of a bad situation gallacher all jazeera miami florida finally something which might make you feel just a tad lazy and adventuring grandfather has completed a record breaking atlanta voyage 70 year old briton frank. has become the oldest person to row solo across the atlantic 56 days it took him to make a nearly 5000 kilometer journey from the canary islands to and. in a boat he aptly named never too old ruffles no stranger to the sea either is already sailed around north and south america and around the world. past the hour and these are the top stories there is growing defiance in me and nearly a week after the democratically elected government was ousted by a military coup hundreds of people have been out protesting despite the risk of arrest the internet and phone lines have also been disrupted. monitoring events

from kuala lumpur and we don't yet know how the military is going to react to these protests but the voice of anger has grown even louder and bolder throughout the week they 1st started with night noise protests in yangon people making loud noises at traditional believe that this will drive away evil and then it grew to a civil disobedience campaign with people going on strike and now street protests that are growing that seem to be growing across the country we're hearing that there was a smaller protest that took place in mandalay the 2nd largest city and also in a coastal town of maule the main on sunday headlines astra zeneca says it's working to adapt its coded 19 vaccine against a variant 1st identified in south africa after a trial showed it might be less effective the study shows the vaccine is significantly reduced efficacy against the mutation according to a financial times report. the trial is small though and has not been peer reviewed

some variants are causing this sort of concern because they spread more quickly israel though easing some of its toughest lockdown restrictions some businesses will be able to reopen including takeaway food services and head dresses a ban on air travel there remains in place. the killing of a street performer in chile has triggered protests against police violence police shot the street juggler in a southern town on friday after officers say he resisted a routine identity checked one officer is in custody a judge has ordered an investigation and in a major reform of cuba's state dominated economy the government says it will now allow private businesses to operate in most industries in the past small businesses could only participate in 127 sanctioned activities that has now been expanded to more than 2000. and with that you are up to date with the headlines on al-jazeera the latest inside story is next.

and. what a. looser . you senator. a promise of a new dawn for libya rival factions agree to form a unity government and hold elections in december but will the warring sides and their foreign backers allow this latest attempt at peace to succeed this is inside story.

hello and welcome to the program i'm having a gym show him 10 years of war has left libya divided with 2 rival governments and armed groups battling each other now there's a promise of a new beginning the warring sides have selected an interim prime minister and a presidential council to form a unity government until elections in december the united nations which mediated the process is calling it a chance at national reconciliation libyans are cautiously optimistic despite the failure of previous attempts at peace malik traina reports from tripoli in what the u.n. is calling a historical vote participants of the libyan political dialogue forum voted in the new transitional government their objective lead libya to parliamentary and presidential elections in december this is a moment for historic compromise for reaching and we've already seen it people are reaching across the divide. you know the guarantee is that what you are doing now

will. serve your people libya has been golden conflicts for the last 10 years since an armed revolution toppled longtime leader moammar gadhafi in 2011. and april 2019 just days before a un facilitated national conference warlord khalifa haftar began a military campaign in tripoli with support from egypt russia and the u.a.e. in june 2020 they were forced to retreat towards eastern libya after the un recognized government with turkish support retook western libya here in tripoli most people are hopeful that this transitional government can make some changes. the government will have a launch task at hand it will not be easy we have there will be able to make some changes but because it's such a short term i doubt they'll be able to dig. into how much money the only thing we want from these governments is for it to bring the selections we want the decision

through who holds power to return to the people although hopeful some have doubts that the elections can take place so the last government was supposed to stay in power for one year but they've been in power for over 5 years ago please stick to their promise and help the average citizen and provide basic services after years of violence and political divisions most libyans want something to believe in and hope for and for now many hope that this new transitional government can leave a reconciliation process and bring about elections now traina al-jazeera tripoli turkey russia france and italy have welcomed the agreement but those same countries have given military support to rival sides in the conflict the eastern government in libya which is allied with warlord khalifa haftar says it's time for foreign intervention to end. on a cruise a move to believe we shouldn't forget that foreign forces are on libyan soil occupying some all corners of the earth or the world's intelligence and the

