Libya

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Paris would reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli next Monday to show its support for the new authorities.

Speaking alongside Mohammed al-Menfi, the head of the Libyan presidency council, Macron said France and its European partners would back Libya's political efforts and called for Turkish and Russian forces to leave the country as soon as possible.

The rescue ship "Ocean Viking" is allowed to bring more than 370 boat migrants rescued from distress at sea to Augusta in Sicily. This was announced by the operator organization SOS Mediterranee on Sunday evening. Italy had assigned the crew the port near Syracuse. A heavily pregnant woman had reportedly been flown to the island of Lampedusa earlier by Italian authorities.

After that, there were still 373 people on board who had been rescued by four inflatable boats off Libya in recent days, he said. The crew had appealed to Malta and Italy to take them in. The arrival is expected for Monday.

William Barr has demanded that Libya extradite a suspect in the Lockerbie bombing. The suspect is a former Libyan intelligence officer who allegedly built the bomb for the attack, Barr said. The man is in custody in Libya, he said. The U.S. government will ask the Libyan leadership to extradite him so he can be tried in the United States, Barr said. He said he is optimistic that the Libyan government will comply with the request.

A jumbo jet operated by U.S. airline Pan Am had crashed into the Scottish village of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988. The attack killed 270 people, including eleven villagers. The plane was en route from London to New York at the time. Most of the fatalities were Americans. Barr said the attack was clearly directed against the United States.

According to the UN, the two opponents in the civil war have signed an agreement for a ceasefire in Geneva. Military representatives of Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and General Khalifa Haftar had been in Switzerland since Monday to prepare political talks on Libya's future.

The internationally recognized government of Sarraj, based in the capital Tripoli, has been fighting for years against Haftar and a counter-parliament in Tobruk in eastern Libya for power. According to experts, about 1400 Russian mercenaries are currently fighting in Libya.