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Understanding 9/11tv Africa Today An Interview with Libyan Ambassador PRESSTV April 2, 2024 7:02am-7:20am IRST
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libya is a north african country frequently in the news over its political. tellmate: the country has two competing governments, the tripoly based high state council and the house of representatives in the eastern city of the brook. they are reports of these two sides will unite for the good of the country. libya is also at the center of a migrant crisis. the total number of migrants landed in italy from libya last year was approximately 51,700, of which 16,500 cream from the eastern region of libya. this country is also one of the richest countries in africa. in terms of oil reserves, libya is
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now trying to ramp up its petroleum output and draw foreign investors back to its vast oil fields. meanwhile, amed the us israel genocide on gaza, libya has voice support for the measures taken by the international court of justice icj to prevent genocide in the gaza strip. elsew under the post dictator mohammad khaddafi, controversial incidents took place in libya, including the disappearance of lebanese scholar. imam musadr. internationally, libya enjoys cordial ties with many countries, including iran. officials say the cooperation between these two muslim nations are on the right track and can develop in various fields. an interview with the libyan ambassador to iran. hello, i'm mubarak kenya and a warm welcome to africa today. this week we have. special
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guest to discuss issues relating to libya. we of are honored to have with us here in the studio, his excellency ali jumal ubedi, the ambassador of libya to iran. thank you very of of much, mr. ambassador for your time. thank you. in the name of god, i have to thank press tv for this opportunity that has been provided for me to explain the libian stance regarding regional and international issues. let's start off with the iran, libya relation. what is the current status of ties between these two friendly countries? diplomatic relations between the two sides have developed immensely. they have reached levels that can only be described as outstanding, which is caused by various factors. the most prominent being the desire of the two countries to strengthen these alliances because developing positive relations between countries of the islamic world makes them stronger and more resilient. during my time in tehran, i worked on the...
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increasing the sources of tension and developing relations in the interest of my country, libya, and also the interest of the cordial ivan and the arab and islamic region in general. mr. ambassador, we know nowadays countries are more inclined towards trade. now what is the what is the current status of trade ties between iran and libya? are there plans to boost ties in this regard? trade relations. between the two countries are developing a slow pace. this is not caused by the libyan side since we are open to developing economic relations with iran who are friendly, but the iranian side has some hesitation, or what can be described as not daring to enter quickly and firmly into the libyan market. we are a country emerging from a war, therefore anyone who does not secure their place economically with us will not find a foothold in the future. on that account, the brothers in iran must be aware of this matter. it is worth noting that libya
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is a country rich in diverse economic opportunities, it's possible for iran which possesses experience and development in many fields to summon up iranian businessmen who will find many job opportunities, starting with medium investments that do not require large capital all the way to strategic investments which libya desperately needs. i understand you have written a book uh and this book is about relations between arab countries and iran. can you tell us more about this book which you have written? uh, i have the kit. this book was published in 2023 and talks about the relations between iran and some arab countries such as iraq, syria, saudi arabia and palestine. i have divided the relations into two parts: the shah's era and after the islamic revolution. when you presented your credentials to iran's president raisi, he said that. problems of
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libya and some islamic countries are caused by the presence of interference of foreigners, what's your opinion on these point? certainly the presence of foreigners and our region is not welcome, it is source of anxiety and tension, but what is the alternative? this question must be posed to all active forces in the region. these forces must conduct rounds of dialogue and understanding amongst themselves to prevent foreigners from interfering. there is a proverb that says, the people of mecca know best about his paths, the people of the arab and islamic region know best how to resolve the conflicts, which is contingent on direct understandings and the diffusal of any tension in the region. for example, we in libya, despite all the religious, social, political and cultural reproachment with our neighbors in the ocean, have some disagreements let along countries that are somewhat different in many aspects. therefore, this matter must be taken into account and understood. disputes are resolved
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with understanding, not by postponing them. mr. ambassador, let's move to the situation inside libya. now, many in africa love libya and hope to see a lasting peace and stability in this country. now what is the state of politics in terms of creating conditions for holding national elections and forming inclusive government which will bring together all libyans? libyan history testifies that libya was a place of friendship with the african and arab surroundings. it was looking for calm in africa because it is a continent rich in human and material resources. as for the political conditions in the country, right now the various libyean parties and i will not describe them as conflicting ones since the conflict is over, thank god, now there are only differences of opinion, thus, the differences between the two sides began to be resolved and the ground work for holding elections is beginning to take shape, but the realization of this depends on the seriousness of the libyan political parties.