mercenary sic aim from all over the world and we have to get rid of them and this mission the task of the new interim government's prime minister will not be easy if nobody stands with him of. all right let's bring in our guest from london and commodity special envoy the government of national accords prime minister faces that raj to the market countries in istanbul and i said commodity founder and director of saud that institute libya's 1st independent think tank and in vienna wolfgang a security and policy analyst and former austrian defense attache to libya thank you all for joining us jamal let me start with you today what's the reaction been thus far across the political spectrum in libya and where does this new interim government leave things for politicians like yourself and other politicians. well i think from what we've heard yesterday and today that action has been somewhat to relieve possibly especially in the west of libya especially among those who

are support of the a g. and a 0 and of what we call aspiring to set up a democratic state and libya and aborts the military option which is there presented by have turned others life so those have been relieved they have been. damaged in some joy as well i did some relief because there was one certain list that did not win that what they were there were fearful that the list hated headed by iraqi might win as has been predicted by many. analysts and he did not win because that would have been very controversial very divisive and possibly make things worse rather than than than better and there were many many forces on the ground especially and that was to libya who said they could not entertain seeing somebody like archelaus saddam was aborted the room door of

tripoli who is officially responsible for the war crimes that have been uncovered and seen specially in darwin are these the dead the chief commander of the forces of after that to see him being an elected as the head of this interim government and the next months would have been too much to swallow so if there is that he leaves i think the group that the 4 that have been elected. sort of they're not a controversial that not they're not seen as divisive they can deal with all and they can reach out to all over most of the strands of libyan political and. tribal and regional parts and in a way that. sense maybe that a jump can be can be easier however i think what happened yesterday is only a small step a step possibly and hopefully in the right that action but it's not it's not the

end result is not the final solution and i'd tell you one thing. having been part of these cannot process in 2015 and the way the d.n.a. was announced then i think the way that this government was was the reached yesterday was fun but there was a transparent process at least there was there were there were elections we have seen up ballot box which is very symbolic for libyans who have only seen guns and resized and the last 2 years and although they elected it was only a small group of $75.00 and $2.00 dads of them were had ticked by the u n nevertheless it is an electoral process and it is transparent and it is an election and it is a sign and a symbol of what libyans want to see and that coming years and decades in china and as will the rival governments and the warring parties actually respect this new interim government well based on historical precedent no of course i'm an.

explanation of the fed up process i mean that was the design of a government of national accord it was formally called the unity government but they couldn't necessarily use that some of the time and essentially that was literal government suppose they for and they were between 12 and 18 months but of the dragged on for 5 years because it was refused and rejected by i got us a lot the chief of of the parliament in the east and his allies. had it after the commander of the lid in the national army so i pick based on press that it's going to be very difficult. to see how we go forward because in no uncertain terms this deal is a loss for after and it's a loss because he has a very specific goal and a very strong specific structure in mind as to how this process should have ended and it does relate to the last 4 or 5 years of diplomacy between the n.s.a. and between the general in tripoli and that was specifically to manage the jna and then at the military level. and have had it but after at the helm of the island there but in order to preserve that structure it was a reconfiguration of the presidential count so the president but all that is

also the supreme commander of the armed forces and it can temper change and alter it structures and it can also be a point it's had cleared after so their main candidate was i get us a lot who had appointed kind of after in 2015 in march doesn't the 15 and also structured is tribal the glue that holds it together now the unknown. they may have to go to a plan because i am of them and if he was he is a member of the east is from there and i get the eastern part of libya he is not the 1st candidate and i think because of the the earliness of this was still in the . unknown but not my problem for them and i suspect given the last 5 years of their rejection of the last presidential council unless they have in a configuration that suits that we could be back at square one it could be a very long 12 months well again what are the biggest and most immediate challenges that this new interim government is going to face. well i would see it 1st the new presidential council and the government of national unity could be

