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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 - June 6, 2020

LIBYA Forces loyal to Libya's UN-recognised government said they launched an offensive Saturday for slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's hometown...

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skynewsafrica Police fired tear gas outside the White House late Sunday as anti-racism protestors again took to the streets to voice fury at police brutality, and major US cities were put under curfew to suppress rioting. With the Trump administration branding instigators of six nights of rioting as domestic terrorists, there were more confrontations between protestors and police and fresh outbreaks of looting. Violent clashes erupted repeatedly in a small park next to the White House, with authorities using tear gas, pepper spray and flash bang grenades to disperse crowds who lit several large fires and damaged property. Local US leaders appealed to citizens to give constructive outlet to their rage over the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, while night-time curfews were imposed in cities including Washington, Los Angeles and Houston. AFP / SETH HERALD Detroit police arrest a protestor during marches One closely watched protest was outside the state capitol in Minneapolis' twin city of St. Paul, where several thousand people gathered before marching down a highway. "We have black sons, black brothers, black friends, we don't want them to die. We are tired of this happening, this generation is not having it, we are tired of oppression," said Muna Abdi, a 31-year-old black woman who joined the protest. Hundreds of police and National Guard troops were deployed ahead of the protest. At one point, some of the protestors who had reached a bridge were forced to scramble for cover when a truck drove at speed after having apparently breached a barricade. The driver was taken to hospital after the protestors hauled him from the vehicle, although there were no immediate reports of other casualties. AFP / Agustin PAULLIER California National Guard on patrol at the Los Angeles Convention Center The New York Times said he was later arrested. There were other large-scale protests in cities including New York and Miami. Washington's mayor ordered a curfew from 11:00 pm until 6:00 am, as a report in the New York Times said that President Donald Trump had been rushed by Secret Service agents into an underground bunker at the White House on Friday night during an earlier protest. - Gucci, Rolex stores ransacked - Looting was reported Sunday night in Philadelphia and the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica, and images on Fox TV showed ransacked Rolex and Gucci stores in New York city. Officials in LA -- a city scarred by the 1992 riots over the police beating of Rodney King, an African-American man -- imposed a curfew from 4:00 pm Sunday until dawn. AFP / Joseph Prezioso Police clash with protesters after a demonstration in Boston "Please, use your discretion and go early, go home, stay home," the city's mayor Eric Garcetti said on CNN. The shocking death last Monday of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis ignited the nationwide wave of outrage over law enforcement's repeated use of lethal force against unarmed African Americans. Floyd stopped breathing after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and is due to make his first appearance in court on Monday. Late Sunday, as many were being arrested for curfew violations in Minneapolis, authorities moved Chauvin to another location from the Hennepin County Jail for his own safety, according to Minnesota's corrections commissioner. AFP / MANDEL NGAN Demonstrators near the White House protest over the death of George Floyd Three other officers with him at the arrest have been fired but for now face no charges. Governor Tim Walz has mobilized all of Minnesota's National Guard troops -- the state guard's biggest mobilization ever -- to help restore order and extended a curfew for a third night Sunday. The Department of Defense said that around 5,000 National Guard troops had been mobilized in 15 states as well as the capital Washington, with another 2,000 on standby. The widespread resort to uniformed National Guards units is rare, and evoked disturbing memories of the rioting in US cities in 1967 and 1968 in a turbulent time of protest over racial and economic disparities. Trump blamed the extreme left for the violence, saying he planned to designate a group known as Antifa as a terrorist organization. - 'A nation in pain' - Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Trump, who has often urged police to use tough tactics, was not helping matters. AFP / Sébastien CASTERAN Protests continue across the US over police killing of black man "We are beyond a tipping point in this country, and his rhetoric only enflames that," she said on CBS. Joe Biden, Trump's likely Democratic opponent in November's presidential election, visited the scene of one anti-racism protest. "We are a nation in pain right now, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us," Biden tweeted, posting a picture of him speaking with an African-American family at the site where protesters had gathered in Delaware late Saturday. Floyd's death has triggered protests beyond the United States, with thousands in Montreal and London marching in solidarity on Sunday. On the other side of the globe on Monday, thousands marched to the US consulate in Auckland chanting "no justice, no peace" and "black lives matter." In Germany, England football international Jadon Sancho marked one of his three goals for Borussia Dortmund against Paderborn by lifting his jersey to reveal a T-shirt bearing the words "Justice for George Floyd."

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