Libya in Modern and ancient
times (JR1650)
Introduction
The
Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile generally
corresponding to its central location in North Africa historically visited by
many Mediterranean cultures which referred to its original inhabitants as the
"Libúē." The name Libyawas introduced in 1934 for Italian
Libya, reviving the historical name for Northwest
Africa, from the ancient
Greek Λιβύη (Libúē), was intended to
supplant terms applied to Ottoman Tripolitania, the coastal region of what is today Libya having been
ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911, as the Eyalet of Tripolitania.
The name "Libya" was brought back into use in 1903 by Italian
geographer Federico Minutilli.
Libya
gained independence in 1951 as the United
Libyan Kingdom
changing its name to the Kingdom
of Following a coup
d'état led by Muammar
Gaddafi in 1969, the name of the state was
changed to the Libyan Arab Republic .
The official name was "Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya"
from 1977 to 1986, and "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from
1986 to 2011.
Geography
Libya
extends over 1,759,540 square kilometres (679,362 sq mi), making it the 16th
largest nation in the world by size.
Libya is bound to the north by the Mediterranean
Sea, the west by Tunisia and Algeria,
the southwest by Niger,
the south by Chad, the southeast by Sudan, and the east by Egypt. Libya lies between latitudes 19°and
34°N,
and longitudes 9°
and 26°E.
At 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi), Libya's coastline is the longest of any African
country bordering the Mediterranean. The
portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya is often called the Libyan
Sea. The climate is mostly extremely
dry and desert like in nature. However, the northern regions enjoy a milder Mediterranean climate
Natural
hazards come in the form of hot, dry, dust-laden sirocco (known in Libya as the gibli). This is a southern
wind blowing from one to four days in spring and autumn. There are also dust
storms and sandstorms. Oases
can also be found scattered throughout Libya, the most important of which are Ghadames and Kufra. Libya is one of the sunniest and driest countries in the
world due to prevailing presence of desert environment.
The
Libyan Desert,
which covers much of Libya, is one of the most arid and sun-baked places on
earth In places, decades may pass without seeing any rainfall at all, and even
in the highlands
rainfall seldom happens, once every 5–10 years. At Uweinat, as of 2006 the last recorded rainfall was in September 1998. Likewise, the temperature in the Libyan Desert can be
extreme; on 13 September 1922, the town of
Aziziya, which is located southwest of Tripoli, recorded an air temperature of 58 °C (136.4 F), considered to be a world record. In September 2012,
however, the world record figure of 58 C was overturned by the World Meteorological
Organization
There
are a few scattered uninhabited small oases, usually linked to the major
depressions, where water can be found by digging to a few feet in depth. In the
west there is a widely dispersed group of oases in unconnected shallow
depressions, the Kufra group, consisting of Tazerbo, Rebianae and Kufra. Aside from the
scarps, the general flatness is only interrupted by a series of plateaus and massifs near the centre of the Libyan Desert, around
the convergence of the Egyptian-Sudanese-Libyan borders.
Slightly
further to the south are the massifs of Arkenu, Uweinat, and Kissu. These granite mountains are ancient, having formed long before the
sandstones surrounding them. Arkenu and Western Uweinat are ring complexes very
similar to those in the Aïr
Mountains. Eastern Uweinat (the highest point
in the Libyan Desert) is a raised sandstone plateau adjacent to the granite
part further west.
The
plain to the north of Uweinat is dotted with eroded volcanic features. With the
discovery of oil in the 1950s also came the discovery of a massive aquifer underneath much of Libya. The water in this aquifer
pre-dates the last ice ages and the Sahara Desert itself. This area also contains the Arkenu
structures, which were once thought to be two
impact craters
History
The
coastal plain of Libya was inhabited by Neolithic peoples from as early as 8000 BC. The Afroasiatic
ancestors of the Berber people
are assumed to have spread into the area by the Late
Bronze Age. The earliest known name of such a
tribe was the Garamantes,
based in Germa. The Phoenicians were the first to establish trading posts in Libya. By the 5th century BC, the greatest of the Phoenician
colonies, Carthage,
had extended its hegemony
across much of North Africa, where a distinctive civilization, known as Punic, came into being. In 630 BC, the ancient
Greeks colonized the area around Barca
in Eastern Libya and founded the city of Cyrene. Within 200 years, four more important Greek cities were
established in the area that became known as Cyrenaica.
In
525 BC the Persian
army of Cambyses II
overran Cyrenaica, which for the next two centuries remained under Persian or
Egyptian rule. Alexander the Great
was greeted by the Greeks when he entered Cyrenaica in 331 BC, and Eastern
Libya again fell under the control of the Greeks, this time as part of the Ptolemaic
Kingdom.
After
the fall of Carthage
the Romans did not immediately occupy Tripolitania (the region around Tripoli), but left it instead under
control of the kings of Numidia,
until the coastal cities asked and obtained its protection. Ptolemy
Apion, the last Greek ruler, bequeathed
Cyrenaica to Rome, which formally annexed the region in 74 BC and joined it to
Crete as a Roman province.
As part of the Africa Nova province,
Tripolitania was prosperous,[ and reached a golden age in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when
the city of Leptis Magna,
home to the Severan dynasty,
was at its height.
On
the Eastern side, Cyrenaica's first Christian communities were established by
the time of the Emperor Claudius.
]It
was heavily devastated during the Kitos
War[ and almost depopulated of Greeks and Jews alike.[ Although repopulated by Trajan with military colonies, rom
then started its decline. ]Libya was early to convert to Nicene Christianity
and was the home of Pope Victor I;
however, Libya was a hotbed for early heresies such as Arianism and Donatism.
The decline of the Roman Empire saw the
classical cities fall into ruin, a process hastened by the Vandals' destructive sweep through North
Africa in the 5th century. When the Empire returned (now as East Romans as part of Justinian's reconquests
of the 6th century, efforts were made to strengthen the old cities, but it was
only a last gasp before they collapsed into disuse). Cyrenaica, which had
remained an outpost of the Byzantine Empire during the
Vandal period, also took on the characteristics of an armed camp. Unpopular
Byzantine governors imposed burdensome taxation to meet military costs, while
the towns and public services—including the water system—were left to decay. By
the beginning of the 7th century, Byzantine control over the region was weak,
Berber rebellions were becoming more
frequent, and there was little to oppose Muslim invasion.
Islamic Libya
Ibn
Ziri's Berber Zirid dynasty
ultimately broke away from the Shiite Fatimids, and recognised the Sunni
Abbasids of Baghdad as rightful Caliphs. In retaliation, the Fatimids brought
about the migration of thousands from mainly two Arab Qaisi tribes, the Banu
Sulaym and Banu
Hilal to North Africa. This act
drastically altered the fabric of the Libyan countryside, and cemented the
cultural and linguistic Arabisation of the region Zirid rule in Tripolitania was short-lived
though, and already in 1001 the Berbers of the Banu
Khazrun broke away. Tripolitania remained
under their control until 1146, when the region was overtaken by the Normans
of Sicily.[ It was not until 1159 that the Moroccan Almohad leader Abd
al-Mu'minreconquered Tripoli from European
rule. For the next 50 years, Tripolitania was the scene of numerous battles
among Ayyubids, the Almohad rulers and insurgents of the Banu
Ghaniya. Later, a general of the Almohads, Muhammad ibn Abu Hafs, ruled Libya from 1207 to 1221
before the later establishment of a Tunisian Hafsid
dynasty[ independent from the Almohads. The Hafsids ruled
Tripolitania for nearly 300 years. By the 16th century the Hafsids became
increasingly caught up in the power struggle between Spain and the Ottoman
Empire. After weakening control of
Abbasids, Cyrenaica was under Egypt based states such as Tulunids, Ikhshidids,
Ayyubids and Mamluks
before Ottoman conquest in 1517. Finally Fezzan acquired independence under Awlad Muhammad dynasty
after Kanem
rule. Ottomans finally conquered Fezzan between 1556 and 1577.
Italian Libya (1911–1947)
.
