No end likely to Libya’s standoff with rebels
1 April 2014 4:50 AM IST
For days the government had threatened to blow up the tanker, called Morning Glory, if it left port. When it sailed off, pro-government militiamen even gave chase on boats carrying jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft and cannons. But that failed, and when the tanker reached international waters Libya’s parliament fired Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who fled to Europe. A few days later, US Navy SEALS boarded the tanker to end the debacle.
The Morning Glory affair is one of the starkest symbols yet of how weak Libya’s central authority is. Three years after a NATO-supported revolt toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is at the mercy of rival brigades of heavily armed former rebel fighters who openly and regularly defy the new state.
Libya’s parliament agrees on little, its interim government has no army to enforce security let alone impose its will, and a new constitution meant to forge a sense of nation remains undrafted.
In the vacuum, ex-fighters have briefly abducted Zeidan from his Tripoli hotel room, stormed the foreign ministry, and taken over the interior ministry, even before the renegades made their failed attempt to export oil. Lawmakers joke that they may need to use the secret tunnels Gaddafi built under the capital so they can escape the marauding gunmen. ‘Really there is no army, I thought there was one, but then I realized there really isn’t any,’ ousted premier Zeidan said from Germany where he fled.
For many Libyans, the joy of freedom after decades under Gaddafi has given way to confusion. Libya has descended into a scramble over the future shape of the nation, with ex-rebel commanders, former exiles, Islamists, tribal leaders, and federalists all jostling for position. At stake is the stability and integrity of this vast North African territory, rich in both oil and gas.
Neighbouring Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, has made its uprising work. A new constitution was adopted in January, Islamist and secular parties have compromised, and elections are due this year. Libya, by contrast, is floundering.
‘There was a euphoria that accompanied the overthrow of the dictator that did not take into account some of the stark realities ... What is the unifying idea here?’ one Libya-based Western diplomat asked. ‘It’s not as though removing Gaddafi was going to mean the... box would open and out pops Dubai. All the problems that were covered over, papered over or bribed over or suppressed, they are emerging again.’
PULLING TEETH
Working his phone to resolve another Tripoli blackout, Libyan Electricity Minister Ali Mihirig knows better than most how hard it will be to get the country working together. Back in Libya after three decades living in Canada, Mihirig is not only in charge of electricity but has spent the past year as a mediator and negotiator among the country’s myriad factions.
The Morning Glory affair is one of the starkest symbols yet of how weak Libya’s central authority is. Three years after a NATO-supported revolt toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is at the mercy of rival brigades of heavily armed former rebel fighters who openly and regularly defy the new state.
Libya’s parliament agrees on little, its interim government has no army to enforce security let alone impose its will, and a new constitution meant to forge a sense of nation remains undrafted.
In the vacuum, ex-fighters have briefly abducted Zeidan from his Tripoli hotel room, stormed the foreign ministry, and taken over the interior ministry, even before the renegades made their failed attempt to export oil. Lawmakers joke that they may need to use the secret tunnels Gaddafi built under the capital so they can escape the marauding gunmen. ‘Really there is no army, I thought there was one, but then I realized there really isn’t any,’ ousted premier Zeidan said from Germany where he fled.
For many Libyans, the joy of freedom after decades under Gaddafi has given way to confusion. Libya has descended into a scramble over the future shape of the nation, with ex-rebel commanders, former exiles, Islamists, tribal leaders, and federalists all jostling for position. At stake is the stability and integrity of this vast North African territory, rich in both oil and gas.
Neighbouring Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began, has made its uprising work. A new constitution was adopted in January, Islamist and secular parties have compromised, and elections are due this year. Libya, by contrast, is floundering.
‘There was a euphoria that accompanied the overthrow of the dictator that did not take into account some of the stark realities ... What is the unifying idea here?’ one Libya-based Western diplomat asked. ‘It’s not as though removing Gaddafi was going to mean the... box would open and out pops Dubai. All the problems that were covered over, papered over or bribed over or suppressed, they are emerging again.’
PULLING TEETH
Working his phone to resolve another Tripoli blackout, Libyan Electricity Minister Ali Mihirig knows better than most how hard it will be to get the country working together. Back in Libya after three decades living in Canada, Mihirig is not only in charge of electricity but has spent the past year as a mediator and negotiator among the country’s myriad factions.
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