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☆ Libya flood disaster damaged ancient city but revealed new remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Ayman Al-Warfali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CYRENE, Libya, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The flooding that killed thousands in Libya's Derna last month damaged the ruins at the ancient Greek city of Cyrene in the mountains nearby, but it also revealed new archaeological remains there by washing away earth and stones. The flooding caused mud and rubble to pile in Cyrene's Greek-era baths that will require specialised clearing said local antiquities department official Adel Boufjra. "The flooding has revealed a new site - a water canal that I believe dates back to the Roman era. One of Libya's five UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with the extensive Roman ruins overlooking the Mediterranean at Sabratha and Leptis Magna, Cyrene's stone pillared temples stand on a fertile hillside near rocky crags. Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Storm Daniel, Adel Boufjra, Boufjra, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, UNESCO, Heritage, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: CYRENE, Libya, Derna, Cyrene, Greek, Hellenic, Sabratha

☆ Libya says Derna mayor, other officials detained after flood
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A part of Al Sahaba Mosque is seen amid destroyed buildings in the aftermath of the deadly storm that hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 21, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Acquire Licensing RightsBENGHAZI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The mayor of Libya's eastern city of Derna was detained along with other officials on suspicion of mismanagement and negligence over the collapse of dams that flooded the city two weeks ago, Libya's attorney general's office said on Monday. Those detained included the mayor and an official in charge of water resources, it said, without identifying them. Derna was controlled until 2019 by fighters from a series of groups including Islamic State. Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali Writing by Tarek Amara Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Zohra, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Abdulmenam, Ayman al, Tarek Amara, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, NATO, Islamic, International, Thomson Locations: Al Sahaba, Libya, Derna, Rights BENGHAZI, Libya's, Tripoli, Islamic State

[1/10] Children's toys are seen amid rubble in the aftermath of the deadly storm that hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Acquire Licensing RightsDERNA, Libya, Sept 18 (Reuters) - "I lost my daughter. A week after the flood that swept the centre of the city of Derna into the sea, families are still coping with the unbearable losses of their dead - and haunted by the unknown fates of the missing. The centre of Derna is a wasteland, with stray dogs standing listlessly on muddy mounds where buildings once stood. "Contaminated water can lead to the spread of waterborne diseases, putting vulnerable populations, especially women and children, at increased risk."

Persons: Zohra, Ahmed Ashour, Othman Abduljaleel, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Tom Perry, Tarek Amara, Peter Graff, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, World Health Organization, Reuters, NATO, Islamic, Residents, Rescue Committee, Thomson Locations: Libya, Derna, al Qaeda, Islamic State

[1/10] Children's toys are seen amid rubble in the aftermath of the deadly storm that hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 18, 2023. A week after the flood that swept the centre of the city of Derna into the sea, families are still coping with the unbearable losses of their dead - and haunted by the unknown fates of the missing. The centre of Derna is a wasteland, with stray dogs standing listlessly on muddy mounds where buildings once stood. The biggest threat to survivors may now come from contaminated water supplies. "Contaminated water can lead to the spread of waterborne diseases, putting vulnerable populations, especially women and children, at increased risk."

Persons: Zohra, Blil, Hakim, Othman Abduljaleel, Ahmed Ashour, hasn't, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Tom Perry, Tarek Amara, Peter Graff, Alex Richardson, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, World Health Organization, Authorities, Reuters, NATO, Islamic, Residents, Rescue Committee, Thomson Locations: Libya, Derna, al Qaeda, Islamic State

[1/5] An aerial view shows rescue teams searching for dead bodies at a beach, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 17, 2023. Hamad Awad sat on a blanket on an empty street with a bottle of water and bedding alongside him. "I am staying in our area trying to clean it and trying to verify who is missing," he said. Entire districts of Derna, with an estimated population of at least 120,000, were swept away or buried in brown mud. Civil protection workers from Algeria combed through the rubble of multistorey buildings with a dog to help detect any survivors.

Persons: Ayman Al, Hamad Awad, Storm Daniel, spokespeople, Osama Al, OCHA, al, Mohammad Shaheen, Abdulnabi, Muammar Gaddafi, Abdulhamid, Mohammed, Menfi, Abdelaziz Boumzar, Ayman Sahly, Adam Makary, Thomas Perry, Maya Gebeily, Philippa Fletcher, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Volunteers, United Nations, Sunrise, Humanitarian Affairs, Crescent, Libyan Red Crescent, Reuters, NATO, Thomson Locations: Derna, Libya, DERNA, Libyan, Algeria, al Badya, Ajaylat, Tripoli

A three-storey building standing opposite had been swept 60 metres (200 feet) down the road by the floodwaters, Hasadi said. "The situation is very, very tragic," said Qais, a rescue worker from Tunisia at the seafront who only gave his first name. [1/4]A view shows the destruction, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 16, 2023. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-fetori Acquire Licensing Rights"The work is ongoing and is very, very, very complicated," he told Reuters. Libya's continuing political divisions, with rival administrations and parliaments in the east and west, could hamper the aid effort.