After
the Italo-Turkish War
(1911–1912), Italy simultaneously turned the three regions into colonies. From 1912 to 1927, the territory of Libya was known as Italian North Africa. From 1927 to 1934, the territory was split into two
colonies, Italian Cyrenaica
and Italian Tripolitania, run by Italian governors. Some 150,000 Italians settled in
Libya, constituting roughly 20% of the total population
In
1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Ancient Greeks
& Romans for all of North
Africa, except Egypt) as the official name
of the colony (made up of the three provinces of Cyrenaica, Tripolitaniaand
Fezzan). Omar
Mukhtar was the resistance leader against
the Italian colonization and became a national hero despite his capture and
execution on 16 September 1931. His face is currently printed on the Libyan ten
dinar note in memory and recognition of his patriotism. Idris al-Mahdi
as-Senussi (later King Idris I),
Emir of Cyrenaica, led the Libyan resistance to Italian occupation between the
two world wars. Ilan Pappé estimates
that between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin
population (directly or through disease and starvation in camps). Italian
historian Emilio Gentile estimates
50,000 deaths resulting from the suppression of
resistance
In
1934 was created by governor Balbo the political entity called "Libya", with capital
Tripoli . The
Italians emphasized infrastructure improvements and public works. In
particular, they hugely expanded Libyan railway and road networks from 1934 to
1940, building hundreds of kilometers of new roads and railways and encouraging
the establishment of new industries and dozen of new agricultural villages. In
June 1940, Italy entered World
War II. Libya became the setting for the
hard-fought North African Campaign \ that ultimately ended in defeat for Italy and its German
ally in 1943.
From
1943 to 1951, Libya was under Allied occupation. The British military administered the two former Italian Libyan provinces of Tripolitana
and Cyrenaïca, while the French administered the province of Fezzan. In 1944, Idris returned from exile
in Cairo but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica
until the removal of some aspects of foreign control in 1947. Under
Libya under
Gaddafi (1951–2011).
On
24 December 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United
Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris, Libya's only monarch. The discovery of significant oil
reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income
from petroleum sales enabled one of the world's poorest nations to
establish an extremely wealthy state. Although oil drastically improved the
Libyan government's finances, resentment among some factions began to build
over the increased concentration of the nation's wealth in the hands of King
Idris.
On
1 September 1969, a group of rebel military officers led by Muammar
Gaddafi launched a coup d'état against King Idris, which became known as the Al Fateh Revolution. Gaddafi was referred to as the "Brother Leader and
Guide of the Revolution" in
government statements and the official Libyan press. Moving to reduce Italian influence, in October 1970 all
Italian-owned assets were expropriated and the 12,000-strong Italian community was expelled from Libya alongside the smaller community of Libyan Jews. The day became national holiday known as "Vengeance Day" Libya's increase in
prosperity was accompanied by increased internal political repression, and
political dissent was made illegal under Law 75 of 1973. Widespread
surveillance of the population was carried out through Gaddafi's Revolutionary
Committees
Gaddafi
also wanted to combat the strict social restrictions that had been imposed on
women by the previous regime, establishing the Revolutionary Women's Formation
to encourage reform. In 1970, a law was introduced affirming equality of the
sexes and insisting on wage parity. In 1971, Gaddafi sponsored the creation of
a Libyan General Women's Federation. In 1972, a law was passed criminalizing
the marriage of any females under the age of sixteen and ensuring that a
woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for a marriage
On
25 October 1975, a coup attempt was launched by some 20 military officers,
mostly from the city of Misrata. This resulted in the arrest and executions of the coup
plotters. On 2 March 1977,
Libya officially became the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya". Gaddafi officially passed power to the General People's Committees and henceforth claimed to be no more than a symbolic
figurehead. The new "jamahiriya" governance structure he
established was officially referred to as "direct
democracy".
In
February 1977, Libya started delivering military supplies to Goukouni
Oueddei and the People's Armed Forces in Chad.
The Chadian–Libyan conflict began in earnest when Libya's support of rebel forces in
northern Chad escalated into an invasion. Later that same year, Libya and Egypt fought a four-day border war that came to be known as the Libyan-Egyptian War,
both nations agreed to a ceasefire under the mediation of the Algerian president Houari Boumediène
Hundreds of Libyans lost their lives in the war against Tanzania. Gaddafi
financed various other groups from anti-nuclear movements to Australian trade
unions
From
1977 onward, per capita income in the country rose to more than US$11,000, the
fifth-highest in Africa, while the Human Development Index became the highest in Africa and greater than that of Saudi
Arabia. This was achieved without borrowing any
foreign loans, keeping Libya debt-free. The Great Manmade Rive was
also built to allow free access to fresh water across large parts of the
country. In addition, financial support was provided for university
scholarships and employment programs
Much
of Libya's income from oil, which soared in the 1970s, was spent on arms purchases
and on sponsoring dozens of paramilitaries and terrorist groups around the
world.
An American airstrike intended to kill Gaddafi failed in 1986. Libya was finally
put under sanctions by the United Nations after the bombing of a commercial flight killed 270 people.
2011 Civil War
After
the Arab Spring movements
overturned the rulers of Tunisia and
Egypt, Libya experienced a full-scale revolt beginning on 17
February 2011. Libya's authoritarian regime led by Muammar Gaddafi put up
much more of a resistance compared to the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia. While
overthrowing the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was a relatively quick process,
Gaddafi's campaign posed significant stalls on the uprisings in Libya. The first announcement of a competing political authority
appeared online and declared the Interim Transitional National Council as an
alternative government. One of Gaddafi's senior advisors responded by posting a
tweet, wherein he resigned, defected, and advised Gaddafi to flee. By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli. On
27 February 2011, the National Transitional Council was established to administer the areas of Libya under
rebel control. On 10 March 2011, France became the first state to officially
recognise the council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Pro-Gaddaffi forces were able to respond militarily to rebel
pushes in Western Libya and
launched a counterattack along the coast toward Benghazi, the de facto centre
of the uprising The town of Zawiya, 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Tripoli, was bombarded by air force planes and army tanks and seized by Jamahiriya troops, "exercising a level of brutality not yet seen in the
conflict.
On
17 March 2011 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 with a 10–0 vote and five abstentions including Russia,
China, India, Brazil and Germany. The resolution sanctioned the establishment
of a no-fly zone and
the use of "all means necessary" to protect civilians within Libya. ]On 19 March, the first act of NATO allies to secure the
no-fly zone began by destroying Libyan air defenses when French military jets
entered Libyan airspace on a reconnaissance mission heralding attacks on enemy targets.
In
the weeks that followed, American forces were in the forefront of NATO
operations against Libya. More than 8,000 American personnel in warships and
aircraft were deployed in the area. At least 3,000 targets were struck in
14,202 strike sorties, 716 of them in Tripoli and 492 in Brega. The American air offensive included flights of B-2 Stealth
bombers, each bomber armed with sixteen 2000-pound bombs, flying out of and
returning to their base in Missouri in the continental United States. The support provided by the NATO air forces contributed to
the ultimate success of the revolution
By
22 August 2011, rebel fighters had entered Tripoli and occupied Green Square, which they
renamed Martyrs' Square in honour of those killed since 17 February 2011. On 20
October 2011 the last heavy fighting of the uprising came to an end in the city
of Sirte, where Gaddafi was captured and killed. The defeat of loyalist forces was celebrated on 23 October 2011, three days after
the fall of Sirte. At least 30,000 Libyans died in the civil war. ]In addition, the National Transitional Council estimated 50,000 wounded.
Second Civil War
Since
the defeat of loyalist forces, Libya has been torn among numerous rival, armed
militias affiliated with distinct regions, cities and tribes, while the central
government has been weak and unable effectively to exert its authority over the
country. Competing militias have pitted themselves against each other in a
political struggle between Islamist politicians and their opponents. On 7 July 2012, Libyans held their first parliamentary
elections since the end of the former regime. On 8 August 2012, the National Transitional Council officially handed power over to the wholly elected General National Congress, which was then tasked with the formation of an interim
government and the drafting of a new Libyan Constitution to be approved in a
general referendum
On
25 August 2012, in what Reuters reported as "the most blatant sectarian
attack" since the end of the civil war, unnamed organized assailants
bulldozed a Sufi mosque with graves, in broad daylight in the center of the
Libyan capital Tripoli.