a very positive step if the house of representatives and the high council of state confirm it then non-elected seraj governmental step in it mean that they have enjoyed as you indicated there is a myriad of problems which remains just a few of them but in time being to chip in to see comes from the elected levy a pretty good balance for of these could change between a couple of weeks they've asked of me to be but is under debate you know he was the head of the leap in investment development holding company on the got off and he was allegedly involved in corruption money laundering financing off the promotion brother who would fight and so on and so on regardless if these this is true or not it's all a public perception and other important one is the party is not represented in the presidential council we see both of it happening if the government the east doesn't really be represented who is in the future they're pretty good representation of these so they can be not like us and they part from to to eric to solve also doesn't really feel represented we have now 5 bodies with competencies they'll be

d.f. the presidential council the government each are in the high council of state the legal framework put the elections he's anchia who needs to agree on it so much will depend on how debate it broaches the problem and probably most important how he will try to win the trust of the other us these could go through to come the composition of the government and to talk of equal situations he will i would say probably reach out to to govern the rates and the municipalities to achieve these we've seen the next few weeks so my let me ask you how likely is it that elections will actually happen as they're supposed to in december and also is it likely that we'll see a constitutional referendum before them. well i think the constitutional referendum is a bit but is that a little bit problematic because simply the draft which was hammered out in 2017 by an elected body of 60. there are certain groups in libya i think

very important groups of ethnic minorities like the m a z that 2 out of the double and some federal system that used to have serious concerns about this this draft and they have been demanding that this draft can't should be reopened and address there's concerns are that there is a much wider consensus among the libyan society to go forward with this with prostitution so maybe we don't why a step is to actually believe the draft constitution on the side and go ahead and elect a new parliament maybe for 4 years and allow that parliament to revisit that constitutional draft and see if they can work out an understanding with these important groups which have a concern about the constitution as far as the elections are concerned if there is an international will and international pressure for elections to take place it is

possible for them to take place specially and that was to play be aware almost 70 percent of the population are residing and or 70 percent of the relation are totally out of the control of how to run his militias and his forces so and we have seen in the last 6 months municipal elections that were carried out in misrata and little in tripoli in other areas which went relatively smooth and transparent and even those who doubted that is out there went to the court and what they're going to. divert the right decision to maybe do recount are to carry out these elections again so there is that transparency that is a culture that's taking place in libya to actually go about doing elections and try to ensure that there. transplant so if it's done at the local level it can be done at the bottom and petty and level as a matter of course security is important supporting the election commission which

is a sovereign commission in libya and i think it is simply summarized confirmed that he's given them all of the budget they needed 50000000 libyan do not and all the support they need the support they've got commissions important because it is the commission that needs to oversee these elections and carry them out not because big question is can we carry out but i'm intending the elections and the east and the south where deadly percent of the libyan population are residing will helped out and because militias allow government terry elections to take place does he really believe in and elections and democracy but we know he doesn't believe in elections and democracy we know his discourse is all about military approach and one man rule but can be enough but usually not an international pressure out on how to actually not to interfere and to and now these elections to take place and possibly encounter some of his loyalists and supporters to take place and to take but who knows and actions as well especially especially in areas under it but as controlled

and the east and in the south but i don't have a better border the fact is that the libyan electorate in general the libyan society they want to see genuine improvement and such a kind of a conditions an insecurity and they're want to see a light at the end of the tunnel before they can and do the ethically check bought and maybe a 3rd elections because the uptake in 2014 was very low compared to 2012 so we need to make it worthwhile for the libyan cities not the average libyan citizen to say yes elections are important it's whether ticket but because they are going to frame our future and give us hope 4 footed by these so-called combination of indigenous factors that have to be right and international pressure to ensure that. is that elections take place but we definitely need fresh elections we need the new about a limit to do away with this dichotomy we have had for the last 6 years but i take your mouth to platinum in some governments and i'm sorry i'm sorry to interrupt you

