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People on a boat carrying 267 migrants, including men, women and children, off the coast of Libya in the southern Mediterranean Sea. PHOTO:AFP

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), citing the Libyan Red Crescent, said on its website that the African migrants had been trapped for four days in the metal container.

Some of the 56 who survived were suffering from various injuries and fractures and needed immediate medical attention.

They were of different African nationalities. Among them were 13 bodies, including those of a girl, 13, and a 14-year-old boy.

A Khoms resident told AFP on condition of anonymity that the container had been on a truck headed for a beach in Khoms, from where the migrants were expected to board a boat for Europe, when it was stopped and searched at a checkpoint.

The Red Crescent branch at Khoms said on its Facebook page that the survivors and the 13 bodies were found dumped outside a detention centre for migrants in the town.

Fawzi Abdel Ali, a Red Crescent spokesman in Khoms, told the IFRC that when volunteers arrived, they provided first aid, psychological first aid, food and blankets for the 56 survivors, among them a five-year-old girl called Aisha.

On Wednesday, about 750 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast after seven rescue operations mounted by the Italian coast guard and an international aid group.

Most of them were also from sub-Saharan Africa.

On Thursday, 85 migrants were rescued off the coast about 47 kilometres west of Tripoli, Ayoub Qassem, spokesman for the Libyan Navy, told AFP, saying they included several African women and five infants.

People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since its 2011 revolution that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi to boost their lucrative trade.

Most departures take place from the west of Libya, usually heading for Italy 300 kilometres (190 miles) away across the Mediterranean.

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13 Europe-bound migrants suffocate in Libya container - Guardian

Beirut/Geneva, 21 February The Libyan Red Crescent has recovered the bodies of 74 people who washed ashore yesterday (20 February), near Zawiya on Libyas northern coast.

Photos are available for download here.

It appears that the deceased had been on a boat attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. A torn rubber dinghy was reportedly found nearby.

Libyan Red Crescent volunteers collected the bodies of the deceased with dignity, placing them in body bags for transfer to a local hospital.

More than 270 people migrating are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean in the first weeks of 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In 2016, more than 5,000 deaths at sea were recorded, making it the deadliest year on record.

The IFRC calls for collective international action to avert further deaths like these which are tragic and entirely preventable.

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News alert: Libyan Red Crescent recovers 74 bodies in northern Libya, PHOTOS AVAILABLE - International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent...

LONDON

The commander of U.S. forces in Africa has told VOA the only way to restore peace in Libya is to bring rival factions together, and that will require cooperative efforts by many parties, including Russia.

General Thomas Waldhauser, who heads the U.S. Africa Command, discussed the continuing political chaos in Libya while in Germany for the recent Munich Security Conference.

Libya is a checkerboard of separate, divided power centers: The internationally backed Government of National Accord controls only part of Tripoli, while rival power bases vie for control over the rest of the capital and other cities. Along the North African coast, the head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Haftar, holds sway over much of eastern Libya through his House of Representatives.

FILE - Marine Corps Lieutenant General Thomas Waldhauser is seen at Camp Pendleton, California, March 30, 2012.

Waldhauser says Haftar's influence "is something to be dealt with," and that eastern Libya "is where a political solution ... has to take place," in large part because the army chief controls most of Libya's oilfields.

"This is where it all begins," the American commander says, and also where Russia comes in.

Russia invests in Libya's oil

Waldhauser noted it is apparent Russia wants to become actively involved in trying to resolve Libya's political unrest not least for its own economic interests and said he welcomes that.

Russia's state-owned oil giant Rosneft has offered billions of dollars in investments to Libya's National Oil Company (NOC), and officials of the two companies announced Tuesday in London that they have a preliminary agreement to pursue a development program. Russia also committed itself to buying an undisclosed share of Libya's future crude oil output.

FILE - A plaque for the Rosneft Oli Company is seen outside the company headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 18, 2012.

The AFRICOM chief said the key to political progress in Libya, which would enable the country to get the greatest benefit from such international deals, is cooperation between the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital and Haftar and the Libyan National Army in the east.

