|
Books on Libya
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
1,759,540
Population
5,499,074
Capital
Tripoli
Currency
Libyan dinar
Leader
Col Mu'amar al-Qadhafi
|
Update No: 027 - (01/02/06)
Some Human Rights Progress?
On December 25, 2005 the Libyan Supreme Court, as was anticipated through hints
proffered by Seif-ul-Islam al-Qadhafi - the unofficial ambassador and
'barometer' of Libyan events - commuted the death sentences against five
Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical doctor. The group had been found
guilty of infecting 426 children with the AIDS virus, but subsequent evidence
suggested that conditions in the Benghazi hospital were to blame. Nevertheless,
if the medical team has escaped death, legal hurdles remain and the medics are
far from free. The Libyan government would formally have to assume
responsibility for the HIV infections and have to admit that the hospital was
responsible, which would be perceived by the children's families and many
Libyans as an admission of failure. The reversal of the sentences provoked angry
response from some citizens and the children's parents, who are now demanding
financial compensation. Bulgaria continues to refuse to offer compensation,
because it holds its nurses to be completely innocent of wrongdoing, and that
such a payment would be an admission of guilt. The proposed and likely solution
would come in the form of a compensation fund. Bulgaria agreed with Libya on
Saturday to set up a 4.4 billion euro ($5.3 billion) fund for families of the
infected children. Some Libyan officials have suggested that Libya and Bulgaria
have agreed to pay 10 million (euros) for each of the 426 HIV-infected children
- though it appears Bulgaria has not agreed to any specific amount yet - and 20
mothers who are also contaminated with HIV according to statements to Reuters by
Driss Lagha, chairman of the Association for the Families of the HIV-Infected
Children.
The conviction of the medical staff has been seen in the West as a major
hindrance to fully ending Libya's diplomatic hurdles. However, Bulgaria believes
that the nurses were tortured to force them to confess, and that the epidemic
started in the Benghazi hospital before they began working there. Bulgaria has
therefore demanded that the proposed fund be considered a humanitarian and
voluntary initiative, rather than a legal or diplomatic one. Families of the
victims are seeking a total of around 4.3 billion euros in what they see as
compensation, a definition rejected by Bulgaria, which says the nurses are not
guilty of infecting the children. Charitable organisations from the European
Union, United States, Libya and Bulgaria are all taking part in the fund.
Meanwhile, the case will be submitted for a retrial in around a month. The
retrial could be very delicate, as in order for the court to justify the death
sentence commutation, it would have to hint, if not outright blame, negligence
at the clinic for the children's HIV infection, putting the blame of the
government in effect. The representative, Driss Lagha, said talks on the
structure and amount of the fund would resume next February 13. In January,
Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin told a press conference in Sofia:
"Bulgaria will not participate with any resources like compensation...
because the Bulgarian nurses are not guilty." He added, "Like other
European countries, we will train medical workers and supply aid for the
treatment of the infected children." Libyan, Bulgarian, British, US
government and EU representatives met in Sofia to discuss the work of an
international fund set up last week in Tripoli.
Not perfect but progressing in Human Rights
Critics of the human rights situation in Libya have often pointed to the HIV
trial of the Bulgarian nurses as evidence of Libya's poor human rights record.
However, apart from the commutation of the death sentences, Human Rights Watch
has recently reported that the human rights situation in Libya, while far from
ideal, has been improving steadily. The organization has pointed out that the
People's Courts, which sent real or perceived political opponents to prison or
death without due process, were abolished in January 2005. Some political
prisoners have been released, even as others have been granted new trials. More
interestingly, the government appears to be diminishing the power of the
Revolutionary Committees, Human Rights Watch has noted that the government says
it is prosecuting at least 48 security officials on charges of torture and
pursuing reforms of its penal code to minimize the death penalty. There have
been periodical purges of overzealous security officials in the past (even as
far back as 1988), but these occurred in situation of international diplomatic
duress, when there was less interaction between Libya and the outside world. In
the new Libya, that wants international investment and tourism, a purge of the
security officials is likely to have far deeper and longstanding effects. Human
Rights Watch cites the case of Fathi al-Jahmi, as an example of what has gone
wrong in the past, as well as what could go better in the near future. Fathi al-Jahmi,
64, a former official, decided to test Libya's much advertised commitment to
reform. At a People's Congress in 2002, he called for free elections, a free
press and the release of political prisoners. He was promptly arrested and
sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in March 2004 after
international appeals on his behalf. Jahmi then described Col. Qadhafi as a
dictator in interviews. He was arrested again the next day, this time the police
claimed, for his own protection!
