Day: January 12, 2023

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The High Council of State agrees to hold a consultative session next week to study the constitutional document

Tripoli- The head of the High Council of State, “Khaled Al-Mashri,” accompanied by his second deputy, “Omar Boushah,” and the council’s rapporteur, “Belkacem Dabars,” met with the heads of the committees, at the council’s headquarters in the capital, Tripoli.

The meeting reviewed – according to what was published by the Council’s media office – the constitutional document that was agreed upon in principle between the Speakers of the two Councils (the State and the Representatives), and it was agreed to hold a consultative session for the Council early next week to study this document, provided that it is presented for voting in a plenary session after that.

The meeting also dealt with the legal status of the Board of Directors of the National Anti-Corruption Authority and the Board of Directors of the High Electoral Commission, where it was agreed to offer to reform the status of these institutions in the next session of the Council.

Source: Libyan News Agency

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The High Council of State: There is no role for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding approving the constitutional rule, neither from near nor from afar

Tripoli- The High Council of State objected to the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, “Najla Al-Manqoush”, during her meeting with a number of deputies, in which she emphasized the ministry’s role in expediting the approval of the constitutional rule to expedite the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections.

The media office of the High Council of State said in a statement on the Council’s Facebook page that it “followed what was stated on the official page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of National Unity regarding the alleged role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in efforts to approve the constitutional rule for the presidential and parliamentary elections, during the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ meeting with a number of of the members of the House of Representatives.

The media office confirmed that “there is no role for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding approving the constitutional rule, neither from near nor from afar.”

Al-Manqoush stressed, during her meeting yesterday, Wednesday, at the ministry’s headquarters, with a number of members of the Libyan Parliament, the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in expediting the approval of the constitutional rule to expedite the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections, on democratic and legal grounds.

Source: Libyan News Agency

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Simultaneous Militant Attacks Kill 14 Malian Soldiers

Mali’s army says 14 troops were killed and 11 wounded Tuesday in central Mali when their vehicles struck explosives planted by Islamist militants.

In a press release Wednesday, the army said there were two explosives that detonated simultaneously.

The attacks were in central Mali, a region that has seen increasing violence in recent years from Islamist militants.

The army statement says Mali’s airborne special forces engaged what it called “terrorists,” killing 31 of them, including 14 as they were burying their dead.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks.

Mali has been battling an Islamist insurgency since 2012. It started in the north of the country before spreading.

The militants took control of northern Mali in 2012, until the French army intervened in 2013 to drive them out.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced last year that French troops would withdraw from Mali after months of tensions between Paris and Bamako.

France deplored Mali’s military government’s working with Russian Wagner mercenaries, who have been accused of committing atrocities in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Syria, and Ukraine.

Mali’s military government denies working with mercenaries and says there are only official Russian military instructors in the country.

Mali has been under military rule since an August 2020 coup that ousted former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Violence has continued to move south ever since, with ongoing attacks in central Mali and increasing attacks in southern Mali.

Militants on January 2 attacked a civil defense post about 80 kilometers from the capital, killing five people.

In July, militants killed six people in an attack on a checkpoint 70 kilometers from Bamako followed by another attack one week later on Mali’s main military camp, just 15 kilometers from the capital.

Source: Voice of America