With the departure of the first flight from Dubai International airport this week, Emirates has re-established a key route offering Libyan travellers access to its global network that spans six continents.

“We are now connecting Tripoli not only to Dubai, but also to our worldwide network of more than 130 destinations. Solid early bookings have demonstrated the demand, opening up new markets for passengers to and from Libya,” said Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates’ Vice President Commercial Operations Northern and Western Africa. “Libya is showing healthy economic growth and the re-launch of our flights to Tripoli will help to support business and international trade from Tripoli to the rest of world.”

Emirates now serves Tripoli three times a week with a quick stop in Malta, utilising a Boeing 777-200ER which provides First Class, Business Class and Economy Class travel. EK745 leaves Dubai every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 0930hrs arriving in Malta at 1325hrs. The service departs Malta at 1455hrs arriving in Tripoli at 1555hrs. The return flight leaves Tripoli International Airport at 1725hrs and lands in Dubai at 0100hrs the next day.

Tripoli is one of the main hubs of Libya’s economy and, home to many of the country’s largest local and international companies. In June 2012, Emirates re-opened its Tripoli town office enabling customers to book travel on Emirates’ services outside of Libya.

Supporting trade between Tripoli and the rest of the world, Emirates SkyCargo introduced a freighter service to the city in May 2012, helping import a variety of goods such as electronics from the Far East to drilling equipment from the US. The resumption of passenger flights also enables Emirates SkyCargo to better serve Libyan cargo customers by offering a total weekly capacity of over 100 tonnes and more frequent connections with their supplier markets.

Libyan travellers now once again enjoy the renowned service from the airline’s international cabin crew recruited from over 130 countries, gourmet cuisine and award winning ice system with more than 1400 channels of entertainment and the connectivity to send and receive emails and text messages.

Emirates has a fleet of 201 aircraft and is the world’s largest operator of A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, flying to 134 destinations in 74 countries across six continents.

The blasts, outside two mosques following Friday prayers, killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 400.

“The Secretary-General calls on all Lebanese to exercise restraint, to remain united, and to support their State institutions, particularly the security forces, in maintaining calm and order in Tripoli and throughout the country, and in preventing the recurrence of such destructive actions,” Mr. Ban said in a statement attributable to his spokesperson.

Calling the attacks “cowardly”, Mr. Ban reiterated the determination of the international community to support Lebanon’s security and stability.

The UN chief, and the Security Council in a separate statement, extended their condolences to the families of those killed and the Government of Lebanon, and wished well those injured.

The 15-member Council also appealed to all Lebanese people to “preserve national unity in the face of attempts to undermine the country’s stability”.

The Council stressed the importance for all Lebanese parties to respect Lebanon’s policy of disassociation and to refrain from any involvement in the Syrian crisis, consistent with their commitment in the Baabda Declaration.

Issued during a National Dialogue meeting in June 2012, the Baabda Declaration calls for keeping Lebanon in the face of regional tensions and crises. The Declaration is named after the Baabda Presidential Palace, where the meeting was held.

In its statement, the Security Council condemned the attacks as acts of terrorism, and reiterated the need to combat such acts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and all obligations under international law.

“An attack happened this morning on the Emirati embassy – there are no casualties. An investigation is under way,” Interior Ministry Spokesman Rami Kaal told Reuters without giving further details.

A security source said it appeared a rocket-propelled grenade had been fired at the embassy compound.

No injuries were reported.

The UAE embassy compound in Tripoli is in an area which houses many embassies.

On Tuesday, a mortar attack was fired apparently targeting Tripoli’s Corinthia hotel but t went off course and hit flats nearby. Corinthia is a hotel visited by government officials but also a building housing several foreign missions.

There has been a series of bombings in recent months in Libya which have mainly targeted diplomats and missions.

The Tunisian consulate was attacked early in July while France’s embassy in Tripoli was bombed in April.

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other American officials had been killed when an armed gang attacked the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi in September last year.

The ministry added that there have been 378 cases of alcohol poisoning so far adding that the alcohol is believed to have contained methanol. 
 The death toll is expected to rise.

No further details were given about the alcohol.

Among the dead are Tunisians and Algerians. Some of the victims were blinded, while others went into comas or suffered kidney failure, according to AFP.

The dead range in age from 19 to 50 years old. There are reports by local news media that females were among the victims.

There are other uncounted for cases that were reported in hospitals outside Tripoli administrative limits, Tripoli news reported.

There has been no statement by the Prime Minister regarding this incident yet.

Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in the capital’s hospitals as doctors  say that there are not enough beds in the emergency room to deal with the number of patients arriving, according to Libya Herald.