Nonetheless, there are elements in the Libyan political system (or just outside
of it) that understand the idea that true reforms must include some room for
real and open criticism. Again, it is Seif ul-Islam, who leads this trend
through a foundation, which has called for the release of 131 political
prisoners who, it says, pose no threat to the government. So far, only six have
been released, on medical grounds. Similarly, Eighty-six accused members of the
Muslim Brotherhood have been granted a new trial, with a verdict expected in
early February, as the case has been with the Bulgarian nurses; this trial is an
important test of the government's reforms.
Another sign that things are moving in a more liberal direction is that Seif ul-Islam
al-Qadhafi, who also runs the Qadhafi Goodwill Foundation, has been granted his
father's permission to establish a free radio station next March, as well as a
satellite television channel that will be launched in 2007. The channel would
comprise 60% Libyan ownership and 40% foreign. Libya will also resume
distributing foreign publications - a practice that ended in 1992 as the UN
embargo started. Through a $16 million contract, the German firm Heidelberg is
to build a modern printing facility, which will issue western publications. The
magazines 'Newsweek, 'Der Spiegel' and 'Le Monde" are some of the potential
publications to be issued by the new press. There are even plans to publish the
'Financial Times'.
OIL
Libya has warned that continued pressure on Iran - which has been referred to
the UN Security Council - might cause oil prices to reach $100/barrel.
Exploration bids for fields in the country are likely to continue apace, even if
the competition has been so fierce that profit margins are low. One of the
latest companies to secure a potential deal is BP. The British oil company BP
has entered negotiations with Libya to explore and develop fields leading to a
potential multi-billion dollar investment. BP would like to secure a large
natural gas exploration and development deal, the demand for which will have
been boosted by the fact that Britain's North Sea resources are almost finished,
and by the apparent shortages in gas supplies from Russia following the dispute
between Gazprom and Ukraine early in 2006. Observers suggest BP's agreement
might be based on the one established by Royal Dutch Shell in 2005, which gave
the company rights to explore five gas blocks in the Sirte Basin, partly in
return for upgrading an existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. The LNG,
natural gas super-cooled to liquid so that it can be transported under pressure
in ships, could be used to supply Europe.
«
Top
ENERGY
Oil companies get back to business in Libya
ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil and Amerada Hess have reached an agreement with
Libya that will allow them to return to the North African country after a
19-year absence, the International Herald Tribune reported on January 1st.
The companies will return their former oil exploration and production interests
in the Waha concession under terms similar to ones in effect when the group's
contract was suspended in 1986. The three will pay US$1.3bn to National Oil, the
state-run Libyan company, as the country seeks to raise its output and
capitalise on rising oil prices. Marathon and ConocoPhillips will each pay
US$520m, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said recently.
"Libya has been a fairly easy place for these companies to deal with, and I
think they welcome the opportunity to get back and be able to operate there
again," said James Halloran of National City Private client Group in
Cleveland.
Libya, owner of Africa's largest oil reserves, wants to attract US$30bn in
investments to increase daily oil output to 3 million barrels a day by 2015, up
from 1.7m now. The United States last year lifted sanctions imposed in 1986,
when Libya was accused of helping to sponsor terrorism. Since then, the African
country has been unable to secure modern equipment to raise output.
The agreement also paves the way for the producers to seek additional fields in
Libya, which has reserves of light oil that sells for more than some grades of
crude produced in the region, Halloran said.