Persons: Tarek Faheem al, Hasadi, Qais, Kamal Al, Omran, Storm Daniel, Hayder Al, Muammar Gaddafi, Khalifa Haftar's, Derna, Ayman al, Ahmed Elumami, Omar Abdel, Emma Farge, Aidan Lewis, Helen Popper, Alex Richardson Organizations: Organization for, REUTERS, Reuters, Health Organization, Italy's, United Nations, Libya's National, for Disease, NATO, Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, Thomson Locations: DERNA, Libya, Derna, Derna's, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Italian, Italy's Embassy, Infrastructure, Razek, Cairo, Geneva

[1/5] People walk amidst the wreckage, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 15, 2023. "Bodies are littering the streets, washing back on shore and are buried under collapsed buildings and debris. Mohammad al-Qabisi, head of Derna's Wahda Hospital, said a field hospital was treating people with chronic illnesses needing regular attention. Thursday's U.N. report said more than 1,000 bodies in Derna and over 100 bodies in Al Bayda, another coastal city which was hit by flooding, had been buried in mass graves. The ICRC sent a cargo flight to Benghazi, eastern Libya's largest city, on Friday with 5,000 body bags.

Persons: Omran, DERNA, Bilal Sablouh, Ibrahim al, Mohammad al, Nouri Mohamed, Derna's, Kazunobu Kojima, Derna, Thursday's U.N, Al Bayda, I've, Ahmed Bayram, Saad Rajab Mohamed al, Martin Griffiths, Ahmed Elumami, Ayman al, Laila Bassam, Emma Farge, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Nayera Abdallah, Mark Heinrich, William Maclean, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, WHO, World Health Organization, Reuters, Derna's, Organization for, International Committee, Cross, International Federation of, Red Crescent Societies, ICRC, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee, Thomson Locations: Derna, Libya, U.N, GENEVA, Libyan, Africa, Geneva, Libya's Tripoli, Libya's, WHO's, Al, Benghazi, Susah, Beirut

Thousands of people are confirmed dead and thousands more missing, with the mayor saying the toll could reach 20,000. Usama Al Husadi, a 52-year-old driver, had been searching for his wife and five children since the disaster. Husadi, who had been working the night of the storm, dialled his wife's phone number once again. "We lost at least 50 members from my father’s family, between missing and dead," he said. Confirmed death tolls given by officials so far have varied, but all are in the thousands, with thousands more on lists of the missing.

Persons: Hassan El Salheen, Aly, Storm Daniel, Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Usama Al Husadi, Husadi, Wali Eddin Mohamed Adam, Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Mohamed Mohsen Bujmila, Khadija, Bujmila, Muammar Gaddafi, Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Derna, Saudi, Al, Rescue, United Arab, NATO, of National Unity, Thomson Locations: Libya, Al Sharief, Bani Swief, Egypt, DERNA, Libyan, Al Arabiya, Derna, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Tripoli

☆ Libyans Come Together for Flood Aid Effort Despite Conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

Ministers from the Tripoli-based government visited the eastern city of Benghazi on Thursday. A humanitarian source involved in the relief effort said eastern authorities had barred foreign aid flowing to Derna through the internationally recognised Tripoli government, whose legitimacy the eastern administration rejects. A source in the eastern administration denied this, saying it had not rejected aid being channelled via Tripoli. Relief operations in Derna have been directed by Haftar's LNA, the military coalition that controls eastern Libya and was for years in open conflict with western factions. Turkey, long the main supporter of the Tripoli government, rapidly sent an aid team to Derna through Benghazi, the LNA-controlled capital of eastern regions.

Persons: Ahmed Elumami, Ayman al, DERNA, Elias al, Biltrees, Tim Eaton, Khalifa Haftar, FAULTLINES, Eaton, OCHA, Haftar's LNA, Haftar, Emma Farge, Angelo Amante, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, Chatham House, United Nations, Brigade Locations: Libya, Misrata, Tripoli, Benghazi, Zawiya, Derna, NATO, Chatham, Libya's, Turkey, Geneva, Rome, Beirut

[1/2] People walk through debris after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya, September 12, 2023 in this still image from video obtained from social media. Officials in eastern Libya say the death toll so far stands at more than 5,000. A hospital director in the city told Reuters on Monday 1,700 bodies had been counted at his hospital, and that 500 more had been buried in another part of the city. Extensive damage, with buildings missing, is also clearly visible in other parts of the city where flood waters broke out from the waterway. Derna is in an eastern area where a parallel administration operates, and where control is wielded by commander Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army.

