Libya after Gaddafi
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Libya's first female de-miners
Dealing with more than bombs
The first women to clear dangerous explosives in Libya are part of an international trend towards gender equality in the job. Cathrin Schaer and Islam Alatrash report
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The Tuareg: literature, language and culture
"The journey of the princess"
The term "Tuareg" refers to tribes and nomads who speak dialects of Tuareg and live in Targa, an area in south-west Libya recently renamed Wadi Al-Hayat but previously known as Wadi Ajal. By Mustafa Abdullah Abdulrahman Bashir
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America’s partisan war
Benghazi 9/11 casts a long shadow
Cries of "Benghazi!" still resonate across the USA ten years after a deadly terrorist attack in Libya killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Ethan Chorin re-tells Benghazi as a watershed moment, one that has helped create today's America: polarised, fearful and dangerously unstable. Sherif Dhaimish read the book
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Libya and the Ukraine conflict
The ever-present threat of war
A ceasefire has been in effect in Libya for the past year and a half. Yet after Russia's attack on Ukraine, another proxy war looms in Africa's most oil-rich country. Mirco Keilberth reports from Tunis
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Middle East youth culture
Libya rolls out first-ever skatepark
Libya's first-ever skate park opened at the end of May in downtown Tripoli to the delight of local youngsters. Built on a site once used by former dictator Muammar Gaddafi's bodyguards, the free, open-air facilitiy was designed by Australian Wade Trevean and constructed by volunteers from as far afield as the USA
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Preserving the Word of Allah
Libyan artisans restore old Korans for Ramadan
With the arrival of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in war-scarred Libya, a group of volunteers work around the clock to restore old or damaged copies of the Koran. Khaled al-Drebi, one of Libya's best-known restorers of Islam's holy book, is among the artisans who arrive at a Tripoli workshop daily to meet the needs of the influx of customers during Ramadan
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Turkey
Erdogan's search for partners in the Middle East
Ankara is seeking to improve its relations with several states in the Middle East – such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Israel. There are several reasons for this. Meanwhile, those being approached are not averse to the idea. By Kersten Knipp
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Electioneering in Libya
Could Muammar Gaddafi's family stage a comeback?
The children of Libya's brutal and erratic former dictator Muammar Gaddafi are becoming more popular as the country's elections, scheduled for 24 December, approach. Some fear they could benefit from an increasingly fragmented political scene. By Cathrin Schaer
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International Libya Conference in Berlin
Libyans harbour high hopes for a transition to stability
The Libya Conference will be held in Berlin on 23 June. Much has been achieved since the last Libya Conference in Berlin in January 2020. The ceasefire is holding, there is a united interim government for the first time and parliamentary elections are scheduled for 24 December. But the path ahead remains strewn with obstacles. By Karim El-Gawhary
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Crisis between Morocco and Germany
Western Sahara, source of strife among would-be partners
Morocco and the European Union are at cross purposes when it comes to the Western Sahara. And, as Germany does not support Moroccan claims to the territory, a major conflict has arisen between the two countries. And the German-Moroccan crisis is getting expensive – for both sides, as Hans-Christian Roessler reports
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Ankara’s Maghreb moment
Advancing Turkey's economic, energy, and military aims
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, disappointed by the European Union’s reluctance to integrate Turkey into its ranks, has re-directed his country’s diplomacy toward the Maghreb and Africa to expand Turkey’s sway in the Mediterranean, writes Dalia Ghanem
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Unity government obscures old and new rifts
SWP Comment: The limits to Libya's unity
Although a unity government was formed in Libya in March 2021, tensions and possible crises between the political actors are already emerging. What problems does the country face? Wolfram Lacher examines the current situation in the North African country.