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Libya

November 2, 2026

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Analysis

What's at stake as Libya's eastern parliament approves Turkey maritime deal

Libya's eastern-based parliament's approval of a long-disputed maritime deal with Turkey marks a strategic win for Ankara as Saddam Hifter seeks Turkish backing for his presidential ambitions, according to analysts.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

US Department of State's senior advisor to the President for Arab and African Affairs Massad Fares Boulos attends a conference for the support of peace and prosperity in the Great Lakes region, in Paris, on October 30, 2025. The international community gathered in Paris on October 30, 2025 to raise awareness about the dire humanitarian situation in the Great Lakes region, aiming to raise hundreds of millions of euros despite a drastic decrease in international aid, particularly from the United States. (Phot

Interview

Trump's Africa adviser denies Libya plan would entrench rival families

The reported unification plan for Libya has been met with pushback in a country torn apart by rival factions and foreign interference.

A commercial vessel is anchored off Yemen's coast at Bab al-Mandeb, in the straits connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean on Sept. 12, 2026.

Explainer

Saudi Yanbu halt deepens oil strain as Europe scrambles for crude

European crude importers are racing to secure new oil shipments as markets brace for the loss of up to 4% of global supplies into October following attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.

Saddam Hifter meets with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin

Russia’s Putin hosts Saddam Hifter amid instability in Libya: What to know

Moscow has built a strong relationship with Libya’s eastern camp, as Washington and Ankara pursue efforts to reunify the country’s political and military institutions.

Latest News

Analysis

Libya’s oil revival faces new test as violence returns amid US peace push

Libyan firefighting teams attempt to extinguish a fire at the Zawiya refinery, the second-largest oil refinery in Libya, with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, after a tank belonging to the state-owned Libyan Brega Oil Company was attacked by unknown perpetrators, in Zawiya, Libya, on Aug. 11, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Libya as US-backed unification push gathers pace

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan met with Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Libya, in Tripoli on Aug. 11, 2026.

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Mohamed Eljarh

Former Prime Minister of Gaddafi's regime, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi (C), and other Gaddafi regime officials sit behind bars during a verdict hearing at a courtroom in Tripoli, Libya July 28, 2015. A Libyan court passed a death sentence in absentia on Muammar Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, on Tuesday for war crimes and acts to crush peaceful protests during the country's 2011 revolution that ended his father's rule. The court also sentenced to death by firing squad eight other former Gaddafi regime

Court verdicts in Libya complicate chances for peace

A Libyan court handed down a death sentence to Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and former Libyan officials, sparking widespread criticism of the legitimacy of the trials.

Lobbying 2015: Chaos in Libya confounds Congress

Libya’s lobbying campaign can seem almost as chaotic as the country itself.

A pro-National Transitional Council (NTC) combatant greets France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and National Transitional Council (NTC) head Mustafa Abdul Jalil (C) as they arrive at the Tripoli Medical Center September 15, 2011. President Sarkozy and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (not pictured) travel to Libya, making stops in Tripoli and Benghazi, the first visit by foreign leaders since the toppling of the former regime. REUTERS/Eric Feferberg/Pool (LIBYA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) -

Emails to Hillary contradict French tale on Libya war

Ex-CIA source says French intel service “created” Libyan rebel group in fight against Moammar Gadhafi.

Veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar speaks in this undated still image taken from a video released by Sahara Media on January 21, 2013. Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility in the name of al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage-taking, and his Mulathameen Brigade warned it would carry out further attacks on foreign interests unless the fighting in Mali stopped Mauritanian news website Sahara Media said on January 20. REUTERS/Sahara Media via Reuters TV (ALGERIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DA

Belmokhtar may be dead, but global jihad still alive

A US airstrike may have killed top Algerian al-Qaeda jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, but his dream of driving the West out of the Middle East and North Africa remains a "dangerous nightmare."