Alcohol is banned in the North African country since 1969, even though it is available on the black market.

Since former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011, Libya has seen a significant increase in alcohol and drug smuggling. Alcohol is mostly smuggled into Libya from Tunisia, Algeria and Malta.

In a statement, the National Security Directorate in Tripoli, said  that an investigation into the mass poisoning had been launched by the Criminal Investigations Directorate.

Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is a commonly used organic solvent that, because of its toxicity, can cause kidney failure, seizures, blindness even death, when ingested.

Methanol toxicity remains a common problem in many parts of the developing world, especially among members of lower socioeconomic classes.

“UNHCR has pre-positioned 5,000 emergency relief family kits in Aleppo, with another 5,000 on the way,” the chief spokesperson of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, told a news briefing in Geneva.

“If the truce happens, these materials could be delivered to 10,000 displaced families by implementing partners in places that we have previously been unable to reach around Aleppo and Idlib,” Ms. Fleming said, adding that the agency is also dispatching 1,000 recreational items that a local non-governmental organization, the Syria Trust for Development, will distribute this week to children living in communal shelters in Damascus and Aleppo.

Last week, while in Tehran, the Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, appealed to Iranian authorities to assist in achieving a ceasefire in Syria duringthe Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The Secretaries-General of the UN and the League of Arab States – Ban Ki-moon and Nabil El Araby – also called on all warring parties in Syria to heed Mr. Brahimi’s call for a ceasefire and urged international actors to support this appeal.

More than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Syria since the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began some 20 months ago. A further 2.5 million Syrians urgently need humanitarian aid, and over 340,000 have crossed the border to Syria’s neighbouring countries, according to UN estimates.

Addressing another news briefing in Geneva, the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, Daly Belgasmi, welcomed the possibility of the ceasefire as it would allow the food agency to preposition more food supplies, particularly areas made hard-to-reach because of the violence.

So far, WFP has managed to reach 1.5 million Syrians with food assistance, although access is still a major issue due to insecurity. Throughout the region, it has reached some 120,000 people, with this figures projected to increase to 460,000 people by June 2013.

In Turkey, with the assistance of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, WFP has managed to assist 13,000 Syrian refugees; in Lebanon, WFP aims to help at least 61,000 Syrian refugees, while in Jordan, the food agency reached 53,000 people in September.

In her briefing to reporters, Ms. Fleming said UNHCR has already distributed non-food aid packages to some 50,000 Syrian families and plans to reach 50,000 more by the end of the year. Last week, the agency also began rolling out a cash assistance programme for the displaced in the Hassakeh governorate.

However, Ms. Fleming said that the recent unrest in Lebanon has temporarily disrupted UNHCR operations there, including the registration of refugees in the cities of Tripoli, Akar, Beirut and Saida.

The refugee agency is also concerned over reports from governments in countries bordering Syria estimating that there are tens of thousands more Syrians who have not yet registered as refugees.

“Clashes between rival neighbourhoods in Tripoli continue, and this has affected the pace of registration from our newly established centre in the city,” a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards, told a media briefing in Geneva.

According to media reports, fighting between supporters and opponents of the Syrian Government in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed more than 12 people this week, and there has been an increase in tensions in other parts of the country, such as the northern city of Tripoli. According to AFP, a sniper has killed a Sunni sheikh in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, sparking new clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions that dashed a tenuous truce.

“The registration centre was open until yesterday with reduced staff as about half of them live in areas affected by shooting. Today, however, we’ve had to close the centre temporarily for security reasons,” Mr. Edwards said, adding that UNHCR would continue its operations despite the security challenges.

Syria has been wracked by violence, with an estimated 17,000 people, mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 17 months ago.

Some 51,000 Syrians have registered or applied to register with UNHCR in Lebanon. One of the refugee agency’s key concerns is to identify and rehabilitate alternative shelters for the growing number of people staying in schools, which are due to resume classes next month.

Overall, the total number of Syrian refugees registered or awaiting registration with UNHCR currently stands at 202,512.

UNHCR is also continuing its operations in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Syria, the spokesperson added. In Turkey, the country hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees, seven new camps are being built, which will bring the total number of camps to 16, with a capacity to hold 130,000 people.

In addition, the spokesperson said, the agency continues its work in Syria itself, despite an escalation in military activity in the capital, Damascus, which has restricted staff movements and the ability of refugees to access the UNHCR office.

“Our hotlines continue to operate giving counselling to refugees who enquire about relocation, food distribution, financial assistance, residency issues, registration and resettlement,” Mr. Edwards said. “Relief items like hygiene kits and mattresses are being distributed to displaced people via our partners.”