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an interview with the libian ambassador to iran. now uh, mr. ambassador, there's been talk about uniting the rival factions in tobruk and tripoli, can we expect good news in the near future regarding this? yes, we will see positive news in this subject in the... near future, the ice of differences between the two sides began to melt, especially after the derna disaster and how the libyan people and politicians in the country came to help, they forgot their differences and pass pains. okay, thank you for that, mr. ambassador, now let's move to the issue of palestine, which we know right now is the number one issue in
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the world, and libya, we have seen has voice support to the measures taken by the international court of justice to prevent a genocide in gaza stripper through the... presented by south africa, now uh, can you tell us what your country is doing to ensure that the israeli regime complies with this ruling by the icj? our country and most arab, islamic and even international countries do not have authority over the israeli occupation to prevent it from committing crimes and make it comply with international rulings. this entity has been evading united nations resolutions since the year 1948, but our... country can use its relations with foreign countries to push them to taking measures and steps against the occupying entity to comply with the decisions of the international court and stop his crimes. thank you for that. now mr. ambassador, libya's high state council has called for cutting ties with the those backing the
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israeli regime in its war on gaza. now and it's the counselor has also called for halting of oil exports to countries supporting the. highly offensive on gaza. now, has libya taken any specific step in these regard? never think that the libyan state calls for something and does not do it. what distinguishes the libyan state throughout the ages is that it does not compromise, it commands righteousness and implements it. we must know that libya from a practical standpoint is in a state of complete hostility with the occupying entity and his citizens are denied any form of recognition. and the normalization of his citizens and h official and unofficial institutions is not permitted. libya is totally opposed to the normalization of ties with the israeli regime. our position is clear, government and people included, we are
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against this entity and the normalization of it and anything that distracts from the rights of the palestinian people. by the way, libya has always been in favor of free causes and with the rights of the people to decide their fate and to stop the injustice against them, whether in occupied palestine, in africa, or even in south america. libya is always in the news uh mostly because of also uh illegal immigrants uh coming from africa and uh using the libyan mediterranean coast to enter europe. i'm sure these are an enormous challenge for libya. how is your country handling this issue? first i must clarify an important point. which is libya does not take a single dollar from any european country to prevent immigration or
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put an end to it, unlike many countries in the world that take money for this, even indirectly, such as aid and things like that nature. as for the subject of illegal immigration, we have been suffering from it for decades. it's a major challenge for our country, because whoever sets foot in it does so illegally and exits the same way, and therefore this is major security and economic challenge. libya has played an important role in reducing. illegal immigration by developing security and military equipment and confront the networks operating in this field. illegal immigration is not only a libhan problem. let me clarify that libya is not a country for settling down, but it's a transit country. in this matter, it's committed to what is required by the international laws regulating the matter. in addition, it rejects any form of dictations, interventions or requirements that harm is interests, especially the rumors about the possibility of resettlement. or something like that. thank you for that, mr. ambassador. now let's move to the oil sector in libya. we know libya is a an oil rich
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country. and previously, i think in the 1970s or 80s, your production was almost 3.4 million barrels a day and the current production stands only at 32% of its peak, and libya, i think is now 18th in the world in terms of oil production, despite its massive reserves. so what steps have you taken uh to boost oil production? during the war, the sector has seen very difficulties and it was natural at that time. in addition, this sector developed very rapidly. because the war, we fell behind in the international market, but we have a realistic plan right now in order to reopen, establish and develop oil fields and refineries. mr. ambassador, uh, we know libya is an oil rich country, and it has some of the largest oil reserves in africa, and it once produced 3.4 million barrels a day, but now the production has gone, has decreased significantly. what steps
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are you taking to increase this production? during the war period, our energy sector was greatly damaged, this is normal because we were in the wartex of war. in addition, this sector is developing rapidly and for that reason we delayed it because of the war, the lack of maintenance of oil and gas refineries delayed, us greatly in the energy market, but we have a realistic plan to redevelop and maintain the fields. opening new refineries will return libya to the top countries in energy exports. mr. ambassador, now regarding the oil production issue, we know that iran has attained a level of almost self-sufficiency in oil production. now uh, do you plan to use the know-how of iran in boosting your oil production instead of relying on oil? oil multinationals from western countries. we welcome any cooperation
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with any friendly country, especially iran with which share a common history and the things that unite us, outweight those that divide us with them. of course, we hope to use the benefits of iran's experience and try to transfer it to our country. we hope that the level of cooperation between us and iran will reach this level as our cooperation with the friendly country italy has. now, mr. ambassador, our last question, uh, recently a libian delegation uh visited beirot to discuss with the lebanese authorities uh regarding the fate of a prominent uh lebanese islamic scholar imam musa sadr who disappeared in libya decades ago. now can you tell us more about the fate of uh this file and how much progress you have made in resolving it? it is necessary to resolve this subject, especially since it is legacy left behind by the previous regime. it's also
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important to develop relations with lebanon, which we hope that calm and stability will prevail in it. as for the issue of imam musad, it is amongst the sensitive security subjects which we cannot reveal everything related to it at the moment, but what i can tell you is that the issue will be resolved soon. god willing. thank you very much, mr. ambassador for your time today and uh, for. answering our questions in this program, it's been a pleasure having you in our program, uh, thank you, mercy, uh, viewers, and that's it for this week's edition of... africa today, we had a special guest today, his excellency ali jumal ubaidi, the ambassador of libya to iran, it's bring it, having you with the show, and until next time is goodbye from me.
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the israeli aggression against the people of palestine has a long and tumultuous. history marked by genocide, occupation and countless human rights violations. the palestinian struggle to liberate their country stands as one of the most endering and contentious resistance movements in modern history. at its heart lies the issue of occupation with israel's presence in palestinian territories being a source of deep-seated grievances, violence. an international concern. the roots the israeli occupation of palestinian territories can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the rise the zionist movements advocating for the establishment of so-called jewish homeland in historical palestine. the balford declaration of 1970.
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