[Reader-list] Libya in Chaos

[A. Mani]

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Libya in Chaos

Yohannan Chemarapally

Source: PD

LIBYA has been surely but steadily sinking into anarchy since the
killing of Muammar Gaddafi on October 20, 2011. The regime change,
supervised under western military tutelage that followed, has failed
to provide either stability or security. If any further proof was
needed of the state in which the country finds itself after the death
of Gaddafi two years ago, it was graphically provided by the
kidnapping of the country’s prime minister, Ali Zeidan, on October 5.
Zeidan was forcibly taken away by an armed militia from the tightly
guarded “five star” Corinthia hotel where he resides, in the early
hours of the morning. He was released unharmed by the afternoon and
appeared on television, blaming an unnamed group of trying to plan a
coup against his government. In November, militias opened fire on
protestors in Tripoli with heavy weaponry, killing more than 50
people. The protestors were demanding withdrawal of the militias from
the Libyan capital.





HEINOUS KIDNAPPING

FOLLOWING US OPERATION

The incident involving the prime minister had happened in the wake of
the abduction of a former Al Qaeda leader, Nasih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai,
popularly known as Anal al Libi, from outside his home in Tripoli by
US commandos. Washington had claimed that it had the approval of the
Libyan government for the operation which was timed to coincide with a
similar action by the US Special Forces in Somalia. Though the attempt
in Somalia to kill or capture a wanted Al Shabab leader ended in
failure, the capture of Al Libi has been hailed as a great success in
Washington. Al Libi was on America’s “most wanted” list. The American
authorities have claimed that he played a key role in planning the
bombing of the American embassies in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar-e-Salaam
(Tanzania) in 1998.



The Libyan authorities had publicly criticised the capture of Al Libi,
describing it as a kidnapping. Libyan government officials, including
the prime minister, had initially claimed that they were not consulted
about the American commando raid. But American state department
officials were quick to rebut these claims. They told the media that
the Libyan government had in fact given permission for two commando
raids --- one to capture Al Libi and the second one to nab the key
militia leader responsible for the attack on the American consulate in
Benghazi and the killing of the American ambassador to Libya, Chris
Stevens, and three other American citizens. American officials have
not explained the reasons for not going ahead with the planned
operation in Benghazi, which has become a stronghold of militias
having marked radical Islamist tendencies. The head of Libya’s police
force, Ahmad al Bargathi was assassinated in Benghazi in the second
week of October as he stepped out of a mosque after prayers.



Following the American commando raid in Tripoli, the Swedish consulate
in Benghazi was subjected to a bomb attack. The Egyptian consulate in
the city, the cradle of the Libyan counter revolution, was bombed in
August. Earlier in June, the “Libya Shield Force,” a prominent militia
co-opted by the government in Benghazi, used lethal force to subdue a
peaceful demonstration, killing 31 people. Many of the militias and
groups that NATO propped up in its fight against the secular
government of Gaddafi had known connections to radical Islamist
grouping like Al Qaeda. Many of the leaders of these groups, like Al
Libi, were allowed to return to Libya after 2011. Gaddafi had warned
on several occasions that the opposition was dominated by known Al
Qaeda sympathisers. Now Washington has once again identified the Al
Qaeda and the Islamist allies as the new enemies to be targeted in
Libya.



US CLASHES WITH MILITIAS,

COUNTRY LOSES STABILITY

It was after the revelation that the Libyan government had prior
knowledge of the US commando operation in Tripoli when the kidnapping
incident involving the Libyan prime minister took place. On October
20, Abdelmonem Essid, head of the Libyan government’s interior
ministry’s anti-crime unit, told journalists in Tripoli that he was
“responsible” for the “arrest” of the prime minister and was “proud”
of what he had done. Two groups --- the Operations Cell of Libya’s
Revolutionaries and the Brigade for the Fight against Crime --- had
claimed responsibility for “arresting” Zeidan on charges of
endangering the sovereignty of the country. A senior member of the
militia told the media that Zeidan was arrested after the
acknowledgement by the US secretary of state John Kerry said that the
Libyan government was aware of the US commando operation in Tripoli.