Libyans celebrate the fourth anniversary of the revolution against Muammar Gaddafi at Martyrs' Square in Tripoli, February 17, 2015. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny (LIBYA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4PZQO

Minister warns of Libya's division

Al-Monitor interviewed the Libyan undersecretary of the Information Ministry, Haitham al-Hadi Kamouka, who talked about some countries’ attempts to divide Libya into three states.

The Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin abstains from a vote in the United Nations Security Council attempting to halt the escalating conflict in Yemen in New York April 14, 2015. The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday imposed an arms embargo targeting the Iran-allied Houthi rebels who rule most of the country and blacklisted the son of Yemen's former president and a Houthi leader after veto-power Russia abstained. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTR4XBCA

Russia weighs in on Yemen

After Russia's shift to soft power in the Middle East, President Vladimir Putin discusses Russia's "need to abandon ‘the law of the strongest’ and ‘rule of the fist.’”

Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni attends a meeting with ministers as well as leaders of the Libyan army in Benghazi, February 1, 2015. Thinni and his ministers visited the eastern city of Benghazi in a show of support for his troops battling Islamists groups. Thinni's forces, together with troops loyal to army general Khalifa Haftar, launched an offensive against Islamist fighters in Benghazi in October - part of turmoil gripping the oil producer four years after the down

Libyan air force attacks Turkish ship

Turkey’s foreign policy was the real target when Libyan forces struck a Turkish freighter off the coast of Derne, killing one crew member and wounding five others.

Fighters from the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militia stand on a tank during clashes with forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognised government, southwest of Sabratha, in the vicinity the Wetia military air base some 87 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli, on April 28, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD TURKIA (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Libyan government wants arms embargo lifted

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the spokesman for the interim Libyan government, Hatem al-Oraibi, discusses the need for the international community to lift the embargo imposed on the Libyan army and allow it to fight terrorist groups.

Illegal migrants sit in an immigration holding centre located on the outskirts of Misrata March 11, 2015. Italy wants Egypt and Tunisia to play a role in rescuing stricken migrant vessels in the Mediterranean, a government planning paper showed, so that survivors could be taken back to African instead of European ports. Last April Italy rescued 4,000 migrants from boats trying to reach European shores in only 48 hours in a deepening immigration crisis that is being made worse by the turmoil in Libya, which

Start with Libya to combat illegal migration

Following the tragic drowning of Libyans trying to flee the country, efforts by the international community to curb this phenomenon in Libya seems to have become indispensable.

Tunisia's Foreign minister Taieb Baccouche (L) speaks with Imam of the municipal Drancy mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, Hassen Chalghoumi (2R) on March 18 mars 2015 in front of the Tunisian embassy in Paris where people gathered in solidarity with victims of the Tunis's museum attack. 22 were killed including 20 tourists by two gunmen at Bardo International Museum on March 18, 2015 in Tunis. AFP PHOTO/FRANCOIS GUILLOT (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Tunisia’s new government shifts foreign policy

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry’s announcement that it would send a consul to Syria has been refuted by the president as the new government reconfigures Tunisia’s regional alliances.

Mohammed Maazab, a Libyan member of the General National Congress (GNC) and head of the talks with the United Nations, adresses journalists on March 12, 2015 in Skhirat, near the Moroccan capital Rabat, where a new round of UN-mediated crisis talks between representatives from Libya's rival parliaments is supposed to start. Libya's internationally recognised parliament which is based in the eastern city of Tobruk confirmed they requested to postpone the start of the talks in Morocco aimed at forming a unity

Morocco, Algeria compete over Libya

Morocco may be exploiting Algerian weaknesses to raise the stature of its foreign diplomacy by hosting the UN-sponsored dialogue between the conflicting Libyan parties.

Members of Libyan pro-government forces, backed by locals, walk with weapons during clashes in the streets with the Shura Council of Libyan Revolutionaries, an alliance of former anti-Gaddafi rebels who have joined forces with Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, in Benghazi April 1, 2015. Picture taken April 1. REUTERS/Stringer - RTR4W1LK

Libya looks to Russia for arms

Disillusioned with the West, the Libya government is exploring opportunities in Russia and says it is willing to accept limited participation by Islamists that agree to play by the rules.