"The goal is to get those two together," Waldhauser said. "The goal is to get those two to talk, and the goal is to make some accommodation in that regard."

Kremlin's broader influence

Russia has been trying to gain a larger grip on oil supplies in the Mediterranean and extend its influence in the Middle East and North Africa more broadly. Rosneft's agreement with NOC, announced at an international oil conference in the British capital, was in addition to a separate deal for Russia to prefinance crude exports from Kurdistan, making Rosneft the first major oil company to take an active role in the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. Rosneft also recently acquired a stake in the Zohr gas field in Egypt.

The Libyan oil company estimates it needs $20 billion to reach its production goal of 2.1 million barrels per day within five years.

FILE - An anti-government rebel sits with an anti-aircraft weapon in front of an oil refinery in Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya, March 5, 2011.

Turning again to Libya's political situation and rivalries, Waldhauser said many parties are trying to assist.

"The Egyptians and Russians are also involved in trying to get this all together, because at the end of day a political solution is going to require" the participation of both General Haftar and Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the GNA, the U.S. commander said.

U.S. supports Tripoli faction

U.S. forces also have been actively fighting against the Islamic State group in Libya most notably last month, when American B-2 bombers flew a 9,400-kilometer mission from their base in the central U.S. to strike IS training camps in Libya and Waldhauser says the extremists' efforts to expand in the north African nation have taken a significant setback.

"It has been very complicated and it continues to remain very complicated. Perhaps, if it's possible, even getting more complicated," Waldhauer added. "Our official government position is to support the GNA. And at AFRICOM, we've had a very good and close relationship not only with our State Department personnel, but with Prime Minister Surraj as well."

The AFRICOM chief, who oversees U.S. military operations throughout Africa, was speaking in Munich last week about American participation in Operation Flintlock, a joint military exercise hosted by seven African nations.

FILE - Chadian troops participate in the closing ceremony of operation Flintlock in an army base in N'djamena, Chad, March 9, 2015.

American forces in Africa are eager to build partnerships in the sub-Saharan region to tackle terrorists particularly Islamic State extremists, but also other dangerous groups. Waldhauser said the U.S. works to strengthen its regional partnerships by helping African nations develop their infrastructure, with training and also with crisis response.

U.S. can help in crises

"Many times we think of [crisis response] as a military operation," the American commander said. "But crisis response is something we would be very, very involved in if there was a humanitarian disaster famine in Somalia, for example; the Ebola breakout is another example. We do pay close attention to that."

Nigeria is a key regional partner, and the United States is providing intelligence support and other assistance in the country's fight against the Islamic State-affiliated terror group Boko Haram. A Nigerian representative to the Munich Security Conference, Major-General Babagana Monguno, said the increasing expansion of terror groups across national borders means international cooperation is vital.

"The uprising in Libya and the eventual capitulation of the Gadhafi government resulted in a southward flow of arms and human beings," Monguno said. "The most natural place in sub-Saharan Africa for this flow was Nigeria."

Importance of 'battlefield ethics'

In the course of their efforts to suppress Boko Haram, Nigerian military forces have been accused of human-rights abuses by Amnesty International and others. Waldhauser said the United States takes such allegations against its partners seriously.

"We understand the requirement for battlefield ethics," he told VOA. "We make it part of our training, and we try to continue to emphasize that ... in the legal system [of the partner nations] and in our discussions with key leaders, as well."

Operation Flintlock 2017, which is just getting underway, will bring together 2,000 service personnel from more than 20 African, European and North African nations.

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US Sees a Role for Russia in Trying to Restore Peace in Libya - Voice of America

UPDATE:

On February 23, Abdelrazeq al-Nadhouri, chief of staff of the forces known as the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the military governor of the region that extends from Derna to Ben Jawwad, repealed his order requiring women who wish to travel abroad to be accompanied by a male guardianand replaced it with a new order imposing travel restrictions on all men and women ages 18 to 45. The new order specifies that people in that age group need clearance by relevant security agencies ahead of any international travel from eastern Libya. Justifying these restrictions, the order refers to the necessity to put in place measures to counter risk from abroad that threaten national security.