Persons: Mustafa Salem, Khalifa Haftar's, Abdulhamid, Mohammed, Menfi, Tom Perry, Angus McDowall, John Stonestreet, Peter Graff Organizations: ALI, REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, of National Unity, Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, Libya's, Humanitarian Affairs, Thomson Locations: Libya, Derna, DERNA, Libyan, Derna's, Tripoli, Qatar, Turkey

☆ Libya recovers colonial wolf statue sold as scrap and found on a farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ayman Al-Warfali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The female wolf statue (Lupa Capitolina), which was found in the farm of a citizen, is pictured after disappearing for over thirty years in Benghazi, Libya, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-FetoriBENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Libyan authorities have recovered a large bronze wolf statue that once sat atop a pillar in central Benghazi before disappearing decades ago, found on a farm whose owner said he bought the sculpture as scrap. Italian colonial authorities erected the statue in the new Benghazi city centre they were building in the 1930s, promoting a connection between ancient Roman settlement of Libya and their modern colonial rule over the country. However, many priceless Libyan antiquities have disappeared: pillaged by Europeans in colonial times, appropriated after independence or looted in the chaos that has followed a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. Khaled al-Hadar, a Libyan researcher on stolen antiquities, said heritage monitoring remained weak in Libya and had not been started until 1974 - after the wolf had disappeared.

Persons: Omran, Saied Mohammed Bourabida, Bourabida, Khaled al, Muammar Gaddafi's, suckling, Romulus, Remus, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Fetori, Libya, Thomson Locations: Benghazi, Libya, Fetori BENGHAZI, Rome, Sabratha, NATO, Libyan, Warfali

☆ Eastern Libya administration threatens oil blockade
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGHAZI, Libya, June 24 (Reuters) - Authorities based in eastern Libya on Saturday threatened to blockade oil exports over the Tripoli government's use of energy revenue, accusing it of wasting billions of dollars without providing real services. Libya has been locked in a political standoff since last year, when the parliament in eastern Libya rejected the interim Government of National Unity in Tripoli and designated a new administration that has been unable to take over in the capital. The last major blockade was resolved last year when the Tripoli government appointed a new head of National Oil Corporation (NOC) who was said to be close to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. Haftar said on June 17 he backed a move by the eastern-based parliament and another legislative body to appoint a new interim administration in a clear challenge to the current government in Tripoli. On Thursday a court in eastern Libya ruled that the eastern administration had won a case against NOC allowing it to take control of the company's accounts.

Persons: majeure, Khalifa Haftar, Haftar, manouevring, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Toby Chopra Organizations: Authorities, of National Unity, NATO, National Oil Corporation, OPEC, Central Bank of Libya, Thomson Locations: BENGHAZI, Libya, Tripoli, Libyan, Warfali, Benghazi

☆ Libya's Haftar backs creation of new government in challenge to Tripoli
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGHAZI, Libya, June 17 (Reuters) - Libya's eastern forces under commander Khalifa Haftar support a proposal to set up a new interim government, they said late on Friday, setting up a challenge to the existing administration in Tripoli. The committee's recommendations have been adopted by parts of Libya's divided political establishment and rejected by others. The eastern-based parliament, which has been allied to Haftar, rejected Dbeibah's mandate but the new prime minister it designated was unable to replace the Tripoli government, leading to a long political standoff. Diplomacy has focused on bringing the parliament and another legislative body, the High State Council, to agree clear rules for an election aimed at resolving Libya's political stalemate. Critics of Libya's political elite believe they have little intention of holding elections that could remove them from power and are more focused on control over government in Tripoli and its access to state resources.

Persons: Khalifa Haftar, Abdulhamid, Haftar, Ayman al, Angus McDowall Organizations: Tripoli . Haftar's Libyan National Army, NATO, of National Unity, High State Council, Dbeibah, Thomson Locations: BENGHAZI, Libya, Tripoli . Haftar's, Dbeibah, Tripoli, Dbeibah's, Warfali, Benghazi

☆ Italy's Meloni expected to sign major gas deal as she starts Libya visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the head of Libya's Government of National Unity, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah attend a joint news conference in Tripoli, Libya. TRIPOLI, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flew to Tripoli on Saturday where she is expected to agree a major gas deal aimed at boosting energy supplies to Europe despite the insecurity and political chaos in the North African country. Meloni is meeting Mohamed al-Menfi, the head of Libya's three-man Presidency Council, and Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, head of the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli. Insecurity and lawlessness has made Libya a major, but dangerous, route for migrants seeking to reach Europe, often via the Italian island of Lampedusa. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who oversees much of the migration issue for Rome, flew to Libya with Meloni.

☆ Italy's Eni signs $8 billion Libya gas deal as PM Meloni visits Tripoli
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Gavin Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The deal, signed during a visit to Tripoli by Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, aims to increase gas output for the Libyan domestic market as well as exports, through the development of two offshore gas fields. Output will begin in 2026 and reach a plateau of 750 million cubic feet per day, Eni said in a statement. "This agreement will enable important investments in Libya's energy sector, contributing to local development and job creation while strengthening Eni's role as a leading operator in the country," said its chief executive, Claudio Descalzi. Meloni met Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, head of the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli for talks that also focused on migration across the Mediterranean. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who oversees the migration issue for Rome, accompanied Meloni to Libya, as well as Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

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