"Libya has been an under-explored country, so there are other things to do
in Libya, and the oil companies want to be inline to expand their
operations," he said.
To return to their concession, there will be an additional contribution to un-amortised
investments made since 1986 of US$530m, or US$212m each to ConocoPhillips and
Marathon and US$106m for Hess, the companies said. Their contributions are based
on the size of their stakes in the joint venture.
ConocoPhillips and Marathon will each own about 16 per cent of the concession,
while Hess has 8.2 per cent. Libya's state-controlled oil company will own the
remainder of the joint venture, formerly known as Oasis Group. The companies
received a 25-year extension to their oil concession that will run until 2034,
according to their statement.
The concession in the Sirte Basin produces about 350,000 barrels of oil a day
and will raise ConcocoPhillip's daily output by about 45,000 barrels, the
company said. Re-entry to the concession in Libya will raise Marathon's output
by 20 per cent, ConocoPhillip's by 4 per cent and Hess's by 9.2 per cent.
Occidental Petroleum in September said that it was shipping a cargo of Libyan
crude oil to the United States for the first time in almost 20 years. The Los
Angeles-based company in July gained approval from the Libyan government to
resume operating its historic oil properties.
Libya, the eighth-largest producer of the 11 members of the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countires, ranks second in oil production in Africa after
Nigeria.
Sirte is Libya's largest oil basin, accounting for about 80 per cent of proved
reserves and 90 per cent of daily production, according to the US Energy
Department. Libya's oil reserves stood at 39.1bn barrels at the end of 2004.
Oil futures are up 39 per cent this year after reaching a peak of US$70.85 a
carrel on August 30th, the day after Hurricane Katrina hit the United States.
BP in talks with Libya over gas deal
BP has entered into negotiations with Libya over a multi-billion dollar
natural gas exploration and development agreement as the former pariah state
opens up more aggressively to international oil investment, The Financial Times
reported on January 6th.
Industry insiders say the discussions are at an early stage and involve a
liquefied natural gas project that could supply the North American or European
markets. BP confirmed it was in talks with Libya but declined to discuss
details. "We are continuing to look for opportunities in Libya and when we
have a substantive agreement we hope to be able to announce it," the
company said.
Libya's oil and gas sector was opened up for wider foreign investment after the
crisis caused by the 1988 Lockerbie bombing was resolved and United Nations
sanctions were lifted. US businesses were allowed to return in 2004 after Libya
agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.
The BP talks follow a similar deal struck with Libya by Royal Dutch Shell, the
Anglo-Dutch group, in May. Shell is exploring for gas in the Sirte Basin, where
BP held assets before they were nationalised in the 1970s. Under its agreement,
Shell will also revamp a liquefaction plant in Libya and sell the LNG in the US
and Europe. US companies have been returning to the Libyan market where they
held oil production concessions that had to be surrendered to Libya in 1986
after a US bombing campaign. Recently, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil and Amerada
Hess agreed to pay Libya US$1.8bn (£1bn) to reclaim assets in Oasis Group.
In December 2005, ExxonMobil signed an agreement with Libya to begin exploring
offshore for oil and gas and will soon begin to gather seismic data in the
Cyrenaica Basin. Analysts said any agreement with Libya would be positive for
BP, which is looking to further expand its LNG business. However, any agreement
could take months to come to fruition and the Libyans are understood to be
driving a hard bargain.
Frank Harris, LNG analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said: "From a BP perspective,
Libya would provide additional supply to their portfolio and could go into some
combination of the US, UK, Spain and possibly Italy."
BP proposes to build two terminals to receive LNG in the US and already has
capacity at a terminal at Cove Point, Maryland.
However, Mr Harris said BP and others exploring in Libya would have to find
enough deposits to keep an LNG plant busy. Because of the sanctions, Libya
remains relatively unexplored, by international standards. Companies are pinning
their hopes on significant gas finds at a time when they have few substantial
prospects around the world.
« Top
|
