Saturday, September 26, 2020
Home Authors Posts by Samia Gazala

Samia Gazala

54 POSTS 0 COMMENTS
http://www.skynewsafrica.net
sky news africa Algerian journalist sentenced to 2 years in prison
News

Algerian journalist sentenced to 2 years in prison

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa In the year up through July 2015, some 175,000 migrants were plucked to safety in the Mediterranean from smugglers’ boats and brought to Italy. From August 2016 through July 2017, the number was even higher — about 183,000. In the last few years, Italian authorities have made it difficult for humanitarian rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean Sea. Some of the charity boats have ended up impounded in Italian ports for technical reasons. And when anti-migrant leader Matteo Salvini was Italy’s interior minister in the previous government, humanitarian rescue boats were sometimes kept at sea for days or weeks at a time with migrants aboard while waiting permission to disembark. Commenting on the latest figures, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said many of those setting out from Tunisia in small boats and reaching Italy are Tunisians determined to escape economic hardship in their homeland, not refugees fleeing conflict. She and Italy’s foreign minister will visit Tunisia on Monday, along with two European Union commissioners, to try to boost solidarity with Tunisia and its “young democracy,” Lamorgese said. While thousands of migrants, many from sub-Saharan Africa, still set out for Europe from lawless Libya, where human traffickers have been based for years, according to Italy’s latest figures more migrants reached Italy by sea from Tunisia than from Libya. Italy has a repatriation agreement with Tunisia that allows Italian authorities to relatively quickly send back to Tunisia those found ineligible for asylum.
News

Migrants increasingly reaching Italy by sea from Tunisia

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa Algeria reopens mosques, beaches after 5-month lockdown
News

Algeria reopens mosques, beaches after 5-month lockdown

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa Algerian reporter sentenced to 3 years over protest coverage
News

Algerian reporter sentenced to 3 years over protest coverage

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa Moroccans swim, sing, reconnects as lockdown lifts
News

PHOTOS: Moroccans swim, sing, reconnects as lockdown lifts

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa Suicide bomber kills 2 at Turkish military base in Somalia
Crime

Suicide bomber kills 2 at Turkish military base in Somalia

Samia Gazala -
0
News

Morocco sends 8 million masks to 15 African countries

Samia Gazala -
0
sky news africa Unrest, division in Libya threatens COVID-19 response
News

Unrest, division in Libya threatens COVID-19 response

Samia Gazala -
0
skynewsafrica Forces loyal to Libya's UN-recognised government said they launched an offensive Saturday for slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's hometown Sirte, as rival strongman Khalifa Haftar backed a ceasefire following a string of military setbacks. Government of National Accord forces have repulsed a 14-month offensive against the capital Tripoli by eastern-based Haftar and are now poised to drive on eastwards taking advantage of stepped up military support from Turkey. "The air force has carried out five strikes in the outskirts of Sirte" -- the last major town before the traditional boundary between Libya's western Tripolitania and eastern Cyrenaica regions -- GNA spokesman Mohamad Gnounou said. "Orders have been given to our forces to begin their advance and to systematically attack all rebel positions," he added. Sirte was taken by Haftar's forces virtually without a fight in January after one of Libya's myriad local militias switched sides. Beyond Sirte lies the prize of Libya's main oil export ports, Haftar's most important strategic asset. Some 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of Tripoli, the town was where Kadhafi put up his last stand against NATO-backed rebel forces in 2011 and nostalgia for his ousted regime remains strong. - Ceasefire talks - AFP / Abdullah DOMA Libyans in the eastern port city of Benghazi watch a televised speech by strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have lost significant ground to a UN recognised government in recent weeks Haftar's forces have put a brave face on their precipitate fallback from the west, saying that it was a response to mounting international pressure for a lasting ceasefire. "Heeding appeals from the major powers and the United Nations for a ceasefire... we pulled back 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the Greater Tripoli city limits," the general's spokesman, Ahmad al-Mesmari, said. "We have asked friendly countries and the United Nations for guarantees... that the other side and the Turkish invaders refrain from attacking us," he told a news conference late Friday. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of Haftar's key foreign supporters, said after talks with the general and other eastern leaders Saturday that they had signed up to a declaration calling for a ceasefire from 6 am (0400 GMT) Monday. But the GNA forces' spokesman appeared to pour cold water on the Egyptian proposals, which included a demand that militias disband and hand over their weaponry to Haftar's men. "We didn't start this war, but we will choose the time and place when it ends," Gnounou said. "Our forces continue to advance with force and resolve, chasing the fleeing (Haftar) militias," he said. The United Nations' Libya mission said Tuesday that after a three-month suspension, the warring parties had agreed to resume ceasefire talks. Libya has endured years of violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Kadhafi, with rival administrations and scores of militias battling for power. The United Nations has urged outside powers to respect a deal reached at a January conference in Berlin, ending foreign meddling and upholding a much-violated arms embargo. While the GNA is backed by Turkey and its ally Qatar, Haftar is supported by Russia and the United Arab Emirates as well as Egypt. In April, UN experts said hundreds of mercenaries from Russian paramilitary organisation the Wagner Group were fighting for him. But last month, as Haftar's losses mounted, the GNA said Wagner Group fighters had withdrawn from combat zones south of the capital.
Crime

Libya govt says offensive launched for Kadhafi hometown Sirte

Samia Gazala -
0
skynewsafrica Tunisia plans to resume commercial flights late June
Business

Tunisia plans to resume commercial flights late June

Samia Gazala -
0
123...6Page 1 of 6
4,231FansLike
321FollowersFollow

MOST POPULAR

Load more

DON'T MISS

EDITOR PICKS

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

© Skynewsafrica