Day: November 14, 2021

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, submitted his application on Sunday to run in Libya’s upcoming presidential election, according to local media.

Al-Marsad news website published on Facebook a video of Saif al-Islam in the office of the elections commission in the southwestern city of Sabha, where he presented his application.

Saif al-Islam appears in the video wearing a Libyan traditional dress with a long white beard.

Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on Dec. 24 under an UN-sponsored agreement reached by Libyan political rivals during meetings in Tunisia on Nov. 15, 2020.

The oil-rich country’s electoral commission on Nov. 8 opened registration for candidates in the polls despite ongoing tensions between the parliament, the High Council of State, and the unity government regarding electoral powers and laws.

Libyans hope that the upcoming elections will contribute to ending an armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country for years.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Libya’s Presidency Council on Sunday called for holding the parliamentary and presidential elections simultaneously.

In a statement, the council called for taking all measures to ensure a “comprehensive elections process” with a view to building confidence among the parties and ensuring “transparency and fairness of the polls.”

The statement also underlined the importance of international efforts to secure and monitor the electoral process.

The council’s call comes amid differences and disagreements on electoral laws between the parliament, the High Council of State and the unity government.

On Friday, participants in an international conference in Paris on Libya threatened sanctions against parties seeking to obstruct or undermine political transition in Libya.

Libya’s transitional Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said at a news conference that participants in the conference agreed to sanction those who refuse to accept results of the elections.

Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on Dec. 24 under an UN-sponsored agreement reached by Libyan political rivals during meetings in Tunisia on Nov. 15, 2020.

Libyans hope that the upcoming elections will contribute to ending an armed conflict that has plagued the oil-rich country for years.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA – Russia has started supplying the S-400 air defense system to India, a Russian official confirmed on Sunday.

The deliveries are proceeding on schedule, Dmitry Shugayev, head of Russia’s Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation, told Russian news agency.

“The first deliveries have already started,” Shugayev said at an aerospace trade show in Dubai, the Interfax news agency reported.

India will have the first unit of the defense system by the end of this year, according to the official.

The development comes ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to India next month.

Moscow and New Delhi inked a $5.5 billion deal for the S-400 system in 2018, a move that opened India to possible US sanctions.

Washington has long tried to deter countries from buying military equipment from Russia, threatening them with punitive measures under its Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

India pressed on with the deal despite Washington’s warnings that a waiver from CAATSA was unlikely, maintaining that it has strategic ties with both Russia and the US.

Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defense, reiterated during his March visit to India that all US allies and partners should shun Russian hardware and “avoid any kind of acquisition that would trigger sanctions.”

Turkey also faced US sanctions last year for purchasing the S-400 system and was removed from Washington’s F-35 program in 2019.

The US claimed the Russian system was a safety risk for NATO, but Turkey maintained it would pose no threat because it would not be integrated into the alliance’s systems.

Ankara dismissed the US measures, which targeted the country’s Defense Industries Presidency (SSB), as a “blatant attack” on Turkish sovereignty and brushed off concerns of their possible effects on its defense sector.

Source: Anadolu Agency