Map Sahara (Britanicca)
Map 2 Sahara (Wikipedia)
The overwhelming majority of the Libyan people live at the northern coasts, with Tripoli (west) and Benghazi
Map 3 Tripoli and Benghazi
Map 4 “List of cities in Libya
Map 5 Demographic Map of Libya
Map 6 Provinces of Libya
These three provinces were for the first time administratively united by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, something which was not very appreciated by the local tribes that were not used to have any central authority. Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were mostly operating on the north-south axis and not on the west-east axis i.e. the emphasis was not on communicating with each other. Maybe the reason was that they were separated by 650 kilometers of desert, or maybe because they had many differences, or a combination.
The first Libyan oil fields were discovered in 1956, and the largest Libyan oil fields were discovered in 1959. See “National Oil Corporation : History”
Map 7
As you can see at the following maps from Al Jazeera and Wikipedia, Cyrenaica is the richest region of Libya
Map 8 Libyan Oil Fields and Pipelines (Al Jazeera)
Map 9 Libyan Pipelines Wikipedia
The strong tribe of Cyrenaica has traditionally been the Senussi or Sanusi. See Wikipedia “Senussi”.
The Senussi fought the Italians during World War Two on the side of the British, and in exchange the British promised that in case of victory they would make sure that Cyrenaical wasn’t controlled by the Italians. The British kept their promises and in 1951 Libay became an independent state, with the leader of the Senussi tribe as her King (King Idris). King Idris considered Cyrenaica to be his homeland, and he was actually not very enthusiastic about governing Tripolitania and Fezzan too.
King Idris was a pro-Western king, and Muammar Qaddafi, a Soviet ally, used King Idris alignment with the West in order to attack him and eventually overturn him in 1969. Qaddafi overturn King Idris in 1969, ten years after the main Libyan oil fields were found. Qaddafi used socialist and Arab nationalism to homogenize the population of Libya Cyrenaica were frustrated by that. Remember that Cyrenaica is richer in oil than Tripolitania .
However Qaddafi rose to power in 1969, and he appointed approximately 70% of Libyans as civil servants, in order to keep them happy and calm. Qaddafi was lucky because the oil prices were high during the 70s, due to the embargo on the oil sales that was imposed on the United States US support to Israel
However during the 80s, when oil prices were lower, it became tougher for Qaddafi to keep the various Libyan tribes happy, especially the ones from Cyrenaica , who were very often oppressed by him.
Map 10 “Oil Prices Since 1861”
Map 11
The Arabs of the Persian Gulf took advantage of the frustration of the people of Cyrenaica , in order to promote Islamism and attack Qaddafi. Remember that Qaddafi and the Arabs of the Gulf were competitors in the European and African oil markets, and Qaddafi was a Soviet ally while the Arabs of the Gulf were American allies. Qaddafi was using socialists to attack the monarchs of the Gulf, and the Arabs of the Gulf were using Islamists to attack Qaddafi. Also remember that Qaddafi, who was an Arab, supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), while all other Arabs with the exception of Syria supported Iraq Iran and not Iraq see “Libya and Syria
As you can read at the following article from the Council of Foreign Relations, which is a center-left American think-tank, Muammar Qaddafi helped organize many assassinations, or assassination attempts, against pro-Western leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Zaire, Tunisia. Moreover, as you can read at the same article, Qaddafi was running an academy for training socialist terrorists. Members of the most famous socialist terrorist organizations were trained in Qaddafi’s academy i.e. members of IRA (Ireland ), the Red Brigades (Italy ), ETA (Spain ), PLO (Palestine US
Even though Qaddafi was a very enthusiastic supporter of terrorism, he never supported Al Qaeda, and he was the first one to issue an international warrant against Osama bin Laden. The reason was that in the same way Qaddafi was using socialists to attack the Arabs of the Gulf, the Arabs of the Gulf were using Islamists to attack Qaddafi during the 42 years of his dictatorship. Many Libyan Islamists who were on the run ended up in Afghanistan in the 80s, where they fought against the Soviets during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Afghanistan , and the ones from Libya were in 2011 among the protagonists when the Arab Spring broke out in Libya Libya started from Cyrenaica . For the article of Council of Foreign Relations see “How Libya Got Off the List”, October 2007.