but i actually want to ask us to expand on a point that you were making honest let me ask you from your perspective would were 24 have to allow elections to take place in the parts of the country that he's in control of. in the east of the country. has forces kidnapped a female parliamentarian mr hanson to go in july. seemed to she went out publicly and i can't find it hot there's a war in tripoli and i certainly think i was to the deeper question but it's a question here is that over the past decade since the fall of my military there are centuries to reconcilable visions of the states that's why we have these parliaments which is why we have to we're going to strains 2 governments 2 very different military structures in the east in the west of the country essentially these structures are at the essence about have the states should be shaped and i think in that respect democracy at the ballot level is a real problem for to live up to when it means having a genuine choice about the shape of the state in the structures of the states but i

didn't that's why the next 12 months are important because essentially there was one track that we're forgetting from this conversation the military track the unification of the rival militaries on the ground under the chin a and under debt and if the structures that after 6 the embeds and his backers that have essentially helped him over the last several years and in the u.a.e. and france and russia if they seek to really stick that beats and over the next 8 months it wouldn't really matter whether or not it's just about elections the 2nd factor would be how do we have a an army that is essentially under the control of a civilian presidency how do we make sure that it's responsive that it's this neutral that it respects and subservient to that next elected ruler and i think that's a very very dangerous part of this ongoing state building project but i think that's and because that's what's going to define the political character of the state and i think there is ready to pass a test this next interim government has a real real test and engages with the libyan national army as a real test and carries out having gauges where the parliament is under control of

the libyan national army get us a lot and it also has this major major problem is that emma you know under the bed here that we're talking about which is that there are 20000 foreign mercenaries on libya's ground many of them who have just miss. a deadline the past the mid january to remove the foreign forces i'm a draw you know as a result of the permanent ceasefire agreement was signed the geneva on the on the 20th or 23rd of october 2020 so there were so many little issues there that are niggling and i think that those give you a glimmer in the sense of how difficult it's going to be to push wolfgang i saw you nodding so i wanted to see if you wanted to jump in and add to it and it was same but i also want to ask you about a point that he was making which is what is going to happen when it comes to these foreign fighters in libya and what about the international players who are involved backing one side or the other in the libyan conflict now that this interim government is going to be in place what's going to happen with them when it's all about the interests as long as they international policy more than libya like turkey like

a cheap like russia interest desperate interest in should and guaranteed they could be willing to eavesdrop a major issue about eventually after all would be something like confidence building and for these confidence building it is important that this cease fire if the currency's fire gets ensured this means that the u.n. plan by deploying an international civilian a monitoring force really comes to the ground and for such an international monitoring force it will be important that they have properly staffed in the equipped to provide a realistic and real picture of what's going on on the ground in other words if such an international monitoring mission consists just of that you have 51 it was kompany bedrolls of the use of the west on the longest he's fire line we can forget about it if these international monitoring force receive support by let's say european union operation yemeni beef they can kill equipment we've set the lights

we recall a sense aircraft fly outside outside of the yes by space we feel it on the intelligence and so on they will be able to provide the a realistic picture of what's going on on the ground. peaceful count for confidence building this would make it more on like the host hosted if you break out again and if this is unlikely i would see a need to keep turkish troops and russians and others in libya would be not. joe my let me ask you the u.n. secretary general has called on all libyan and international parties to respect the interim agreement i want to also ask you about the international parties involved in libya right now do you expect that these actors are going to actually respect the interim agreement whether in 2015 when we had set out beam and then we signed it all of the ambassadors some some of the foreign ministers of all of the actors in libya want to death present and they gave their subordinate you know lip service

