following storm danielle that devastated libya's coastal towns on the 10th of in september, than 400 fertalities have been confirmed and over 800 people are still missing as of 19th of september. now the figures are rising as more information becomes available. additionally, the united nations says at least 4300 people have been internally displaced in libya and that over 17 of them may be children. the collapse of two dams in the eastern part city of denna launched a fast moving wall of water that killed thousands of people and largely destroyed the city. libya has been splitted

between two rival administrations following the us lead nato invasion that toppled muhammad khaddafi in 2011. now this imperialist invasion was followed by unjust sanctions that render the nation unable to maintain critical infrastructure, including dams which failed during the recent deadly storm. so is nato directly or indirectly responsible for the unprecedented catastrophic flows in libya. hello, i'm mubarak kenya and this is africa today. in this week's episode we are focusing on the recent horrific flows in libya that left thousands dead in the port city of duna. the second part of our program is on the new anti-imperialist alliance in the sahel region, bringing together burkina faso, mali of and niger. so stay with us and drop us a line to our social media handle as you watch. libya's deadly floods and nato's role. on the

10th of september 2023, storm daniel made landfall in libya, resulting in severe weather conditions, including strong winds and southern heavy rainfall, affecting several areas in the country. the torrential rainfall led to the collapse of two dams leading to massive flooding that killed de thousands with reports indicating that the missing out number the dead. one thing is clear, the disaster could have been avoided if the two dams were regular. early maintained. a turkish company had commence repairs for the dams in 2010, but the project was suspended after nato led invasion of the country. the people of libya realling from the death of their loved ones and damaged infrastructure and now asking who is responsible for the deadly floods? oh god, even one body, my god, just let me find even one body. god have mercy on us. who can we

hold accountable? who is responsible? to whom can we say you are responsible for this? who is responsible? what is the fault of the people and souls who died? why would a whole family die? a whole family was finished. for more on who is responsible for the devastating floods in libya. we have contacted dr. wesley seal. he's a member of the south african ruling anc party. and an international relations expert. thanks for your time sir, today. thank you very much for having me. thank you very much. the catastrophic flows in libya shocked the world and mainstream western media outlets are quick to blame climate change and internal wrangles for the disaster. they have conveniently ignored the role played by the us lead nato invasion of libya in the destruction of the country's infrastructure. the dams that collapsed and caused deadly flags in libya had not been. retained for

over decade. now can we say that the us lead nato invasion of libya is to blame for the disastrous floods in the country? yes, i think so, i think that it is absolutely correct to a portion a large responsibility of the lack of infrastructure in libya to of nato. we were going through reports earlier of what the the infrastructure, the state of infrastructure was before - nato's bombardment in 2011 in libya, you would recall that libya had one of the best infrastructure systems on the african continent, this was started by heavy programs, heavy infrastructure programs, deliberate infrastructure programs in the late 70s, so absolutely i think that this, the infrastructure and the state of infrastructure and the plans, certainly for infrastructure before nato's bombardment of of libya. was absolutely great and the

infrastructure was there, libya was thriving as far as infrastructure is concern, and then of course sadly we had nato's attack. a research paper published in november 2022 by omar al mukhtar university hydrologist abdul vaniz aasure warned that the dams holding back the seasonal waterway known as awadi needed urgent attention. a survivor speaks how family was wiped out by the horrific durna floods. the waves reached the fourth floor and we could see it close to us. they swept people away from the top of buildings and we could see people carried by the flood. is a massive disaster, we never expected anything like it. according to nature magazine, apart from climate change and internal strife, sanctions imposed on libya by western powers are also to blame for the

horrific floods. we know that infrastructure needs to be maintained continuously, and so it is, it is a concern that the impact that sanctions have had on the infrastructure investment in libya, and so there should be no doubt that certainly the impact of sanctions, but also the the action by nato in libya would have had an impact on the strength and the capacity of the infrastructure, particularly when it comes to all dams or canals, bodies, and so i think that absolutely one would agree that the... sanctions on libya by the west that were unjust and not justified in the least had an impact on the infrastructure and so when that these disasters come along they have devastating effects on the local communities

involved and and and leave a trail of of so many casualties and fatalities as you know libya is rich country, it has some of the largest oil reserves in africa, it has tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets in western countries. now isn't it time that these western powers return these assets to libya at this juncture for the country to recover from the floods? the return of assets of libyan assets to to to libya is important certainly for us as africans, because i think that this is a challenge all on the african continent where our assets are sitting in foreign countries. but particularly as far as libya is concerned at this stage, it is important for these assets and faced with the humanitarian crisis that libya is faced with in in the face of these devastating floods, that these assets must be of course return to libya, this is important, it's a pitty that