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On May 15, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the United States was removing Libya Libya Libya
In the early 1970s, Qaddafi established terrorist training camps on Libyan soil, provided terrorist groups with arms, and offered safe haven to terrorists, say U.S. Italy 's Red Brigades, and Palestinian groups such as the Palestine Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo
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One group that Libya Libya Tripoli
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At the same time, Qaddafi increasingly moved to cut Libya Libya 's terrorist training camps, cut ties to Palestinian militants, and extradited suspected terrorists to Egypt , Yemen , and Jordan
In August 2003, after protracted negotiations with UN, U.S., and UK representatives, Libya finally agreed to pay some $2.7 million in compensation to the victims of the Pan Am 103 bombing. Days later, Libya
I must also say that in 1990 the Libyan Islamists created the “Libyan Islamic Fighting Group”, an Islamist organization that was cooperating with Al-Qaeda, and which carried out 3 assassination attempts against Qaddafi. As a result, when the United States started having problems with the Saudis, and Al-Qaeda started attacking the Americans, Qaddafi saw in the US
As you can read at the following article from the American think-tank Jamestown Foundation, after the Al-Qaeda attack at the Twin Towers London
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Colonel Muammar Qadhafi's decades-long confrontation with the West has never given him much purchase among militant Islamists in Libya United States and join the Bush administration's war on terror, while the prospect of a LIFG takeover in Libya
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So long as oil revenues remained plentiful, however, clerical angst did not inspire broad-based challenges to Qadhafi's rule. With the decline of oil prices in the 1980s, however, educated Libyans began to deeply resent the regime's heterodox religious orientation, conspicuous corruption and economic mismanagement. Adding fuel to the fire, Saudi Arabia Afghanistan Libya in the early 1990s; others traveled to the Sudan , where Osama bin Laden had begun building what would become the al-Qaeda terrorist network, or took up residence in Britain
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Qadhafi demanded that the Sudanese government expel Libyan operatives from his camps and began ejecting thousands of Sudanese workers from the country. Under pressure from his hosts, bin Laden reluctantly informed his Libyan compatriots that they had to leave and gave them $2,400 each and plane tickets out of the country for their families. "Most of them, they refused the offer…they were very upset and angry," a Moroccan member of al-Qaeda later recalled.
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Following 9/11, Qadhafi jumped at the opportunity to collaborate in the Bush administration's war on radical Islamist terrorism. Just weeks after the attacks, a CIA team flew to London Britain 's M16 foreign intelligence service) with the names of LIFG operatives and other Libyan Islamists who trained in Afghanistan , as well as dossiers on LIFG leaders living in the UK
The American government, for its part, officially designated LIFG as a terrorist organization. Although LIFG does not have a presence in the United States U.S. United States (e.g. Pakistan , Egypt ) runs the risk of arrest and "rendition" back to Libya
Qaddafi’s cooperation with the US and England
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British intelligence and security service interest in Libya has focused for 20 years on the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), whether it was opposing Muammar Gaddafi and working with al-Qaida, later renouncing its old jihadi worldview – or taking part in the armed uprising that has now overthrown the regime.
Founded in 1990 in eastern Libya and accused of attempting to kill Gaddafi three times – according to unconfirmed claims with help from MI6 – the LIFG was effectively defeated on its home turf by 1998. Its cadres fled first to Sudan and Afghanistan and Iraq
According to Noman Benotman, a former LIFG commander who fought with Osama bin Laden, at its peak the group had 1,000 active members, training camps in Afghanistan and a network of supporters and fundraisers in Libya, the Middle East and Europe. Benotman now works as an analyst for the Quilliam Foundation, a UK government-funded counter-radicalisation thinktank in London
Other top ex-LIFG figures remain in al-Qaida. Its chief of operations, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan, was killed two weeks ago in a CIA drone strike. His likely successor, Abu Yahya al-Libi, is also Libyan.
Their cooperation against Al Qaeda was on of the reasons the Americans were initially reluctant to intervene in Libya Libya
Wesley Clark, the American General, was probably right when he was saying that an intervention in Libya Libya , an Islamsit one in Tripoli , supported by Turkey and Qatar , and a socialist one in Tobruk (east), supported by Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates and Egypt
Articles
“Revealed: how Blair colluded with Gaddafi regime in secret”, January 2015
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Tony Blair wrote to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to thank him for the “excellent cooperation” between the two countries’ counter-terrorism agencies following a period during which the UK and Libya worked together to arrange for Libyan dissidents to be kidnapped and flown to Tripoli, along with their families.