It was the second such razing of a Sufi site in two days. Numerous acts of vandalism and destruction of heritage were
carried out by suspected Islamist militias, including the removal of the Nude
Gazelle Statue and the destruction and desecration of World War II-era British
grave sites near Benghazi . Many other cases of Heritage vandalism were carried
out and were reported to be carried out by Islamist related radical militias and
mobs that either destroyed, robbed, or looted a number of Historic sites which
remain in danger at present. On 11 September 2012, Islamist militants mounted a
surprise attack
on the American
consulate in Benghazi, killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others. The incident generated outrage in the
United States and Libya.
On
7 October 2012, Libya's Prime Minister-elect Mustafa A.G. Abushagur was ousted after failing a second time to win parliamentary
approval for a new cabinet. On 14 October 2012, the General
National Congress elected former GNC member and human rights lawyer Ali
Zeidan as prime minister-designate. Zeidan was sworn in after his cabinet was approved by the
GNC. On 11 March 2014, after having been ousted by the GNC for his
inability to halt a rogue oil shipment, Prime Minister Zeiden stepped down, and was replaced by
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani. On 25 March 2014, in the face of mounting instability,
al-Thani's government briefly explored the possibility of the restoration of
the Libyan monarchy
In
June 2014, elections were held to the Council of Deputies,
a new legislative body intended to take over from the General National Congress. The elections were marred by violence and low turnout,
with voting stations closed in some areas. Secularists and liberals did well in the elections, to the
consternation of Islamist lawmakers in the GNC, who reconvened and declared a continuing mandate
for the GNC, refusing to recognise the new
Council of Deputies. Armed supporters of the General National Congress occupied
Tripoli, forcing the newly elected parliament to flee to Tobruk.
In
January 2015, meetings were held with the aim to find a peaceful agreement
between the rival parties in Libya. The so-called Geneva-Ghadames talks were
supposed to bring the GNC and the Tobruk government together at one table to
find a solution of the internal conflict. However, the GNC actually never
participated, a sign that internal division not only affected the "Tobruk
Camp", but also the "Tripoli Camp". Meanwhile, terrorism within
Libya has steadily increased, affecting also neighbouring countries. The terrorist attack against the Bardo
Museum on 18 March 2015, was reportedly
carried on by two Libyan-trained militants.
During
2015 an extended series of diplomatic meetings and peace negotiations were
supported by the United Nations, as conducted by the Special Representative of
the Secretary-General (SRSG), Spanish diplomat Bernardino Leon. U N support for the SRSG-led process of dialogue carried on
in addition to the usual work of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya
(UNSMIL
In
July 2015 SRSG Leon reported to the UN Security Council on the progress of the
negotiations, which at that point had just achieved a political agreement on 11
July setting out "a comprehensive framework…includ[ing guiding
principles…institutions and decision-making mechanisms to guide the transition
until the adoption of a permanent constitution." The stated purpose of
that process was "…intended to culminate in the creation of a modern,
democratic state based on the principle of inclusion, the rule of law,
separation of powers and respect for human rights." The SRSG praised the
participants for achieving agreement, stating that "The Libyan people have
unequivocally expressed themselves in favour of peace." The SRSG then
informed the Security Council that "Libya is at a critical stage" and
urging "all parties in Libya to continue to engage constructively in the
dialogue process", stating that "only through dialogue and political
compromise, can a peaceful resolution of the conflict be achieved. A peaceful
transition will only succeed in Libya through a significant and coordinated
effort in supporting a future Government of National Accord…". Talks,
negotiations and dialogue continued on during mid-2015 at various international
locations, culminating at Skhirat in Morocco in early September.
Also
in 2015, as part of the ongoing support from the international community, the
UN Human Rights Council requested a report about the Libyan situation and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein, established an investigative body (OIOL) to report on human rights and
rebuilding the Libyan justice system. Chaos-ridden Libya has emerged as a major transit point for people trying to reach Europe. More than 700,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat since 2013 In May 2018 Libya's rival leaders
agreed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections following a meeting in
Paris .In 2019, Libya launched Operation Flood of Dignity, in an offensive by the Libyan National Army aimed to cleanse the western zone from terrorist groups
Libya: 2011–present
Anti-government
protests began in Libya on 15 February 2011. By 18 February the opposition
controlled most of Benghazi,
the country's second-largest city. The government dispatched elite troops and
militia in an attempt to recapture it, but they were repelled. By 20 February,
protests had spread to the capital Tripoli, leading to a television address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who warned the protestors that their country could descend
into civil war. The rising death toll, numbering in the thousands, drew
international condemnation and resulted in the resignation of several Libyan
diplomats, along with calls for the government's dismantlement.
Amidst
ongoing efforts by demonstrators and rebel forces to wrest control of Tripoli
from the Jamahiriya, the opposition set up an interim government in Benghazi to oppose Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi's rule. However, despite
initial opposition success, government forces subsequently took back much of
the Mediterranean coast.
On
17 March, United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1973 was adopted,
authorising a no-fly zone
over Libya, and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. Two
days later, France, the United States and the United Kingdom intervened in Libya with a bombing campaign against pro-Gaddafi forces. A
coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East soon joined the
intervention. The forces were driven back from the outskirts of Benghazi, and
the rebels mounted an offensive, capturing scores of towns across the coast of Libya. The
offensive stalled however, and a counter-offensive by the government retook
most of the towns, until a stalemate was formed between Brega and Ajdabiya,
the former being held by the government and the latter in the hands of the
rebels. Focus then shifted to the west of the country, where bitter fighting
continued. After a three-month-long
battle, a loyalist siege of rebel-held Misrata, the third largest city in Libya, was broken in large part
due to coalition air strikes. The four major fronts of combat were generally
considered to be the Nafusa
Mountains, the Tripolitanian coast, the Gulf
of Sidra,[ and the
southern Libyan Desert.
In
late August, anti-Gaddafi fighters captured Tripoli,
scattering Gaddafi's government and marking the end of his 42 years of power.
Many institutions of the government, including Gaddafi and several top
government officials, regrouped in Sirte, which Gaddafi declared to be Libya's new capital. Others fled
to Sabha,
Bani
Walid, and remote reaches of the Libyan
Desert, or to surrounding countries. However,
Sabha fell in
late September, Bani Walid was captured after a grueling siege
weeks later,[ and on 20
October, fighters under the aegis of the National Transitional Council seized
Sirte, killing Gaddafi in the process. ]However, after Gaddafi was killed, the Civil War continued
The
National Transitional Council, established in 2011, referred to the state as simply
"Libya". The UN formally recognized the country as "Libya"
in September 2011, based on a
request from the Permanent Mission of Libya citing the Libyan interim
Constitutional Declaration of 3 August
2011. In November 2011, the ISO
3166-1 was altered to reflect the new
country name "Libya" in English, "Libye (la)" in
French In December 2017 the Permanent
Mission of Libya to the United Nations informed the United Nations that the
country's official name was henceforth the "State of Libya";
"Libya" remained the official short form, and the country continued
to be listed under "L" in alphabetical lists
Recent
developments
On April 4 2019, Libyan
strongman Khalifa Haftarannounced in a voice recording
circulated online that he was launching a military campaign to take over the
capital, Tripoli. His media office then released a video
purporting to show tens of armoured vehicles bearing the emblems of Haftar's
"Libyan National Army" (LNA) heading towards the Libyan capital.
Tripoli would fall in 48 hours, his forces declared.
The Tripoli-based and UN-recognized
Government of National Accord (GNA) seemed taken by surprise. It scrambled to
mobilise various militias backing it to defend the capital and eventually
launched airs attacks
against Haftar's forces.
Despite the severity of the
situation and the risk of another bloody escalation in the years-long Libyan
conflict, the response of the international community was rather weak. The
United Kingdom called an emergency Security Council meeting on Friday night,
which resulted in a statement calling on
Haftar to "halt all military advances", after Russia and France
insisted on minimal pressure on the LNA. Meanwhile, the US pulled out some of
its troops stationed in Libya.
