ARAB LEAGUE TO DISCUSS LIBYA CONFLICT

Cairo, 14 Rabiul Awwal 1436/5 January 2015 (MINA)– Arab League ambassadors will meet on Monday to discuss the deepening conflict in Libya, the bloc’s deputy secretary general Ahmed Ben Helli said.

The meeting at the Cairo-based League was requested by Libya’s internationally recognized government, which is battling Islamist-backed militias, and supported by its two leading regional backers, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

“The meeting will be devoted to discussing the dangerous developments that Libya is experiencing, the increase in violence and acts of terrorism,” Ben Helli told reporters on Sunday, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

These acts “are affecting not only individuals … but also vital economic infrastructure on which the wealth of the Libyan people depends, particularly oil storage tanks.”

The Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militia alliance, which controls most of the capital as well as third city Misrata, launched an offensive last month to try to capture the country’s main eastern oil export terminals.

Dec. 25 rocket fire by its fighters sparked a blaze which raged uncontrolled through seven of the 19 storage tanks at the al-Sidra terminal for nine days before being extinguished.

Industry analysts have said Libya’s oil production has dropped to less than 350,000 barrels per day from 800,000 before the fighting erupted on Dec. 13. (T/P010/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)