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world news Diasabra 26 september 2020
UN:

At least 16 drown in migrant shipwreck off Libya coast

(AP) — At least 16 migrants
trying to reach Europe
drowned in the Mediterra-
nean Sea when their small
dinghy capsized off the coast
of Libya, the U.N. migration
agency reported Friday, the
latest shipwreck to under-
score the deadly risks facing
those who flee the war-af-
flicted North African coun-
try.
Libyan fishermen spotted the
sinking boat late Thursday,
said the International Orga-
nization for Migration, and
managed to pull 22 people
from the water, including
those from Egypt, Bangla-
desh, Syria, Somalia and Gha-
na. Three dead bodies were
found floating in the water,
including one Syrian man
and woman, and at least 13
other migrants were missing
and presumed drowned, the
IOM said. The boat had set
off from the town of Zliten,
east of the Libyan capital of
Tripoli, late on Wednesday.

The Libyan Coast Guard Mediterranean route. At least migrants have been forcibly seek to disembark at Euro- with the Ministry of Interior
said that it had ordered the 20,000 people have died in disappeared from unofficial pean ports. in Tripoli. He spoke on con-
rescue, and warned the those waters since 2014, ac- militia-run detention centers. Libya has seen a lull in con- dition of anonymity because
death toll could rise further cording to the IOM. The shipwreck, the second flict for the past few months, he wasn't authorized to talk
as search teams scoured the to be recorded by the U.N. after forces allied with the to the media.
area for more victims. “So Those who survived Fri- in as many weeks, “signals U.N.-supported government The civilian death toll re-
many boats are leaving these day’s disaster were taken to the need now more than in Tripoli pushed out east- mains unclear, but the sounds
days, but autumn is a very the Tripoli port, where they ever for state-led search and based military commander of tanks and heavy weapons
difficult season,” said Com- received medical care for rescue capacity to be rede- Khalifa Hifter, ending his echoed through the popu-
modore Masoud Abdal Sa- their burns, a common con- ployed and the need to sup- 14-month campaign to cap- lated neighborhood, home to
mad. “When it gets windy, sequence of leaked engine port NGO vessels operating ture the capital. Yet with the Tripoli's main civilian airport
it's deadly. It changes in an fuel mixing with saltwater, in a vacuum,” said Msehli. halt of hostilities, western and other government build-
instant." In the years since said Safa Msehli, an IOM Since 2017, European coun- Libya has returned to the ings. The U.N. Mission in
the 2011 uprising that ousted spokeswoman. Libyan au- tries, particularly Italy, have all-too-familiar rhythm of Libya expressed “great con-
and killed longtime dicta- thorities took the survivors to delegated most search-and- battles between the dozens of cern” that the fierce clashes
tor Moammar Gadhafi, war- the Zliten detention center, rescue responsibility to the fractious militias around the “resulted in damages to pri-
torn Libya has emerged as run by the Tripoli-based gov- Libyan Coast Guard, which capital. vate properties and put civil-
the dominant transit point ernment’s Interior Ministry. intercepts migrant boats be- On Friday, in the nearby ians in harm's way."
for migrants hoping to get Migrants rescued at sea and fore they can reach European town of Tajoura, two rival Tripoli's Defense Minister
to Europe from Africa and returned to Libya routinely waters. Activists have lament- armed groups — the Ta- Salah al-Namroush called
the Middle East. Smugglers land in detention centers no- ed that European authorities joura Lions and the Daman for the two militias to be
often pack desperate fami- torious for torture, extortion are increasingly blocking the Brigades — fought sporadic disbanded and threatened to
lies into ill-equipped rubber and abuse. Amnesty Inter- work of nongovernmental battles that killed at least two “use force” against the groups
boats that stall and founder national revealed in a report rescue organizations that pa- militia leaders and one fight- “if they do not immediately
along the perilous Central Thursday that thousands of trol the Mediterranean and er, according to an officer implement a cease-fire.”

Japan's new PM says stable Japan-China ties key to region

(AP) — New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide poned because of the coronavirus pandemic. The China Seas as a major security threat. Chinese
Suga said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan had triggered protests even within Japan's coast guard vessels routinely violate territorial wa-
agreed in talks Friday to work closely together by governing party because of China’s tightening of ters around the Japanese-controlled southern is-
holding high-level meetings including summits, controls over Hong Kong and its assertive actions lands of Senkaku, which China calls Diaoyu and
but did not discuss the possibility of a visit by Xi in regional seas. also claims.
to Japan. “We did not discuss (Xi's) possible visit to Japan,”
Suga said. Earlier Friday, Suga also held talks by phone with
“I told (Xi) that the stability of Japan-China rela- However, the leaders agreed to hold summits and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ex-
tions is crucial, not only for the two countries but other high-level meetings to cooperate in bilateral, pressed his intention to work together to achieve
also for the region and for international society,” regional and international issues, he said. Relations a “free and open Indo-Pacific” aimed at checking
Suga told reporters after their phone conversation. between the two Asian rivals have improved re- China's maritime assertiveness.
His talks with Xi late Friday were his first since tak- cently as China faces heightened tensions with the On Thursday, Suga held talks with South Korean
ing office just over a week ago, replacing Shinzo United States. President Moon Jae-in and urged him to take ac-
Abe, who resigned due to poor health. A planned But Japan sees China's military development and tions to mend bilateral relations badly damaged by
visit by Xi to Japan last April was indefinitely post- increasingly assertive stance in the East and South war compensation issues.