As the GNA announced a
"counteroffensive" on Sunday, the situation in the country remains
tense. With conflicting reports coming from both sides, and what appears to be
a massive battle of misinformation raging on, it is very difficult to judge
what is really going on on the ground. At this point, what is clear is that
Haftar has received enough international backing to press on with his operation
and its outcome will be determined by what happens in the coming weeks.
An LNA operation to take over
Tripoli was always just a question of time. After securingfull
control over Benghazi in eastern Libya in 2017, over the past year, Haftar has
steadily pressed on to expand the territories under his control, while also
engaging in talks with the GNA sponsored by various foreign actors.
In January, his forces
launched an operation to
take over major oilfields in the south and by the end of the month were able to
enter Sabha, the largest city in southern Libya. Having established control, at
least nominally, over two-thirds of Libya, Haftar turned his gaze on Tripolitania
(western Libya) and the capital Tripoli.
With a UN-led national
conference scheduled for mid-April, Haftar hastened to maximise his territorial
gains and hence his leverage over his opponents at the GNA. At the same time,
the ongoing civil unrest in Algeria gave him a rare window of opportunity to
launch a military operation.
Worried about the Libyan
conflict spilling over into its territory, the Algerian leadership has been
pressing for a political solution in Libya and has hosted several meetings between
Libyan actors. For Algiers, the GNA and the Islamist forces in Libya have to be
included in any conflict settlement to ensure the stability of the country. It
has perceived Haftar's zero-sum games as dangerous and potentially
destabilising. Moreover, in its status of North Africa’s hegemon, Algiers sees
his Arab allies - Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia - as geopolitical foes.
Given Algeria's political and
military clout in the region, Haftar had avoided moving close to Algerian
borders and kept open communication channels with the Algerian leadership until
a few months ago. The purge that
Algeria's security and military apparatus went through in mid-2018 and the uprising which
erupted in February 2019 against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's rule gave
Haftar a unique opportunity to launch his expansionist military campaign,
without much backlash from Algiers.
Haftar probably also received
the green light from his foreign backers. It is no secret that Egypt, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and increasingly Russia and
France, have been providing the
LNA with military and political support.
In late March, Haftar
travelled to Riyadh to meet Saudi King Salman, which roughly coincided with a
visit Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed paid to Egypt, where he met
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It is quite unlikely that Haftar's
closest allies were not informed about the planned operation.
The timid response by the
international community to his offensive on Tripoli - which was launched as UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was visiting the Libyan capital - shows that
many countries consider Haftar as the solution for Libya, not just the UAE,
Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Haftar is also hoping to
capitalise on the increasing discontent among the civilian population in
western Libya. The situation inside Tripoli - as in other Libyan cities - has
been steadily deteriorating. Crime, insecurity and corruption have been on the
rise, while living conditions have markedly worsened as the local economy has
struggled and the provision of social and health services has nearly collapsed.
The capital is divided
between different militias, and
the GNA is itself weak and corrupt. As nostalgia for the Gaddafi era has crept
in, Haftar has tried to project himself as a military strongman who could unite
the country and bring back stability and order. This self-styled image as
Libya's saviour has been promoted by a massive propaganda machine largely
backed by the UAE.
The situation on the ground
is changing rapidly and is rather unpredictable, but at this point, there are
at least three possible scenarios for what happens next in Libya. First, the
Tripoli offensive can become a protracted conflict similar to the one that
Benghazi witnessed, which lasted three years. This would take a heavy toll on
the civilian population and infrastructure, and would spoil Haftar's hopes to
enter the capital as a popular and much-awaited saviour. Second, a quick
victory is also not out of the question and it would very much depend on
whether Haftar is able to win over enough militias that would join his forces
and help him take control of Tripoli without a fierce fight. He has been
conducting negotiationswith
a number of militia leaders already - a strategy that had helped him makes
quick territorial gains in his campaign in southern Libya. Striking a deal with
armed groups, however, would mean that he will have to guarantee their military
and economic interests. This means that the lawlessness which is currently
plaguing Libya's west would persist. And if Haftar decides to crack down on
militias in the future - as he has promised - he might face a widespread
rebellion. Third, a retreat or a consolidation of the new status quo could also
take place, where the LNA forces cut their offensive short but retain strategic
positions in order to keep the pressure on Tripoli. This may be followed by
another round of negotiations, with or without the UN, in which Haftar would
have the upper hand.
Whatever scenario unrolls in
the following weeks, one thing is for sure: Libya will continue to be an
epicentre of the crisis in North Africa and a major source of concern beyond
its borders. Days before Libya's renegade General Khalifa Haftarlaunched an
offensive on the country's capital, Tripoli, Saudi Arabia offered tens of
millions of dollars to help pay for the operation, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The
offer came during a visit by Haftar to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, ahead of his
April 4 military campaign, the Journal said on Friday. Citing senior advisers
to the Saudi government, the Journal said the offer of funds - accepted by
Haftar - was intended to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders, recruit and pay
fighters, and other military purposes. The latest conflict in the North African
country pits Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) against forces allied to the
United Nations-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA controls Tripoli,
situated in northwestern Libya, while the LNA is
allied to a parallel administration based in the east of the oil-rich country,
which splintered into a patchwork of competing power bases following the
overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The United Nations, which had hoped
to organise a national conference this month bringing the rival eastern and
western administrations together to organise an election, has called for a
ceasefire. The United States, G7 bloc of
wealthy nations and the European Union have also urged
the LNA to halt its offensive. According to the latest UN figures, at least 75
people have been killed in the fighting between the warring parties while 320
others were wounded. Some 9,500 people have also been forced from their homes. Several Middle Eastern countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have backed Hafter
as a bulwark against Islamist groups, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, who took
a prominent role in Libya following the 2011 uprising and continued to
participate in Libyan politics under the Tripoli government. "There was an
increase in support, clearly, but not a change in the political role. I think
Saudi Arabia wanted to up its participation in the conflict in Libya and that
probably contributed to the visit of General Haftar to the kingdom and his
meeting with both King Salman and the Crown Prince," Jahshan said.
Economy
The
Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector,
which account for over half of GDP and 97% of exports. Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa and is
an important contributor to the global supply of light, sweet
crude. During 2010, when oil averaged at $80 a barrel, oil
production accounted for 54% of GDP. Apart from petroleum, the other natural resources are natural
gas and gypsum Th International
Monetary Fund estimated Libya's real GDP growth
at 122% in 2012 and 16.7% in 2013, after a 60% plunge in 2011
The
World
Bank defines Libya as an 'Upper Middle
Income Economy', along with only seven other African countries. Substantial revenues
from the energy sector, coupled with a small population, give Libya one of the
highest per capita GDPs in Africa. This allowed the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya state to provide an extensive level of social
security, particularly in the fields of
housing and education.
Libya
faces many structural problems including a lack of institutions, weak
governance, and chronic structural unemployment.
The economy displays a lack of
economic diversification and significant reliance on immigrant labour. Libya has traditionally relied on unsustainably high levels
of public sector hiring to create employment. In the mid-2000s, the government employed about 70% of all
national employees.
Unemployment
has risen from 8% in 2008 to 21%, according to the latest census figures. According to an Arab
League report, based on data from 2010,
unemployment for women stands at 18% while for the figure for men is 21%,
making Libya the only Arab country where there are more unemployed men than
women Libya has high levels of social
inequality, high rates of youth unemployment and regional economic disparities. Water supply is also
a problem, with some 28% of the population not having access to safe drinking
water in 2000
Libya
imports up to 90% of its cereal consumption requirements, and imports of wheat
in 2012/13 was estimated at about 1 million tonnes. The 2012 wheat
production was estimated at about 200,000 tonnes The government hopes to increase food
production to 800,000 tonnes of cereals by 2020. However, natural and
environmental conditions limit Libya's agricultural production potential. Before 1958, agriculture was the country's main source of
revenue, making up about 30% of GDP. With the discovery of oil in 1958, the
size of the agriculture sector declined rapidly, comprising less than 5% GDP by
2005
The
country joined OPEC in 1962. Libya is not a WTO member, but negotiations for its accession started in 2004 In the early 1980s, Libya was one of the
wealthiest countries in the world; its GDP
per capita was higher than some developed
countries.