after 12 years, that a flood or devastating flood should propel or or encourage or... from western countries these assets, and so i think that it is absolutely correct that the libyan state and the libya government should ask for the return of these assets given the humanitarian crisis that the libyan people are facing at this time. the united nations is providing aid to areas affected by floods in libya and has issued an urgent appeal to donors for $71.4 million. the people of libya are also coming together to. people from across the country are helping, what happened was a tragedy, but maybe we can benefit from it. people here are sad about the disaster, but also very happy and excited about the unity. after the disaster in libya, the us

and european countries have been stingy in providing assistance, the us only provided one million dollars in human aid and the uk promised to provide pounds in aid, the assistance from western countries is like drop in the bucket. now what's your opinion on this approach towards the libyan aid by western countries? we we know that western countries have a practice of coming into our countries devastating it through attacks. we have seen this in afghanistan, in iraq, in in a number of other countries, and then after they've. cause the devastation, they simply leave, and this is certainly the case again with libya, the devastation left in the wake of nato attacks, was horrific for the libyean people, and certainly for the region, but the

the donations that have certainly been provided for and that is mentioned, million us dollars from the united states government, million pounds from... the british government, this this is indicative of a west that is not concerned about the people of these countries and in this case libya, it comes in and it does this destruction to our countries, and then it simply leaves, and when these horrific, devastating occurrences occur, these natural disasters, these countries that have rought our countries that have devastated our countries, that have flattened our countries, are nowhere to be found. the collective grief in libya has resulted in a riling cry for national unity a country blighted by 12 years of conflict and division. caused by the us lead nato invasion of the country. do you think this

tragedy will result in leading libyan politicians uniting for the sake of the country? the action by nato in libya in 2011 certainly once again indicates the the the role of western countries specifically in the middle east and northern africa in particular. "we know that the agenda of these western countries is to destabilize the middle east and northern africa, and that was there should be no doubt that that was the case even 12 years ago, but i think that what is important is for the libian people and the libian government certainly to unite in the face of this disaster, so it is absolutely correct for us to encourage, and the au certainly in in in the face of this disaster, terrible you." humanitarian disaster as you mentioned, and i think that that the libian

people must come together to unite so that they can pay attention to the issues and the challenges faced by their country, but also the region. well, every cloud has a silver lining, hopefully the catastrophic flows in libya will unite this country that was divided after an imperialistic us led nato invasion. i like. to thank our guest there today, dr. wesley seal for his insight. our next topic is a new anti-imperialism alliance in africa formed by boukina faso, mali and niger. i'll be back after a short break. antimperialism alliance in africa. from the environment to business and economy, to civil and human rights, to treaties and agreements,

to war and conflicts, we bring you the overlooked aspects of world events and news from the far-flungged corners of the globe. 10 minutes only on press tv. a major advancement towards mutual cooperation, the governments of burkina faso, mali and niger have formed the alliance of... sahel states, the move was finalized with the signing of the liptaco gurma chatter named

after the tribe border region shared by the three countries in mali's captured bamaco on september the 16th. the birth of the alliance of sahel states is seen by many as a sign of the continued erosion of french and indeed western neocolonialism in west africa. abdullah diop, mali's foreign minister, is seen. here announcing the formation of the alliance of sahel states: les parties contractantes reveront a nutro, the contracting parties will work to prevent, manage and resolve any armed rebellion or other threat to territorial integrity and sovereinity of each of the member countries the alliance, giving priority to peaceful and diplomatic means and if necessary to use force to deal with situations of breakdown, of peace and stability. usé de la force pour faire face aux situations de rupture, de la

paix et de la stability. for more on this historical alliance of sahel states, we have contacted collinston we, he's a global affairs analyst and member of the green party in belgium. thanks for your time sir, today. it's my pleasure to be with you, thank you for having me. for years, the european union back g5 sahel alliance. has reportedly been combating insurgents and terrorists in this african region. now will the new sahhel alliance effectively lead to the end of the... g5 sahel alliance? relations between france and the three states you know have actually saw, mean the three states that now make up you know the new um what they call sahel alliance, it had gone very very bad, agitations all over the place, because somehow they suddenly woke up to where the

inadequasis in um you know the relationship with france and just wanted them - to live, so after all of this, um, they are beginning to find reasons to believe that the new sahel alliance is attempt to actually invigorate um, you know, the older sentiments, you know, around the french imperialism, well, the fact is that um, irrespective of whether or not, the... alliance uh will survive or not, it looks like a line has been drawn on french activities in africa, and no one can predict the shape is going to take, but certainly it will no longer be like it used to be. the west african economic community block, ecoas had threaten to invade niger to out the new

military government that took over power in july, abdal musa, the eco was commission. for political affairs is seen speaking here last august on plans to intervene militarily in niger. all member states of echoas present here today have all committed elements, they have committed their own equipment, they have committed their own resources to undertake this mission. in response, burkina faso and mali declared their support for the... que ça fait de 10 ans que le burkina-faso, le mali et le niger géront les conséquences négatives, conséquences socio-économiques, conséquences sécuritaires, conséquences