yes we supported this agreement we supported the new government and they kept doing that over the table for august egypt and my god is the russians the chinese yeah medical's the british they thought everybody was there and they all want to give support but we know that some key players over the last 5 years under the table well actually undermining us that i think women and they did exactly the opposite that they were fuelling the war giving half their old what they needed despite everything and in 2019 again we weren't going to out adamus meeting which by the own which was supposed to reach a final but did it get agreement does well and do it 10 days early and i have to spoil that so the question is well what are they going to do now out of that with already have statements yesterday and this morning you know paying lip service saying yes there's a better than you than you are but the the new executive ballot in libya but under the table out of it going to carry on what they have been doing the last few years and give and the mining applaud their own narrow interest an agenda that is that

the key question however the dynamics have changed a lot in libya dental national players the libya and get into the us as james i think now over the last 2 years it is the. and ted q i've become to keep the players at the expense possibly of france and italy and so i also the new american administration could make a difference now if we have an alignment between the key players let's say between the united states that keep russia and egypt realignment about supporting this new government about supporting the peaceful track by saying that we should not allow debian's to go back to what i by the way i don't believe after has the decision today to restart the war i think that's out of his hands have to come not to restart the war unless the russians agree to it and the egyptians agree to it and i don't think they will they see that interest not yourself and the political tract and and other than the military so if we have these alignments between these

measure players in libya then yes i think international will and international support for this new executive but it was supposed to be there only for a year or possibly a year and a half can make a difference can achieve at least some of the objectives that had been set out for it but if the international community to carry on their divisions and carry on doing a book or see and enjoy a strategy of supporting over the table and undermine it under the table that i'm afraid to be a lot of the same in libya more division and more conflict and just deepening of the stuff i'm parag in doesn't it of the people policeman so in a sense his remarks and i honestly say this i'm sorry i'm certain interrupt you it's the weren't wrong about a minute left i just want to ask one more question to us real quick and how are the libyan people perceiving all of this are are they hopeful right now. i think it's very difficult to tell when professed to be a representative of the libyan people themselves but i as i assume and hope based on the things that we've seen over the last several days that are holding their

breath and i imagine this cautious optimism at best but that's the left in this we shouldn't we shouldn't call it too early i think the major actors here have acted it's you know in bad faith whether the last several years the last time we were at a negotiation table have been learned in general 2020 the very same actors that as drama has mentioned paid lip service to respect in the arms embargo violated it during the meeting and it's the libya specifically the u.a.e. and others like for like russia and egypt but also turkey then also assume that this was their moment then to then pass the displacement and deliver their own troops there was a precedent for this we shouldn't call it too early but cautious optimism the best all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thanks so much to all our guests dramatical motley and s. and good monte and wolfgang. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website at 0 dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j.

inside story for me mohammed gentlemen the whole team here by phone now. when all that seems to matter is the headline there is always 2 sides to a story when narratives and counter narratives of just curiosity the laying there on the one hand the enemy is over believe they're on the other hand the listening post strips away the spin what kind of reporting if you can see on the ground misinformation is right place better the bias a lot of people believe things because they want to believe them and done covers the uncomfortable truths do you think they did enough to scrutinize the case for war listening post on al-jazeera. after more than a decade of civil war life remains a challenge in sierra leone. we follow the citizens of this war torn nation as they push their limits. force avoid.

risking years of sierra leone. on al-jazeera. february on al-jazeera under strict access to iran's nuclear program is about to end will u.s. president joe biden of the tantrum sanctions and help rebuild relations al-jazeera sets out on a journey to the heart of what it means to be a true supporter of the political game the us has the highest covered 1000 count in the world the new administration has promised to turn that around we'll have extensive coverage the big picture reveals how the perfect storm of events in 2020 exposed the truth about race at the top to the united states and as president joe biden embarks on his 1st month in the white house we'll bring you the latest developments escape attempts to repair global relationships february on al-jazeera

the u.s. is always of in fact the people all right the world people pay attention to walk along here and i do see it as very good at bringing the news to the world from here . for. breaking news this hour in northern india is on high alert himalayan glaciers see a breaks apart unleashing a torrent of water along to griffith's. one come all santa maria here in doha with the world news from al jazeera thousands of protesting across a 1000000 mile for a 2nd day calling for the military to give up control and to release civilian leaders.