In
the early 2000s officials of the Jamahiriya era carried out economic reforms to
reintegrate Libya into the global economy. UN sanctions were
lifted in September 2003, and Libya announced in December 2003 that it would
abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Other steps have
included applying for membership of the World Trade Organization, reducing subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization.
Authorities
privatized more than 100 government owned companies after 2003 in industries
including oil refining, tourism and real estate, of which 29 were 100% foreign
owned. Many international
oil companies returned to the country, including oil giants S hell and ExxonMobil After sanctions were
lifted there was a gradual increase of air traffic, and by 2005 there were 1.5
million yearly air travellers. Libya had long been a
notoriously difficult country for Western tourists to visit due to stringent
visa requirements. In 2007 Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second-eldest son of Muammar Gaddafi, was involved in
a green development
project called the Green Mountain Sustainable Development Area, which sought to
bring tourism to Cyrene and
to preserve Greek ruins
in the area
In
August 2011 it was estimated that it would take at least 10 years to rebuild
Libya's infrastructure. Even before the 2011 war, Libya's infrastructure was in
a poor state due to "utter neglect" by Gaddafi's administration,
according to the NTC. By October 2012, the economy had recovered from the
2011 conflict, with oil production returning to near normal levels. Oil production was
more than 1.6 million barrels per day before the war. By October 2012, the
average oil production has surpassed 1.4 million bpd. The resumption of
production was made possible due to the quick return of major Western
companies, like Total,
Eni, Repsol,
Wintershall and Occidental. In 2016, an
announcement from the company said the company aims 900,000 barrel per day in
the next year. Oil production has fallen from 1.6 million barrel per day to
900,000 in four years of war
Libya
is a large country with a relatively small population, and the population is
concentrated very narrowly along the coast. Population density is
about 50 persons per km² (130/sq. mi.) in the two northern regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica,
but falls to less than one person per km² (2.6/sq. mi.) elsewhere. Ninety
percent of the people live in less than 10% of the area, primarily along the
coast. About 88% of the population is urban, mostly concentrated in the three
largest cities, Tripoli,
Benghazi and Misrata.
Libya has a population of about 6.3 million, 27.7% of whom are under the age of 15. In 1984 the
population was 3.6 million, an increase from the 1.54 million reported in 1964
The
majority of the Libyan population is today identified as Arab, that is, Arabic-speaking and Arab-cultured. However, according to DNA
studies, 90% of that Arab Libyan population consists in fact of Arabized
Berbers, while Berber Libyans, those who retain Berber
language
and Berber culture, comprise a
minority. There are about 140 tribes and clans in Libya.
Family
life is important for Libyan families, the majority of which live in apartment
blocks and other independent housing
units, with precise modes of housing depending on their income and wealth.
Although the Arab Libyans traditionally lived nomadic lifestyles in tents, they
have now settled in various towns and cities. Because of this,
their old ways of life are gradually fading out. An unknown small number of
Libyans still live in the desert as their families have done for centuries.
Most of the population has occupations in industryand services, and a small percentage is in agriculture.
According
to the UNHCR, there were around 8,000 registered refugees, 5,500 unregistered
refugees, and 7,000 asylum seekers of various origins in Libya in January 2013.
Additionally, 47,000 Libyan nationals were internally displaced and 46,570 were
internally displaced returnees
Local demographics and ethnic
groups
The
original inhabitants of Libya belonged predominantly to various Berber ethnic groups; however, the long series of foreign
invasions – particularly by Arabs and Turks have had a profound
and lasting linguistic, cultural, and identity influence on Libya's
demographics. Today, the great majority of Libya's inhabitants are
Arabic-speaking Muslims of mixed descent, with many also tracing their ancestry
to the Banu Sulaym tribe, beside Turkish and purely Berber ethnicities. The Turkish
minority are often called "Kouloughlis"
and are concentrated in and around villages and towns Additionally, there are some Libyan ethnic
minorities, such as the purely Berber Tuareg and the Tebou Most Italian settlers, at their height numbering over half a million, left after
Italian Libya's independence in 1947. More repatriated in 1970 after the
accession of Muammar Gaddafi, but a few hundred of them returned in the 2000s.
Immigrant labor
As
of 2013, the UN estimates that around 12% of Libya's population (upwards of
740,000 people) was made up of foreign migrants
Prior to the 2011 revolution official and unofficial figures of migrant labor
range from 25% to 40% of the population (between 1.5 and 2.4 million people).
Historically, Libya has been a host state for millions of low- and high-skilled
Egyptian migrants, in particular
It
is difficult to estimate the total number of immigrants in Libya as there are
often differences between census figures, official counts and usually more
accurate unofficial estimates. In the 2006 census, around 359,540 foreign
nationals were resident in Libya out of a population of over 5.5 million (6.35%
of the population). Almost half of these were Egyptians, followed by Sudanese
and Palestinian immigrants. During
the 2011 revolution, 768,362 immigrants fled Libya as calculated by the IOM, around 13% of the population at the time, although many
more stayed on in the country
If
consular records prior to the revolution are used to estimate the immigrant
population, as many as 2 million Egyptian migrants were recorded by the
Egyptian embassy in Tripoli in 2009, followed by 87,200 Tunisians, and 68,200
Moroccans by their respective embassies. The number of Asian migrants before
the revolution was roughly 100,000 (60,000 Bangladeshis, 18,000 Indians, 10,000
Pakistanis, 8000 Filipinos as well as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and
other workers). This would put the
immigrant population at almost 40% before the revolution and is a figure more
consistent with government estimates in 2004 which put the regular and
irregular migrant numbers at 1.35 to 1.8 million (25–33% of the population at
the time).
Religion
About
97% of the population in Libya are Muslims, most of whom belong to the Sunni
branch. Small numbers of Ibadi Muslims and Ahmadis also
live in the country.
Before the 1930s, the Senussi Sunni Sufi movement was the primary Islamic movement in
Libya. This was a religious revival adapted to desert life. Its zawaaya (lodges)
were found in Tripolitania and
Fezzan, but Senussi influence was strongest in Cyrenaica. Rescuing the region from unrest and anarchy, the Senussi
movement gave the Cyrenaican tribal people a religious attachment and feelings
of unity and purpose This Islamic movement, which was eventually destroyed by
both Italian invasion
and later the Gaddafi government, was very conservative
and somewhat different from the Islam that exists in Libya today. Gaddafi
asserted that he was a devout Muslim, and his government was taking a role in
supporting Islamic institutions and in worldwide proselytising on behalf of
Islam.
The
Coptic Church has grown in recent years in Libya, due to the growing
immigration of Egyptian Copts to Libya. There are an estimated 40,000 Roman
Catholics in Libya who are served by two
Bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the Italian community) and one in Benghazi (serving the Maltese community). There is also a small Anglican community, made up mostly of African immigrant workers in
Tripoli; it is part of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt. People have been arrested on suspicion of being Christian missionaries, as proselytising is illegal. Christians have also
faced the threat of violence from radical Islamists in some parts of the
country, with a well-publicised video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant in February 2015 depicting the mass beheading of Christian Copts.
April, 21, 2019: US Policy
reversal
A White House statement said Trump and Haftar spoke by
phone on Monday "to discuss ongoing counterterrorism efforts to achieve
peace and stability in Libya".On
April 4, Haftar and his forces launched an offensive against the country's
internationally recognised government, which is based in Tripoli. In their
phone call, Trump "recognised Field Marshal Haftar's significant role in
fighting terrorism and securing Libya's oil resources, and the two discussed a
shared vision for Libya's transition to a stable, democratic political
system."
Trump's
praise for Haftar was seen in Tripoli as a reversal in US policy on Libya, as
earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded an immediate halt
to Haftar's offensive. Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed,
reporting from Tripoli, said news of the conversation caused anger in the
capital with residents perceiving the call as a show of support by Trump for
Haftar's offensive.