Prime minister Zeidan, meanwhile, said that his captors had tried to
force him to resign from office during the period he was in their
captivity. He told a separate news conference that those opposed to
him had tried “to resort to force to oust him.” He had earlier said
that “a political party” was behind “the criminal and terrorist act.”
Political commentators say that he was referring to the Justice and
Construction Party, political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya.
Zeidan is likely to face a strong challenge in parliament in the
coming days. Islamist parties dominate parliament and popular mood
seems to have turned against the US, despite the prime minister
insisting that the Libyan people remain grateful to Washington for the
help it provided in “liberating” the country. Al Libi’s capture by the
US Special Forces has particularly inflamed public opinion, especially
as he was living openly in the capital since 2011 after returning from
the UK, which had given him political asylum. At that time he was an
outspoken critic of Gaddafi. He had made no efforts to conceal his
identity.



The Islamists in parliament also have the backing of many of the
powerful militias, which are in de facto control of the country. The
militias, particularly those in the east of the country where much of
the oil is pumped, seem intent on secession. Prime minister Zeidan
said that the chaos in recent months had halved crude production and
the country lost 4.98 billion dollars in oil revenues. According to
reports, oil production has dropped from 1.4 million barrels per day
(bpd) from earlier this year to 160,000 bpd. The government is now
dipping into its cash reserves to pay the salaries of civil servants,
doctors and teachers.



SPATE OF DEATHS &

TORTURE IN DETENTION

During the ferocious bombing campaign in Libya of 2011, NATO was
careful to ensure that the oil infrastructure remained unscathed. Oil
and gas account for 70 per cent of the country’s GDP and 95 per cent
of its exports. Oil production had reached its pre-war production last
year before the downward plunge started soon after when the militias
started demanding their pound of flesh and the workers in many
refineries and oilfields went on strike demanding higher wages.



Many western oil companies, which had hoped for a bonanza after the
ouster of Gaddafi, have started radically scaling down their
expectations. Some of the western oil majors like Exxon Mobil and
Royal Dutch Shell have warned that they would even scale down their
projects in the country. The militias are in control of all the
oilfields and export terminals. A large quantity of the oil is being
sold in the black market to unscrupulous foreign traders by the
militias. Prime minister Zeidan had threatened to use the Libyan air
force to bomb unauthorised tankers from entering Libyan waters. After
the assassination of the American ambassador, very few businessmen
from the West have the courage to even visit Tripoli.



Killings of journalists and politicians have now become routine
affairs. Col Yussef Ali al Asseifar, who was given the job of
investigating the rash of assassinations, was himself eliminated,
after an unidentified group put a bomb in his car. According to a
report, Torture and Deaths in Detention in Libya, prepared by the UN,
thousands of people remain locked up in prisons under the control of
the militias two years after the western sponsored “revolution” in
Libya. “Some have been detained apparently on the basis of belonging
to certain tribal or ethnic groups, including Warfalla, Tawergah and
Mashashia, as these groups are collectively perceived by some as
having supported the former regime,” the report said. The report has
cited instances of 27 detainees being tortured to death this year
alone. The Report warned that “there is a danger that torture will
become institutionalised within the new Libya.” The UN secretary
general, Ban ki-Moon has said that he is “deeply concerned” about the
issue.



“Right now, the only factor significantly bringing down the number of
detainees being mistreated and tortured is the number of mass prison
breaks that are taking place,” according to the Amnesty
International’s researcher in Libya, Magda Mugrabi. The Libyan justice
minister, Salah Marghani, acknowledged recently that the country is
facing a serious law and order problem. “We are still in a state of
revolution. You can see the amount of weapons that are spread around.
The amount of control that you can have in this situation is limited,”
he admitted.



DIRE PREDICTION

FOR THE COUNTRY

There have been other consequences for the Libyan people as a
consequence of the Obama administration’s “humanitarian intervention”
in their country two years ago. Basic services, which the Libyan
people had taken for granted during Gaddafi’s time, have been
affected. The capital Tripoli recently had to go without water and
electricity for one whole week. In the third week of October, soldiers
from the Libyan army briefly occupied the prime minister’s office,
demanding their back wages. Their salaries have remained unpaid for
months.



Libya has once again become the staging post for migrants to cross
over to Europe. Many of the boats carrying migrants which sunk off the
Italian coasts had started their journey in Eastern Libya. An American
political scientist Alan J Kupperman, writing in the journal
International Security, concluded that NATO intervention “increased
the duration of Libya’s civil war by about six times and its death
toll by about seven times, while also exacerbating human rights
abuses, humanitarian suffering, Islamic radicalism, and weapons
proliferation in Libya and neighbours.” Already there are dire
predictions that Libya may soon join the ranks of “failed states”
despite having the fifth largest oil reserves in the world.



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