The letter, written in 2007, followed a period in which the dictator’s intelligence officers were permitted to operate in the UK
Addressed “Dear Mu’ammar” and signed “Best wishes yours ever, Tony”, the letter was among hundreds of pages of documents recovered from Libyan government offices following the 2011 revolution and pieced together by a team of London lawyers.
The lawyers are bringing damages claims on behalf of a dozen Gaddafi opponents who were targeted by the two countries’ agencies during the covert cooperation. The claimants were variously detained and allegedly mistreated in Saudi Arabia , rendered from Mali to Libya, or detained and subjected to control orders in the UK
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Blair’s letter from Downing Street was written on 26 April 2007, to inform Gaddafi that the UK was about to fail in its attempts to deport two Libyans allegedly linked to an Islamist opposition organisation, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The following day the court of appeal handed down ajudgment in which it said LIFG associates could not be deported to Libya
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Blair’s letter was written following several years of rapprochement between the UK and Libya, a process that gathered pace after the al-Qaida attacks of 9/11.
The UK
“Why is the Iran North Korea
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Only a few months later, American officials were able to display at Oak Ridge , Tenn. , nuclear equipment taken from Libya U.S. Lockerbie , Scotland
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
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However the organisation has a troubled history being under pressure from Muammar Gaddafi and shortly after the 9–11 attacks, LIFG was banned worldwide (as an affiliate of al-Qaeda) by the UN 1267 Committee.[4][6] Listed at the Foreign Terrorist Organizations,[7] the group has denied ever being affiliated with al-Qaeda, stating that it refused to join the global Islamic front Osama bin Laden declared against the west in 1998
“France , U.K. Libya
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The domestic political story is fairly straightforward. At the onset of the unrest in the Middle East, Paris
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The intervention in Libya therefore is a way to reassert to Europe, but particularly to Germany , that France Europe intends to be taken seriously as a global power, it will need French military power. France’s close coordination with the United Kingdom also is an attempt to further develop the military alliance between London and Paris formalized on Nov. 2, 2010, as a counter to Germany’s overwhelming economic and political power in the European Union.
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As for interests in Libya , France Libya Libya ’s plentiful and largely unexplored energy reserves, French energy companies could stand to profit from helping rebels take power in Tripoli Paris Libya — and 2011, Tripoli has purchased approximately half a billion dollars worth of arms from France , more than from any other country in Europe . However, the Italian government was in negotiation for more than a billion dollars worth of more deals in 2010, and it seemed that the Rome-Tripoli relationship was overtaking Paris’ efforts in Libya prior to the intervention.
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London has another significant interest, namely, energy. British energy major BP has no production in Libya, although it agreed with Tripoli Tripoli Libya and smooth relations between London and Tripoli
“Italy 's Berlusconi exposes NATO rifts over Libya
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Thursday he was against NATO intervention in Libya
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Potentially adding to the pressure on Italy to review its stance on Libya
“Eni, RepsolExpatriates Evacuated from Libya
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Oil giants Eni SpA and Repsol SA have evacuated expatriates from Libya
The move by the country's two largest foreign oil and gas investors, which comes after France's Total SA also pulled out its foreign staff, comes as capital's worst fighting in six months threatens Libya's fragile oil recovery.
“Libya : Turkey
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It would be absurd, unthinkable, he said. It should not even be discussed. Two weeks later he repeated that view. Nato intervention would be useless, he said, and would have dangerous consequences.
But this week, Turkish policy towards Libya Col Gaddafi's forces, Turkey Turkey
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So when the Arab uprisings began, Mr Erdogan was presented with a dilemma.
His political success in Turkey Israel
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It was also spurred on by seeing France France and Turkey Turkey Turkey was not invited to the summit meeting on Libya
French air attacks on Libyan ground forces were denounced by the Turkish Foreign Minister as going beyond what the UN had authorised. So when France objected to Nato taking command, Turkey
“Libya
“Libyan PM says Turkey supplyingweapons to rival Tripoli
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Two administrations, one in the capital and Thinni's in the east, have been battling for power since the armed group Libya Dawn seized Tripoli in July and reinstated lawmakers from a previous assembly, four years after Muammar Gaddafi was ousted.
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In the CBC interview, Thinni said Turkish firms would be excluded from contracts in territory controlled by his government, adding that any outstanding bills would be paid.