"People
are very angry, thousands of people have come out here on the main streets and
squares especially in Tripoli and they are calling on the international
community to stop the military aggression by Haftar forces," he said. At
least 2,000 people took part in Friday's protest in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square
to protest the push on Tripoli by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). Abdelrizaq Musheirib, a protester
criticised Trump's call to the commander, telling Reuters news agency:
"The call has no meaning but we will respond to it."
The
LNA launched
the military campaign against Tripoli on April 4, saying it wanted to
"cleanse" the country's western region of "remaining terrorist
groups". Analysts say the offensive is threatening to reignite a full-blown
civil war in the oil-rich country, which has been mired in chaos since the
NATO-backed toppling of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The
fighting on the outskirts of the city has killed at least 213 people and
wounded more than 1,000 people, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
More than 25,000 have been displaced, according
to the United Nations. Haftar backs a rival administration in eastern Libya
that refuses to recognise the authority of the UN-recognized Government of
National Accord in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.
Al
Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, said the White
House's statement on Friday appeared to contradict the stand of the United States's Department of State."Earlier this week, the
State Department put out a statement calling on Haftar to stand down, to halt
this military offensive and the US has been working with the UN on trying to
broker some sort of a peace accord in that country," she said.
"So,
it raises the question whether this is a matter of a US president going against
its own foreign policy on a critical global issue such as the issue in
Libya." Jordan added that it was unclear if Trump had initiated the call.
"The White House statement notes that he and Haftar spoke on Monday, it
could have been Haftar is looking for some sort of approval on a global stage
and made a request to have a conversation with the president," she said.
The announcement came a day after both the US and Russia
said they could not support a UN Security Council resolution calling for a
ceasefire in Libya at this time. Russia objected
to the British-drafted resolution blaming Haftar for the latest flare-up in
violence, but the US did not give a reason for its decision. The draft
resolution would also call on countries with influence over the warring parties
to ensure compliance and for unconditional humanitarian aid access in Libya.
Meanwhile, countries in Europe and the Middle East were also divided on
Haftar's offensive on Tripoli. Italy
and France have sparred over Libya in the past, but on Friday foreign ministers
of the two countries said they are trying to forge a common strategy on the
North African country. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's
foreign minister, speaking to reporters following a meeting in Rome with his
counterpart said: "There can be no progress in Libya without a solid
Franco-Italian agreement." Enzo Moavero Milanesi, the Italian minister,
said lower-ranking ministry officials will meet next week in the Italian
capital "to build the path toward a goal that remains a shared one".
Protesters
in Tripoli accused France's President Emmanuel Macron of backing Haftar, but the French embassy in Libya
tweeted in Arabic that Paris was "opposed to the attack" on the city.
Haftar enjoys the backing of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which view him as
an anchor to restore stability in Libya. But Qatar
said an existing UN arms embargo on Libya should be strictly enforced to
prevent the commander from receiving arms. Also on Friday, the UN refugee
agency said it evacuated 163 refugees and migrants from Libya to neighbouring Niger,
but more than 3,000 others were still trapped in detention centres affected by
clashes between the LNA and GNA forces.
The UNHCR
said the refugees from various African nations included dozens of women and
children, who had all been held in detention centres near the front lines of
the conflict. The agency said it remained "extremely concerned" for
the safety of those who remain
Fighting continues: Apr.,21,2019:
Heavy clashes broke out in the southern districts of
the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as forces loyal to the country's UN-recognised
government launched a counterattack to repel fighters allied to renegade
General Khalifa Haftar. Residents of the city said they could hear sustained
rocket and artillery fire in several districts of Tripoli on Saturday, after
several days of stalemate on the ground.
Haftar's Libyan National Army, which is allied to a
rival administration in the country's east, launched an offensive to seize Tripoli
more than two weeks ago, but it has been stopped in the city's southern
outskirts by forces allied to the Government of National Accord (GNA). The
shelling was louder and more frequent on Saturday than in previous days,
residents said, and audible in central districts more than 10km away from the
front line. Both sides claimed progress in southern Tripoli, but no more
details were immediately available. Mustafa al-Mejii, a spokesman for the GNA's
military operation, said his forces "have launched a new phase of
attack". "Orders were given early this
morning to advance and gain ground," he told the AFP news agency.
Colonel
Mohamad Gnounou, another spokesman, said Tripoli-allied forces carried out
seven air raids against military positions held by Haftar's LNA. They included
areas south of the city of Gharyan, 100km southwest of the capital, and an
airbase at Al-Watiya, 50km further southwest. Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for
Haftar's forces, said Tripoli-allied forces attacked the airbase three times on
Saturday . Speaking to reporters in Benghazi, Mesmari confirmed attacks on
Gharyan, saying civilians had been targeted.
"Our
airforce is providing fire support to troops on the ground," he said,
adding: "The enemy is trying to flank our forces from the back, but
they have failed in the face of the strength of our fighters and the experience
of our fighters. It's become a war of attrition."
Fighting
on Tripoli's outskirts has killed at least 220 people and wounded more than
1,000 others, according to the World Health Organization, while the International
Organization for Migration said more than 25,000 people have been displaced.
The
offensive, which Haftar said was aimed at cleansing Libya's western region of
"remaining terrorist groups", has raised fears of a full-blown civil
war in the oil-rich country, which has been mired in chaos since the NATO-backed
toppling of long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. For years now, Libya
has been split between the Tripoli-based GNA in the west and a rival
administration in the east allied to Haftar.
Saturday's
clashes were "the fiercest fighting yet", said Al Jazeera's Mahmoud
Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli. GNA-allied forces "say they have
gained more ground against Haftar's forces, and are determined to re-take
control of Tripoli's unused international airport," he said While GNA forces claim Haftar's fighters were
on the retreat, the battle would not be easy, Abdelwahed said, "because
Haftar's forces are supported by regional powers, like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates
Libya civil war: Apr.,24.2019: Refugees and migrants trapped in a detention centre on the front line of
conflict in Tripoli for weeks say they were shot at indiscriminately on Tuesday
by fighters aligned with eastern forces advancing on Libya's capital. At least
10 people were seriously wounded by gunfire, detainees said. "Right now
they are attacking the centre, shooting more people … They are shooting us
directly," an Eritrean man told Al Jazeera through the messaging service
WhatsApp. "We need medical treatment right now because the people with us,
their injuries are really a lot." Four people in the detention centre in
Qasr bin Ghashir, 25km south of Tripoli, said the fighters that attacked them
were aligned with the Libyan National Army led by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar whose forces attacked Libya's capital on April 4. More than 100 women and nearly 50 children
are among the 728 refugees and migrants in the detention centre, according to
the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR)
Attempts by Libyan authorities to move the detainees in Qasr bin Ghashir,
after a week of clashes, had failed. "People are bleeding a lot; now, I
need emergency assistance. Please share for us to the world," said another
man, using a hidden phone. He said soldiers had already taken mobile phones
from many of the people with him. "Please, please, please, dear, we are in
danger." The refugees and migrants refused to be taken to a detention
centre in Zintan, 170km southwest of Tripoli, where they worried they would
have little access to international organisations. They said there was a high
death rate because of poor conditions and a lack of medical care. After the failed attempt to relocate them,
Qasr bin Ghashir's detainees, most of whom have been locked up for months after
years with smugglers, said Libyan guards told them they were leaving them on
their own. "They didn't leave [us] anything to defend ourselves," one
man messaged Al Jazeera on April 13. There are roughly 6,000 refugees and migrants currently being held in detention
centres under the control of the Libyan Department for Combatting Illegal
Migration.More than 2,700 are in areas affected by clashes, according to the
UN.
Hafttar offensive: May, 5, 2019:
Haftar offensive after a month has stalled,
little has changed. Although the war has escalated, the front lines have not
shifted dramatically, and if anything, Haftar’s assault seems to be faltering.