Libya’s National Transitional Council, which has ruled the country since last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, on Wednesday handed power to the new assembly.

Megarief a former diplomat who had lived in exile since the 1980s and led the Libyan National Salvation Front, , won with 113 votes in the General National Congress against liberal independent Ali Zidane, who got 85.

Crowds in central Tripoli celebrated after the handover, which was the first peaceful transition of power in Libya’s modern history since Gaddafi’s 4 decade rule.

Magarief, will head the 200-member congress, which is tasked with will naming a prime minister and passing laws until full parliamentary elections can be held under a new constitution.

The assembly was also set to pick two deputies for Magarief, who had been seen as a leading contender for the top job.

The peaceful transition came as a car bomb exploded near the offices of the military police in Tripoli in the early hours Saturday, in the first such attack in the Libyan capital since the start of a revolt that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Several violent incidents have rocked Libya in recent days Libya but these have been mostly confined to the eastern part of the country and included offices of military intelligence and the assassination of a former senior military officer, according to Reuters. 

In the new assembly, 80 seats are held by parties. A liberal coalition led by wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of those seats, while the Justice and Construction Party – the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood – won 17, according to Al Jazeera, while the remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.

The other half of the debt will be paid after a panel from Libya, will have to check for costings and invoices, in order to avoid over-charging speculations, he added.

Greek and Libyan authorities have been in negotiations for over two months about the payment of the unpaid amount, which covers the costs of hospitals, travel agencies, hotels and other services for the wounded flown to Greece.

“Overall we acknowledge debts of about 150 million to institutions: hotels, and the two travel agencies that cooperated in the program,” Libyana travel” and” Middle East”. Some 5,500 wounded were treated through this program. Today there are on Greek territory roughly between 350 and 500 injured and we are confident that the  funds will be released soon to pay off everyone. Initially, however,  50% of the debt will be paid, ” Libyan embassy charge d’affaires in Athens told ANA. 

In June, Alyunaniya’s correspondent had reported, that a group of around 25 Libyan nationals occupied the premises of the Libyan embassy in Athens, taking hostage a mission employee, in protest at the suspension of the healthcare they had been receiving from Greek private hospitals in recent months.

According to  sources, private Greek hospitals have refused to accept patients since last February due to a mounting unpaid bill by the Libyan government.

The problem began last November, when the new Libyan government took over responsibility for paying the hospital bills. Until then, the costs had been paid by Qatar.

Polls opened at 8am local time on Saturday and will close at 8pm (1800 GMT). Full preliminary results are not due until Monday.

Acts of violence, mostly in the east of the country, prevented 101 polling stations from opening on Saturday, the electoral commission’s chairman said, according to Al Jazeera.

On Friday, a helicopter carrying election material from Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi was shot at in mid-flight, fatally wounding a member of Libya’s High National Election Committee (HNEC) logistics team onboard, Al Jazeera reported.

The head of the United Nations mission to Libya, urged “all voters to exercise their hard-earned democratic right to elect their National Congress representatives” while slamming the deadly act on Friday.

The 2.8 million registered voters will elect a 200-seat General National Conference (GNC ) which will replace the  interim government that has ruled the country after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.

From the parties, the coalition of ex-war time prime minister Mahmud Jibril is seen as a key contender among liberals, facing stiff competition from two Islamist parties :Justice and Development and Al-Wattan, Al Arabiya reported.

Parties were banned as an act of treason during Qaddafi’s 42 years of iron-fisted rule. 
A February 2011 uprising ended more than four decades of the dictator who was killed while on the run last October.

An official stated that the Sierra Leonean Lutfallah II had earlier obtained a permit to enter the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon before being stopped by the navy on Thursday night.

The ship was towed to Selaata, a small port north of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, on Saturday, where it is expected to offload its cargo Aljazeera reported. 

Syrian authorities have constantly stated that weapons are being smuggled from Lebanon to Syria’s Free Army, fighting to overthrow Assad.

A resident told AFP that the ship weighed anchor in the morning, escorted by the navy to an unknown destination. An official also told AFP that the captain and 11 member crew were handed over to military intelligence officers in Tripoli for further questioning.

The ship has three containers onboard. All of them have been confiscated.

The owner of the ship is a Syrian citizen called Mohammad K., its captain is his brother, and its proxy is a Lebanese citizen from Minaa region called Ahmad B., Al Manar TV reported.

Meanwhile, a  Norwegian peacekeeper was on his way to Damascus to take charge of a UN mission overseeing a ceasefire, which has been violated by government forces.