politiques conséquences humanitaires de l'aventure hasardeuse de l'otan en libye. bien entendu, se pose la question, si ça nous a pris 10 ans, accepter encore une autre aventure de la même nature, au niger nous prendrait combien d'années, on sait pas, 20 ans, 30 ans, 40 ans, 50 ans, une chose est sûre, les présidents guita et le président traoré ont clairement dit, non, non et non, nous n'accepterons pas d'intervention militaire euh au niger, il en voir de notre survie, et bien entendu. les chefs d'état du du mali et du bourkina ont pris la ferme décision de laisser des actifs et non des passifs aux génération future. the alliance of sahil states has come at the right time for niger to provide a cover of security from the warnings of military intervention from france and ecoos. some analysts believe that this alliance might affect the standing of

ecooss and maybe even weaken this economic block. the emergence of um... the new sahel alliance is a complication of course that echoas can do without uh as matter of that um you know um they are better of having everyone together working on the table and uh you know trying to achieve the economic integration that it was set up for in the first place but i don't think that even with the formation of um the alliance. with three um you know uh recasitrant countries that it is something it is issue that keeps echoas awake at night i don't really think so neither is it something that is going to you know in the immediate actually destabilize the block i believe that um the block echo

was economic community of west african state will be and it will not be weakened, not withstanding the fact that you know uh the sahel alliance happen now, while echoas had agreed to plans for a political transition as presented by burkinafaso, guine and mali, the block has firmly declared that is not going to use these engagements as a template for niger denying any discussion a transition, now what is the reason for a different approach towards? by echoas? i think echoas is trying to make a clean break from the past, as you know, was had - you know been described as a toothless bulldog that bags but never buys, so um, you know, it does seem

from all intent and purpose that um, ecos now wants to um, you know, do things in a way that doesn't have to, you know, relate to how they did them in the past, for them it doesn't matter, if it looks. like they are applying - you know some sort of double standard, so that's bearing that in mind i think eco was appears to have developed um their own templates under nigeria's president ahmed bola tinubu, and that templates actually means zero tolerance for um military cool and ' to some extent one could say that that is actually you know protecting their own interest because the feeling is if it happens in niger, it could happen in nigeria,

it could happen in ciload and all of that, so they decide that it is time to actually you know clamp down very very heavily on - you know the cour leaders, now mali, burkinafaso and niger are now all ruled by transitional. that came to power through military cools. the masses in these countries supported the auster of regimes that were seen as ssarrogates of western powers, especially france. a protestor opposed to france speaks here in burkina faso. faso est fatigué avec le cas de la france, alors le burkina faso veut rompe toute relation qui existe entre ce pays et la france, donc on voudrait par ce signes de bruulu du drapeau de la france là, montrer à la france. qu'on n'a plus besoin de d'elle, a plus besoin de la france au burkina-faso, si la france était notre

partenaire qui devrait nous aider dans la lutte contre le terrorisme et depuis 2016 jusqu'à présent il a pas eu de changement, nous croyons qu'elle mérite pas la confiance la jeunesse burkina. france governments point to a paradigm shift where people see the militaries as their safe. here you know the massis are beginning to rise off be more assertive and so on and so forth, but we shouldn't make any mistake about the reasons that they are rising, they are rising not because they love this military officers, no, they are rising for two reasons, number one, yes they are tired, they can now see through the imperiarism you know arrangement that france represents and they do... want to have it anymore, that's number one, and then number two, uh, they are dejected, and anyone who shows up and says to them, listen, i am the messiah that is going to bring you out of

you know the fail state status that your country is actually you know navigating t, well they would jump and follow uh whoever that person is, that is essentially what we are seeing, but you see if the military. skip to the awards and improve the lot of the people, bring in uh, you know, prosperity in the country, well they can survive. the decision to form an alliance by niger, mali and burkina fasso is seen by the people in these countries as a right move towards real independence by african countries. now my last question, mr. nueke, do you think these alliance will expand? and and incorporate more countries in future? like i said earlier, the sahela alliance was formed in

the first instance out of the exigeency of um disgrantled insecure military officers who thought um it would be best for them to group together to create you know some sense of false confidence. and the security around themselves, now the question you ask yourself is if g5 sahel, which is um, you know, two countries larger than the current, you know, alliance, couldn't survive, what is then the guarantee that the tiny g3 would just you know the tiny uh sahel alliance with just three countries in it, is the one that... now has the propensity to survive, that is doubtful, although we have to take into consideration that the situation is getting you know more and more there, um, you know,

the masses. are beginning to well rise or be more assertive and so on and so forth, well unfortunately our time is up for today, but one thing is clear, the masses in africa are rising and new alliances are emerging, this is definitely not in the interest of new colonial powers. i'd like to thank our guest today, collins meeke, a global affairs analyst and member of the green party in belgium. well and that brings us to the end of this week's edition of africa today. it's always great having you watch the show, you can send your comments through our social media handle and also you can watch this episode and all our previous episode on our website pricetv.ir thanks lot for watching and goodbye for now.

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