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Thinni also accused Qatar
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The Brotherhood has a presence in the rival parliament in Tripoli and western Libya
“Libyan PM says Turkey supplying weapons to rival Tripoli
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A spokesman for Turkey
"Instead of repeating the same baseless and untrue allegations, we advise them to support U.N. efforts for political dialogue," ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said.
"Our policy vis-a-vis Libya Libya
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In the CBC interview, Thinni said Turkish firms would be excluded from contracts in territory controlled by his government, adding that any outstanding bills would be paid.
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Thinni also accused Qatar
“Libyan PM accuses Qatar of sending planes with weapons to Tripoli
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Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said on Sunday Qatar had sent three military planes loaded with weapons to a Tripoli
The government had already accused Sudan of having tried to arm an Islamist-leaning group which seized Tripoli
“Pakistan
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Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist accused of selling nuclear secrets, was today freed from five years of house arrest by a court and immediately declared that he can now "lead a normal life".
Khan, lionised as the "father" of Pakistan 's atomic bomb, confessed in 2004 to selling nuclear secrets to Iran , North Korea and Libya
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Khan was detained in early 2004 after making a televised confession to nuclear proliferation, following intense international pressure on Pakistan. His nuclear trading network had been discovered by western intelligence agents.
A national hero in Pakistan
He said that, aside from having to maintain guards around him, he had been freed with the "blessing" of the government, which had been "very helpful".
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Pakistan has prevented foreign investigators from questioning Khan, insisting it has passed on all relevant information about nuclear proliferation. That bar is likely to remain.
“In U.S.-Libya Nuclear Deal, a Qaddafi Threat Faded Away”, March 2011
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The cache of nuclear technology that Libya turned over to the United States , Britain
The whole package of goods came from a deal the Qaddafis struck with Abdul Qadeer Khan, one of the architects of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, who built the world’s largest black-market network in nuclear technology. The $100 million to $200 million that the Central Intelligence Agency later estimated that Libya
“Turkey 's Secret Proxy War in Libya
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The Libyan Civil War, which began after Qaddaffi’s fall, is often describedas a proxy war, with Egypt and the United Arab Emirates reportedly backing al-Thinni and the officially recognized government in Tobruk, and Qatar and Turkey Tripoli Turkey
Saudis Detail Alleged Libyan Murder Plot”, March 2005
“US to renew full ties with Libya
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The US is to renew full diplomatic relations with Libya
The US has not had normal relations with Libya
It lifted many economic sanctions and restored some ties in 2004 after Libya
The US secretary of state said Libya
Announcing the move to renew diplomatic ties, Condoleezza Rice praised Libya
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The announcement comes more than 25 years after diplomatic relations were severed following the 1979 sacking of the US embassy in Tripoli by protesters.
The US carried out air attacks on Libya in 1981 and 1986 and Tripoli was held responsible for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie , Scotland
In 2003 Libya
It is also reported to have helped Western intelligence agencies with information about the Pakistan
In September 2004 President Bush ordered the end of many economic sanctions against Libya
“Libya
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Relations between the two states have a history of tension ever since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the Libyan monarchy in 1969 and declared himself a revolutionary leader committed to fighting conservative Arab regimes - with Saudi Arabia at the top of the list - says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi.
Ties improved during the 1980s but nosedived again during the run-up to the Iraq
Then, in a summit spat broadcast live on Arab satellite television, Colonel Gaddafi publicly accused the Saudis of betraying their Arab brethren and of being subservient to the Americans. Crown Prince Abdullah reacted angrily, calling him a liar.
“Libya
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“Italy
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The longest underwater pipeline in the Mediterranean runs from the coast of Libya to the Italian island of Sicily
Of all the mutual back-scratching among Europe's rich democracies and North Africa's strongmen, Italy Libya Italy agreed to invest $5 billion in Libya , Gaddafi has kept a tight grip on the attempts by his citizens and other African migrants to take ships northward on the Mediterranean .
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The two countries — which are geographically close and connected by a history of colonialism, with complementary economies — have long had tight ties. But under Berlusconi, the relationship reached new levels of chumminess. Whenever Gaddafi visited Italy Italy
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Today the Italian approach seems to have backfired. Libya Europe is bracing itself for a new round of immigration. And investors have been racing to sell off shares of companies like ENI, which are strongly invested in Gaddafi's Libya
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