SINGAPORE, June 02, 2013 (AFP) France is willing help Libya secure its borders from militant Islamist groups fleeing Mali, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. Security officials say the vast deserts of southern Libya are becoming the latest safe havens for al-Qaida linked fighters who fled neighboring Mali after France sent troops there in January to prevent a Islamist coup. "France is a ...

   BENGHAZI, Libya, May 29, 2013 (AFP) Three Libyan soldiers died in a bomb attack on their patrol in the eastern city of Benghazi, a military spokesman said on Wednesday, updating an earlier toll. "An explosive device that was concealed in a rubbish bin blew up near a patrol of the Al-Khandak Brigades," killing one soldier on the spot while the other two later died of their injuries, said Abdullah al-Shaaf ...

NIAMEY, May 28, 2013 (AFP) France’s foreign minister on Tuesday urged Libya and its neighbours to work together to tackle threats from “terrorist groups”, as he visited Niger a week after the country was hit by deadly attacks blamed on Islamists from southern Libya. “It seems we must make a special effort on southern Libya, which is also what Libya wants,” Laurent Fabius said after meeting Niger President M ...

TRIPOLI, May 28, 2013 (AFP) Armed militiamen on Tuesday blocked a key road leading to an airport in southern Libya to protest against the alleged abduction in Tripoli of their commander, an official said. Al-Lachi al-Mahdi, a member of the Toubou tribe, was reportedly kidnapped in the capital on Monday, said Adam Dazi, a council member in the town of Sebha where the airport is located.  "The militiamen bloc ...

  BRUSSELS, May 22, 2013 (AFP) EU leaders agreed Wednesday to send a civilian border assistance mission to Libya which should begin operations next month, AFP reported. The mission, dubbed EUBAM Libya, will help the country re-establish effective controls at its land, sea and air borders. "EUBAM Libya is an important mission for Libya and the entire region but also for the security of EU borders," EU foreig ...

TRIPOLI, May 22, 2013 (AFP) Libyan army special forces have arrested an armed group in the eastern city of Benghazi in possession of hundreds of anti-tank mines and material for making explosives, the LANA news agency reported on Wednesday. A security source was quoted as saying "220 anti-tank mines as well as equipment for manufacturing explosives were seized" and that one of the soldiers was wounded in cl ...

TRIPOLI, May 20, 2013 (AFP) Armed men on Monday attacked Mellitah gas complex in western Libya, wounding a soldier and a leader of the brigade which guards the complex, the official Lana news agency reported. "An armed group attacked at dawn the Mellitah gas complex wounding the commander of the brigade responsible for the security of the plant and a soldier," it quoted a military source as saying. The sour ...

TRIPOLI, May 19, 2013 (AFP) Libyan security services defused several car bombs and other explosives that were found in the past two days, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Sunday. Zeidan did not specify where the discoveries were made but said his government and security services were determined to "thwart any attempt to destabilise the country".  "The car bombs and explosives were discovered in the past tw ...

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 15, 2013 (AFP) Gunmen on Wednesday attacked and set fire to a police station in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi to avenge the death of a colleague in an overnight incident, a security official said. Policemen withdrew from the Alhadek police station which was then torched by the attackers, while gunfire reverberated around the complex, an AFP correspondent reported. Wednesday's assault ...

CAIRO, May 13, 2013 (AFP) A cousin of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi went on trial in Egypt on Monday on charges of attempted murder in a case that has blocked his extradition to Libya. Ahmed Gaddaf Alddam is accused of opening fire on police when they went to detain him at his residence in Cairo in March in accordance with an Interpol arrest warrant. He is wanted in Libya for alleged counterfeiting, fo ...

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 13, 2013 (AFP) A car bomb exploded near a hospital in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Monday, killing at least 15 people, wounding dozens more and destroying a restaurant, a top official said. Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massoud said it was only a "preliminary toll" and that the blast caused massive damage in the area of Al-Jala hospital. A security official had earlier sai ...

TRIPOLI, May 11, 2013 (AFP) Libyan militiamen besieging the foreign and justice ministries in Tripoli have now withdrawn and handed control of the compounds back to the authorities, Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said on Saturday. "Those who were at the two ministries have handed over the two ministries to a committee formed by the government and the General National Congress and have now departed," Mar ...