This was not the war that either he or his foreign backers had envisioned. With
a treacherous supply line that snakes through more than 1,000 kilometers of
harsh Libyan desert, and a limited amount of men in the west of the country who
are willing to fight on his behalf, Haftar is being forced to rely increasingly
on outside help to maintain his edge. This is a dangerous trajectory for Libya
and forces the conflict onto a regional level. The more the UAE and Egypt get
involved, the more it will attract opposing powers such as Turkey—and the more
Libya risks becoming a Syria-style proxy-war at the center of the
Mediterranean.
The prospects for a negotiated solution look dim. Haftar has gone all-in on
this assault, since any failure would be devastating for his reputation and
jeopardize the integrity of his Libyan National Army, to say nothing of his
hopes of assuming absolute power. Haftar’s various opponents are also avowedly
disinterested in diplomacy at the moment. Political entities, including the
internationally recognized government in Tripoli, feel betrayed by an
international community that has appeased Haftar’s aggression and coerced them
down a political track that steadily lost its integrity and led to the current
military onslaught. Other militias that have joined in to fight Haftar and his
forces see a lucrative future for themselves if they not only deal Haftar a
decisive defeat, but claim a slice of Tripoli for themselves in the process.
Where does this leave the Libyan people? As ever, they have no one offering a
constructive vision for their country’s future. They are fed-up with the
corrupt and unruly status quo that U.N.-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj
has presided over since 2015. Yet they feel existentially threatened by the
kind of military dictatorship that Haftar promises, modeled on President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s repressive regime next door in Egypt
Meanwhile,
the U.N. and its special representative to Libya, Ghassan Salame, appear
helplessly stuck between familiar discord in Libya and obstructively partisan
international actors. The U.N. can’t compel the warring parties to the
negotiation table, let alone try to force a peace deal. Haftar’s offensive has
inspired opportunism from a range of states and shattered the facade of a
cohesive international policy in Libya, mediated by the U.N. with the goal of
some kind of political power-sharing deal
Russia was the first country to break ranks. Despite maintaining a message that
it communicates with all sides in Libya in the hopes for a negotiated solution,
Moscow blocked early attempts at the U.N. Security Council to call for a
cease-fire or pass a resolution that may have hindered Haftar’s assault in any
way. Perhaps more significant was the about-face in American policy. Following
years of steady, if not active, support from the State Department for the
U.N.’s mission in Libya, including regular condemnations of violence and
advocacy for a political process, the U.S. all but gave Haftar a green light to take Tripoli. Apparently under
heavy lobbying from Egypt’s Sisi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the
UAE, the Trump administration threw its support to the would-be strongman,
undercutting American diplomats in Libya. The administration addressed Haftar
as “field marshal” in a public statement and praised his “significant role in
fighting terrorism,” thus openly undermining the Sarraj government and
endorsing Haftar’s own rhetoric for his offensive. Although this major outside
support is unlikely to translate into military interventionism in Haftar’s
favor, it ensures that the U.S. and other powers won’t be wielding tools of
international leverage, such as sanctions or enforcing an already existing arms
embargo, to compel Haftar to stand down.
Europe is well aware of the consequences of prolonged warfare in Libya, given
the risks of more refugee flows and instability across the Mediterranean. This
probably explains the continued push for a cease-fire by the United Kingdom at
the Security Council, and, within the EU, Italy’s insistence that “a military option cannot be a solution.” Yet
positions within Europe are hardly cohesive. France, which has long been a key
backer of Haftar, may have scaled back its public support for him amid a
diplomatic backlash since his offensive. But France won’t burn its bridges with
Haftar, especially with no clear endgame in sight. It’s a position that sums up
the current dilemma in Libya. Stakeholders, both in Libya and internationally,
are all hedging their bets given the uncertainty and unrest. But the inability
of countries like the U.S. and France to clearly reject one outcome—in this
case, Haftar’s militarism—forecloses the space for an alternative diplomatic
solution. The fate of Libya remains beholden to a crude and clumsy game of
real politik. The only certain outcome involves the Libyan people, whose
suffering will worsen and whose aspirations for a new state will be more
elusive than ever.
Libya Civil War: May 5, 2019:
At least nine soldiers have been killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) targeting forces loyal to renegade
commander Khalifa
Haftar, officials said. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack
in a statement distributed through social media, saying it had targeted
"Haftar's heretical militia" and freed prisoners held on the base. Sebha - like much of the south and its
oilfields - is controlled by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), and is 650km
south of the capital, Tripoli, where the renegade general's forces are
currently fighting to take control from militias affiliated with a UN-backed
government. However, the campaign has not breached the city's southern defences
In a statement, the Tripoli-based
Government of National Accord (GNA) said Haftar shouldered "direct
responsibility for the reemergence of the Islamic State organisation; for [its]
terrorist activities and its return to the scene ... after the GNA had been
successful ... in destroying" the armed group. "Ever since the
offensive against Tripoli, we have warned that the only beneficiaries ... are
the terrorist groups and that what is happening will offer them a fertile
ground to restart their activities".
Meanwhile the UN's mission in Libya,
UNSMIL, said on Twitter it "strongly condemns the terrorist attack in
Sebha, which was claimed by [ISIL] and resulted in a number of Libyan
casualties". "Perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of
terrorist activities must be brought to justice," UNSMIL added. In recent
months, ISIL fighters have staged several hit-and-run attacks in southern
Libya. The armed group retreated to the south after losing its stronghold in
the central city of Sirte in December 2016. Meanwhile, the ongoing fighting in
Tripoli has killed at least 392 people and wounded 1,936 others, the UN's World
Health Organisation said on Friday. More than
55,000 have been displaced as a direct result "of the intensifying armed
conflict in Tripoli", according to another UN body, the Organisation for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Haftar enjoys the backing of Egypt, the
United Arab
Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which view him as an anchor to restore
stability in Libya. But Qatar
said an existing UN arms embargo on Libya should be strictly enforced to
prevent the commander from receiving arms. The battle for Tripoli could ignite
a civil war on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Libya's
longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Since Gaddafi's removal, Libya has been
governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli, in the west, each
backed by various militias and armed groups fighting over resources and
territory
Civil war: June, 8, 2019: War has
been raging on in Libya
for more than two months. What was supposed to be a quick operation for
renegade general Khalifa Haftar's forces to take over the Libyan capital
Tripoli has now turned into a battle of attrition. Over 600 people have been
killed, more than 3,000 injured and some 90,000 displaced from their homes.
Thousands of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed due to the
indiscriminate shelling. Nearly three million people remain besieged in the capital,
forced to spend the holy month of Ramadan in fear and shortages of basic goods.
So far there has been no clear winner. Factions aligned with the Government of
National Accord (GNA) have managed to stop the advance of Haftar's
forces and killed his hopes for a quick victory in Tripoli.
The United
Nations has issued a number of statements calling on the two sides
to halt hostilities, but they have all fallen on deaf ears. Neither the GNA,
nor Haftar are willing to back down or agree to a ceasefire. The UN Security
Council has also been unable to reach consensus on any resolution that would
end the fighting and restart the negations process. This is because the
international community remains divided on Libya, with regional and world
powers backing each of the two sides and further fuelling the conflict.
Over the past four years, the UN has
put a lot of effort in trying to bring the ongoing civil war in Libya to a
peaceful resolution. Even as Haftar moved his forces towards Tripoli, UN
representatives still insisted that a political solution must be pursued. Haftar's
forces launched their offensive just days before the National Conference was
scheduled to be held the Libyan city of Ghadames. As a result of the attack,
the conference, which had been in the making for months, was cancelled and the
UN mediation efforts severely undermined. Now two months later, it seems quite
clear that the peace process the UN had worked so hard to kick-start is dead.
Meanwhile, positions on both sides of
the war have hardened significantly. Fayez Serraj, head of the GNA, has gone as
far as saying that he had been "stabbed in
the back" and that it was a mistake to have trusted Haftar's
intentions in all the meetings he had with him previously. He now insists that
the renegade general can no longer be a partner in any peace talks.
