rome in the first-ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel. In a terse statement Saturday, General Prosecutor Al-Sediq al-Sour said the fact-finding mission would probe violations of Libya’s rules of boycotting Israel and “investigate the extent of damage to Libya’s interests” because of the Mangoush-Cohen meeting. For years, the country has split between the Western-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the country’s east. Each side has been backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

El Hiblu 3 Freedom Commission members denounced the “outrageous injustice” in the case involving the three young men accused of hijacking the ship that rescued them and called on the Attorney General to dismiss the case. We express our concerns about the unfair accusations, ongoing delays and pending indictments against the three young men, Abdalla, Amara and Kader. The members said that the three young men were imprisoned for almost eight months before being released on bail in November 2019. “We, an independent alliance of human rights advocates, are convinced that the prosecution of the El Hiblu 3 constitutes a deep injustice. Dismiss all the charges!”The statement was signed by the below El Hiblu 3 Freedom Commission members:

InternationalChile Train-Minibus Accident: A major road accident occurred in San Pedro de la Paz, Central Chile. 6 people died in a collision between a train and a minibus. A horrific road accident occurred on Friday in San Pedro de la Paz, central Chile. In this accident, at least six people were killed when a train collided with a minibus. Juan Francisco Carrasco of the military police told reporters that the accident occurred at a railroad crossing, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Armed forces in the Libyan capital mobilised a massive security presence on Friday, apparently to prevent any further protests over the interim government’s meeting with Israel last week, Reuters reports. The arrests, and Friday’s heavy security presence, underscore the increasingly precarious position of the GNU, amid a concerted push by Libyan factions to replace it with a new administration. Libya does not recognise Israel and it backs the establishment of a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital. After protests in several cities and expressions of outrage from across Libya’s political spectrum, Dbeibah dismissed Mangoush. The GNU Youth Minister, Fathallah Al-Zuni, said on Thursday he had declined to take the post.

The Renewable Energy Authority of Libya (REAoL) discussed, at a meeting with the Dutch Embassy at its Tripoli headquarters yesterday, renewables and training, Libya Herald reports. The meeting discussed cooperation in the fields of training for its Libyan cadres, internally and externally. It also discussed and reviewed aspects of cooperation in various areas of work in the field of renewable energies, and future world prospects and aspirations in renewables. Libya aims to elevate net zero targets and, last month, discussed cooperation with Greece, too. READ: Libya tension rises amid oil threats, drone strike

The announcement, which Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have both denied clearing, created a regional diplomatic fracas. It led to public protests in Libya, inter-agency finger-pointing in Israel, and Ms Mangoush’s dismissal and exit from Libya on a private plane. The mixing of elected and unelected bodies, with officials appointed by foreign bodies, effectively severed the thread of political legitimacy accorded by the early elections. Libya’s political scene became a Frankenstein of inconsistent external mandates and local militia rule. The sad reality is that today, despite the continued suffering of Libyans, many of the country’s powerbrokers much prefer to tolerate a broken status quo, rather than submit to national elections.

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Activists had renewed calls for demonstrations against the interim government of national unity and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh over the meeting. Omar Tarban, head of the Beltress activist group, said more than 16 people were detained by security forces during protests earlier in the week. Ms Mangoush was removed from her position following news of her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome, which the Libyan Foreign Ministry said was "unplanned". Libya does not recognise Israel and it backs the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The arrests, and Friday's heavy security presence, underscore the increasingly precarious position of the GNU amid a concerted push by Libyan factions to replace it with a new administration.

The head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, yesterday spoke with the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Menfi, and discussed developments related to the Palestinian issue and the Libyan position on the normalisation of relations with Israel. Haniyeh expressed his and the Palestinian people’s appreciation of Libya’s refusal to normalise ties with the occupation state. Haniyeh added that the Palestinian people received the Libyan position with pride especially because it stands in contrast with those of a number of fellow Arab countries that have normalised relations with Israel. He added that the Libyan position constitutes strong support for the Palestinian people in confronting the Israeli fascist government and its plots against the Palestinian causeAl-Menfi expressed Libya’s firm and irrevocable position on the Palestinian cause and recalled his visit to the Gaza Strip ten years ago, expressing his fond memories of the visit. In his address to Cabinet yesterday, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh reaffirmed his government’s support for Palestinians.

BRUSSELS — Libya has discarded Italy’s candidate to lead the EU’s mission there and is expected to choose a diplomat from France. This comes as a blow to Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who has pledged more engagement with North African countries as a central plank of her foreign policy agenda. The development, first revealed by Italian daily Il Foglio, comes amid a long-running resource rivalry between Italy and France for influence in Libya. In contrast, the French candidate Simmonet has no previous experience in Libya, though he did recently serve as the EU’s envoy to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman. The second EU diplomat noted that the Italian government was disappointed by Libya’s snub, although it did not react officially.

EventIncreased security measures have been reported throughout Tripoli, including Martyr's Square, on Sept. 1 in response to possible protests against the possibility of normalizing relations with Israel. Should they occur, protests are likely near prominent government buildings and major thoroughfares. Heightened security is likely near all protest sites. Clashes between demonstrators and security personnel are possible if protesters are overly disruptive or engage in acts of public violence. ContextDisruptive protests were reported nationwide overnight Aug. 27-29, including in Tripoli, after Israel's Foreign Ministry announced that Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush had met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Italy.