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TRIPOLI, Libya, April 29 (UPI) -- The Libyan National Oil Company announced it lifted an emergency declaration on oil operations at its Zueitina terminal in the east of the country.

The NOC said Monday it lifted force majeure -- a legal means to release it from its contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond its control -- at Zueitina because of "the improvement of the circumstances" in the country.

The Libyan government brokered a deal April 6 with eastern rebel leaders to re-open export terminals. An eight-month blockade from rebels seeking more autonomy for the region known as Cyrenaica cut Libya's oil export potential dramatically.

Zueitina has the capacity to ship 70,000 barrels of oil per day and was one of the four export terminals set to re-open under the terms of the April 6 deal. The government said last week the opening of the port was delayed because of damage incurred during the shutdown.

Eastern export terminals handle about half of Libya's oil export capacity. Before civil war erupted in 2011, Libya was one of North Africa's largest crude oil exporters, though output has been marginal since last year.

There was no statement from the NOC on the status of Zueitina's infrastructure.

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Libya re-opens key oil terminal

April 29, 2014

Passengers wait for their flights in the departure hall at Tripoli International Airport March 21, 2014. Reuters pic, April 29, 2014.With a bomb on the runway, pets boarding planes and passengers jetting off without visas, Tripoli International Airport typifies the chaos that has gripped Libya since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.

Western powers and Libya's neighbours worry the capital city's airport could be a gateway for illegal immigrants, including militant Islamists, from Africa and conflict zones such as Syria.

Morocco has just introduced visa requirements for Libyans after one group of travellers arrived on forged Libyan passports, and some European and Arab airlines have stopped flying to Tripoli for security reasons.

The European Union is training officials and helping upgrade facilities at the aging airport, a former British military base from World War Two, but a few new luggage scanners won't address the underlying security problem a government that is struggling to impose its authority on a country awash with arms and militias.

Like much of the North African country, the area surrounding the airport is controlled by one of the dozens of brigades of rebels that helped overthrow Gaddafi and have refused to give up their arms.

Political analyst Salah Elbakhoush said the airport was in the middle of a power struggle, with other armed groups, residents and civil aviation staff challenging the control of the militia from Zintan in western Libya.

"People are fed up with them," he said. "The situation west of Tripoli (near the terminal)... is very dangerous. The government is too weak to do anything."

Nightly shootouts have become more frequent in the area, making the airport road one of the most dangerous places in the capital, where security has deteriorated in recent months.

Whoever controls the airport, located about 30 kilometres outside Tripoli, gets access to business at the terminal, which is a main cargo and smuggling hub.

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BEIRUT: Lebanon and Libya have signed a memorandum of understanding under which Libyan authorities have promised further cooperation to resolve the case of the missing Imam Musa Sadr, a source familiar with the issue said Tuesday, with Speaker Nabih Berri calling it a historic step.

The development, which happened out of the public eye last month, came after Lebanon and Sadrs family complained that Libyan authorities that came to power after Moammar Gadhafis fall in summer 2011 were not dealing with the matter seriously.

Under this memorandum of understanding, Lebanon now has the right to be represented during the investigation, said the source, a member of a committee Lebanons government formed in 2011 to follow up on Sadrs case.

Libyan authorities also promised full cooperation and to interrogate all [relevant] detainees they have, the source, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, told The Daily Star.

A charismatic preacher who founded Lebanons Amal Movement and championed alleviating the socio-economic hardship and political marginalization being suffered by many Lebanese, Sadr went missing in Libya on Aug. 31, 1978, along with his two companions, Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub and Journalist Abbas Badreddine.

Sadr was there on an official invitation by Gadhafi, and Lebanon held the late Libyan leader responsible for his disappearance, an accusation Tripoli consistently denied. The incident led to Lebanon and Libya severing ties.

In 2009, Lebanon indicted Gadhafi and 16 of his aides on charges of fomenting civil war and inciting sectarian tension in Lebanon.

The source said that Lebanons Ambassador to Libya Mohammad Skeini signed the agreement with Libyan authorities in March on the instructions of the Foreign Ministry.

The fall of Gadhafis regime in summer 2011 boosted hopes that the mystery would finally be solved, particularly after senior officials such as former head of Libyan intelligence Abdullah Sanusi and Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the late Libyan leader, were detained by the new Libyan authorities.

However, pessimism surfaced again, with Sadrs family complaining that Tripoli was not demonstrating enough dedication and transparency in the case.

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Libya vows more action on Sadr case

TodaysNetworkNews: LIBYA, MIDDLE EAST - END HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS - UN #39;s NAVI PILLAY
United Nations, Geneva, 15 September 2009 - The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay addressed the autumn session of the Human Rights Council. In h. TodaysNetworkNews: 25 February...

By: Ginger Durbin

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TodaysNetworkNews: LIBYA, MIDDLE EAST - END HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS - UN's NAVI PILLAY - Video

Libya opened the way for oil exports to resume from the eastern port of Zueitina by revoking a legal clause known as force majeure after rebels returned the terminal to government control earlier this month.

The 70,000 barrel-a-day facility is ready to receive tankers for loading, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman of state-run National Oil Corp., said today in a text message. An agreement reached on April 6 provided for the rebels to hand over control of Zueitina and Hariga, two of the four ports they seized in July, in return for an official amnesty and salary payments claimed by defectors from Libyas Petroleum Facilities Guard.

It seems the government has been making a renewed effort for progress, Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London, said by e-mail. It still seems to be a complicated situation on the ground, and the market will want to see a cargo load to really confirm the terminal is operational again.

The North African nations difficulty in exporting crude has contributed to support for North Sea Brent, a benchmark for half the worlds crude including Libyas Es Sider grade, amid rising supply from Iraq and Iran. Libya, with Africas largest crude reserves, is struggling to restore output to the 1.6 million barrels a day it pumped prior to the February 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Force majeure excuses a supplier from meeting its delivery commitments because of events beyond its control.

Brent crude futures erased gains following the NOCs removal of the condition. Brent had advanced as much as 62 cents to $110.20 a barrel earlier today, and subsequently slipped to trade 39 cents lower at $109.19 as of 2:34 p.m. London time.

To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net; Saleh Sarrar in Dubai at ssarar@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at anightingal1@bloomberg.net Bruce Stanley, Claudia Carpenter

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Libya Ends Suspension of Crude Loadings From Zueitina Terminal