Haftar, on the other hand, is also
adamant in his stance and says that he is not ready to commit to any ceasefire
or political process, whether backed by the UN or any other political actor. He
seems bound on continuing his assault on Tripoli. "Of course, the
political solution is still the goal. But to get back to politics, we must
first finish with militias," he told a French newspaper late last month. By now, it appears
that a political solution to the conflict is very much unlikely. The only way
the fighting can come to an end is if one of the sides achieves a conclusive
military victory.
It is not only the two sides to the
conflict which seem to be betting on a military solution. Various regional and
international players are intervening in Libya with the hope of securing a
victory for the side they favor. Fresh deliveries of advanced weapons and
ammunition have been made to both camps, which in effect is only prolonging the
war. Despite the fact that the supply of arms is in clear violation of the UN arms embargo, there has been little public condemnation
of these actions.
There are two possible outcomes of the
ongoing war: Either Haftar would eventually succeed in taking over Tripoli and
removing the GNA from power or the GNA would be able to push his forces out of
the capital and launch a counteroffensive. In the first case, Libya would be
doomed to a one-man military rule. If Haftar takes the capital, he would
effectively have control over Libya's three most important strategic assets:
the political centre of the country, its key institutions, and most of its oil.
These would help him solidify his grip on power and impose a Gaddafi-style
regime backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
In the second case, the country would
still have a chance to pursue a political solution. If the forces loyal to the
GNA manage to overrun Haftar's positions in the west and south, this would
significantly weaken him, both politically and militarily. A defeat would most
likely mean his exclusion from any future political dialogue. Given that he has
been one of the biggest obstacles to achieving permanent peace and stability in
Libya, his elimination as a political factor would bode well for the future of
the country.
The problem with "waiting"
for a military solution to the conflict in Libya is that it will cost the
country and its civilian population dearly. As UN special envoy Ghassan Salame
pointed out recently, the fighting around Tripoli is "just the start of a long and
bloody war". The death and suffering of Libyan civilians is
very much preventable, if only the international community would find the
political will to act.
Update:
July, 29, 2019: Libya
now has two governments and has long since ceased to be a state. One in the
east, in Tobruk, supports Haftar, a 75-year-old former colonel who once helped
Gadhafi organize the coup that brought him to power. After falling out of favor
with Gadhafi, Haftar lived in the United States for nearly two decades and is
rumored to have occasionally worked for the CIA. After Gadhafi's fall, Haftar
returned to Libya and since 2016 has given himself the title of field marshal.
The rival government in
the west, the Government of National Accord (GNA), is led by Prime Minister
Fayez Sarraj in Tripoli. It's recognized by the United Nations and the European
Union, but not by the elected parliament, which has fled to the east. The GNA
is largely powerless, relying on the support of the militias, who are the de
facto rulers of Tripoli.
Amid all this chaos,
thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are stranded here on their long
trek to Europe. Many have been interned by the militias in brutal torture camps,
kept in slave-like dependency and are in some cases conscripted into military
service. More than 50 people died during an air raid on a refugee prison in
Tripoli on July 3.
It is the tragedy of a
country that could be the richest on the continent, with the world's ninth
largest oil deposits. But after Gadhafi bled the country dry for 42 years, he
left behind a power vacuum that imploded after he was killed, and an ongoing
struggle erupted among cities, tribes and their militias over power and access
to wealth.
Already
in December 2011, in a bid to secure its power base, the interim transitional
government had begun to pay the militias that had helped to overthrow the
dictator. Many more paramilitary groups ended up on the government payroll. It
was the most fatal error of the post-Gadhafi era. The groups rapidly
proliferated. When oil production stabilized in 2012, billions of government
dollars were diverted to the militias. If they received too little or the money
came too late, they set up roadblocks in front of ministries or stormed
offices. Many of them still control key ministries and banks. On the other side
of the front too, there are militias: Haftar's LNA is a loose alliance of
tribes and cities, mainly from the east and south. out," Aweeb tells his men.
It's another reason why
the militias from Misrata deployed their forces to the capital in April to
support Sarraj's GNA in the fight against Haftar: They are also defending the
interests of their hometown here in Tripoli. After over three months of
fighting for control of the Libyan capital, the situation escalated. On the
ground, Haftar's LNA found itself on the defensive, but now has increasingly
relied on airstrikes and state-of-the-art weaponry it receives from its allies.
"I feel no sense of satisfaction when we push back our enemies a few
kilometers," says Aweeb. "On both sides, young Libyans who should be
rebuilding their country are dying."
On the way to downtown
Tripoli, away from the front, normal, everyday life continues. The coastal road
is lined with small amusement parks. Merry-go-rounds, slides and cotton candy
stands, colorfully lit every night. Traffic is backed up on the main streets
and backgammon players gather in the cafes on Algeria Square in the evenings. Paralyzed
by the heat and almost indifferent, people listen to the detonations on the
front lines, the heavy, dull explosions from the air raids and the mortar
shells.
Local
residents don't run into the streets and take up arms. It's as if they do not
care who rules the country, just as long as some semblance of peace eventually
returns to their lives. "It was like that back in 2011,The day before the
liberation by the revolutionaries, the city was full of Gadhafi flags, but 24
hours after he fled, the revolutionary flag hung everywhere."
Unlike Benghazi, located
a thousand kilometers to the east, the Libyan capital doesn't have a homogenous
demographic structure. During more than 40 years under Gadhafi's rule, many
residents of small towns in western Libya moved to the burgeoning city, which
now boasts a population of over 2 million people. Many militias in the capital
have two headquarters -- one in Tripoli and another in their hometowns, such as
Zaviya and Zlitan.
But the tribes and cities
of the east have been hostile to the western part of the country ever since the
Italian occupation over 100 years ago. The colonial rulers interned between
100,000 and 120,000 civilians in camps in the eastern part of the country.
Western Libyan troops helped the Italians with the occupation. With Haftar's
offensive, Libya's old east-west conflict has reemerged. "The oil,finances
the entire war. The money is funneled to both sides, east and west, through the
central bank in Tripoli."
A
period of hope had followed Gadhafi's death, but after the first free
parliamentary election, the country became increasingly fragmented. To this
day, the conflict is attracting countries that are waging a proxy war in Libya.
Most Western countries back the unity government under Sarraj, which reportedly
receives weapons from Qatar and Turkey. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates and
Egypt are apparently supplying Haftar with weapons, in violation of the 2011 UN
arms embargo. Saudi Arabia and Russia also support the LNA. French special
forces have collaborated with Haftar on attacks against suspected terror groups
in the Sahara. And in late June, weapons were found in one of the warlord's
camps that the U.S. had earlier sold to France, fueling suspicions that Paris
may have resold them to Haftar. U.S. President Donald Trump has also verbally
sided with Haftar and spoke with him on the phone as recently as April.
If
you talk to his supporters in Tripoli -- doctors, businessmen and police
officers - for them the lesser evil is a military strong man. Wherever Haftar
is in control, says a doctor who works with the UN Development Program in the
south of the country, crime has gone down. Haftar is also intent, the doctor
says, on breaking up the centralism that was cultivated under Gadhafi. The east
has never received much of the country's oil revenues.
The Libyans, a
businessman in Tripoli says, only understand the use of force, and only a
strong hand can keep the country together. "If you don't bring a solution
with the gun, there will be no solution," he says. Many of Haftar's
supporters consider it impracticable to conduct elections under the current
militia-based rule, citing the need for stability before Libyans can go to the
polls.
Haftar styles himself as
a secular bulwark against Islamism -- but he has welcomed many Madkhali
Salafists into the ranks of his LNA. Military governors reign in all areas that
he controls. It is a return to the militarization of the state, to the police
state of the Gadhafi era. Many Libyans, out of sheer desperation, would prefer
this to war and anarchy. Standing on
Despite all the misery
and suffering, he hopes that everything will be better after this war -- that
the militias from Misrata will gain control over the local militias, that there
will be a constitution, elections and, yes, even peace. Haftar's attack on the
city has united the deeply divided militias of western Libya. This is a ray of
hope, but how long will the alliance hold? Will the militiamen from Misrata
turn around and behave like the militias who now rule Tripoli?
