LIBYA - Libya consists almost entirely of desert. Temperatures often climb above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and some parts of the country haven't seen rain in decades. In total, only 1 percent of the land is fertile enough to cultivate. What's more, it has never really had a government, not even under the dictator Moammar Gadhafi. In Libya, tribes, elders and militias have always ruled. And yet, major world powers are currently fighting over it. A civil war has been raging here for years, one that has grown into a proxy war involving almost a dozen powers: Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Italy and France. Libya, that inhospitable corner of North Africa, is particularly important for Europe - indeed, there's a lot more at stake here than just a bit of desert.
First and foremost, there are Libya's oil and gas reserves. They are the ninth largest in the world, estimated at around 48 billion barrels. Total, a French oil company, and Eni, an Italian state-owned multinational, are especially active in the country.
Second, Libya is an important transit country for migrants on their way to Europe. No other country in North Africa has seen more refugees pass through it in recent years. Whoever controls Libya also controls migration flows in Africa.
Third, the region is a hotbed of international terrorism. Militants with Islamic State still maintain safe havens in Libya and profit from the conflict there. Jihadis have also entrenched themselves in the nearby Sahel region. Libya has become an arena in which foreign actors pursue their own interests, making the already convoluted civil war that much more complicated.
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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