Libyan officials in the east should immediately repeal this new order, Human Rights Watch said. While governments have the authority to restrict travel on an individual basis based on narrow and appealable grounds laid out in law, al-Nadhouris order, by its sweeping nature targeting all would-be travelers of a certain age, gravely undermines the right enshrined in international law that entitles everyone to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

(Tunis) Officials in eastern Libya should immediately repeal an order, issued on February 16, 2017, that bans women under age 60 from traveling abroad unless they are accompanied by a male guardian, Human Rights Watch said today. The order threatens to curtail freedom of movement for women in eastern Libya, including for medical treatment, education, and professional travel.

Abdelrazeq al-Nadhouri, chief of staff of the forces known as the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the military governor of the region that extends from Derna to Ben Jawwad, issued the order requiring women who wish to travel abroad by land, air, or sea to be accompanied by a male guardian, also known as a mahram. The text of the order justifies it as necessary for reasons of public interest and to limit negative aspects that accompanied Libyan womens international travel. On February 21, after a public uproar, al-Nadhouri reportedly suspended implementation of this regulation until further notice.

Libyan women celebrate the third anniversary of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi at Freedom Square in Benghazi, February 17, 2014.

2014 Reuters

Requiring adult women to have a male guardian with them when they travel is a humiliating step backward for women, said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.

In a television interview on February 19, al-Nadhouri claimed that the order was necessary for the national security of Libya and that it had no religious or political background. Al-Nadhouri claimed, without providing any details, that several young women had collaborated with foreign intelligence agencies, creating a risk that they would disclose information that could harm the national interest. He also warned, As long as [a Libyan woman] is in Libya, she is free. Once she leaves Libya our eyes will be on her.

Many womens rights activists and human rights lawyers rejected the regulation, saying it violated womens rights, as protected by Libyan laws. On February 22, womens rights activists staged a demonstration in al-Kish square in Benghazi protesting the travel restrictions.

Libyan women have had the right to travel abroad without the permission of a male relative. In 2014, the Tripoli-based religious authority, Dar Al-Iftaa, called for a woman to be accompanied by a male guardian if she wished to travel abroad, but the religious edict, or fatwa, never became law.

The Libyan National Army operates with affiliated militias and the army special forces in eastern Libya under the command of Khalifa Hiftar, a retired general who served under the ousted Gaddafi government. The LNA has gained control over territory in much of eastern Libya since the outbreak of hostilities in May 2014. It is aligned with the so-called Interim Government based in al-Bayda, and the House of Representatives, based in Tobruk, both in the eastern part of the country. The Interim Government is not recognized by the United Nations or the international community and is competing for legitimacy with the Tripoli-based and UN-backed Government of National Accord.

Article 14 of the Libyan Constitutional Declaration guarantees the right to freedom of movement. Libyan authorities are also bound by numerous international treaties ratified by the country. The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Libya acceded in 1989, legally obligates member states to end all discrimination against women, without delay, and guarantees the right to freedom of movement.

As a state party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Libya must ensure nondiscrimination and the right to freedom of movement for all people, without distinction as to gender. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also provides: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state [and] to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

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Libya: Discriminatory Restriction on Women - Human Rights Watch

The bodies of 13 migrants who died of suffocation have been recovered from a shipping container in western Libya, the Red Crescent says.

The migrants appear to have been locked in the container for several days as it was transported to the coast at Khoms, where they were to attempt to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, the Red Crescent said in a statement on Thursday.

Fifty-six migrants were rescued from the container, some suffering from serious injuries and fractures, the statement said.

Libya has become the main gateway for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. A record 181,000 migrants reached Italy along the route last year.

Within Libya, migrant smugglers operate with impunity, and migrants are subjected to a wide range of abuses, including rape, torture and forced labour.

Earlier this week the bodies of 74 migrants were found on the shore near Zawiya, west of Tripoli. The local coastguard said smugglers had stolen the engine from their boat.

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Thirteen dead migrants found in Libya - NEWS.com.au