Libyan unrest moves west
As gun battles rage between rival militias in the Libyan capital and other cities, observers fear a slide into civil war, writes Kamel Abdallah in Tripoli
People gather around the wreckage of a car after an explosion in Benghazi June 26, 2013, (photo: Reuters)
As though infected by the plague of armed violence that has plagued Benghazi for many weeks, a wave of fierce skirmishes between rival militias erupted in the Libyan capital on 25 June between the Islamist-oriented militia of Al-Ghani Al-Kakoli, based in the Abu Salim district in southern Tripoli, and members of the Al-Qaaqaa Brigade based in Zintan.
One of the largest cities in northwestern Libya, Zintan is situated roughly 130km southwest of Tripoli in what the Libyan Amazigh call the Nafusa Mountains.
Abu Salim, or Bu Slim as it is pronounced locally, is the largest district in the Libyan capital and home to the notorious Abu Salim prison, reputedly the worst prison in Libyan history.
The prison was the scene of a major massacre of Islamist detainees that took place in 1996. Security forces in the prison "executed" more than 1,250 detainees, whose bodies were initially interred in mass graves inside the prison compound. Subsequently, the stench of rotting corpses made it clear that they had not been buried properly and they were exhumed and reburied outside the prison complex.
This latest round of warring between militias occurred in the context of the grey area where tribal interests and affiliations variously intersect or clash with political interests and affiliations, in this case the latter.
Libyan sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the battle between the Al-Kakoli and Al-Qaaqaa Brigades was triggered by an order issued by Salah Al-Birki, chief of the oil installation security guards, to a militia member to the effect that the Al-Tabu tribes should escort a team of Spanish oil workers to the Al-Fil oil fields.
These fields are guarded by militias from Zintan, and the latter objected to the order, regarding it as tantamount to a declaration of war on the part of Al-Birki.
The Al-Fil oil fields, located in the southeast of the country near the city of Obari, are one of Libya's most important. With a capacity of 130,000 barrels a day, the fields are jointly operated by the Libyan Malita Oil and Gas Company and the Italian Eni Company, which is one of the largest investors in the Libyan oil and gas sector.
Production at Al-Fil ground to a halt on the Tuesday before last, when oil workers went on strike to demand a pay hike and the abolition of a tax on salaries that had been levied under the previous regime. The conflict involving the militia that guards the fields added to the causes of the prolonged halt in production.
Salah Al-Birki is a former jihadist who was in prison until the 17 February uprising against the regime led by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, during which he was a commander of an anti-regime militia. Under the transitional government that came to power following Gaddafi's fall, Al-Birki succeeded in obtaining an official appointment as head of the oil facility guards in the region.
Libyans in Bu Slim describe Al-Kakoli as being the de facto ruler of the district, and according to those interviewed by the Weekly Al-Kakoli takes orders directly from Al-Birki. Al-Kakoli was also a jihadist under the former Gaddafi regime. The two men are among the many militia leaders who have capitalised on the 17 February Revolution in order to assert their control over various security agencies in Libya.
Members of the Al-Qaaqaa militia accuse Al-Kakoli and Al-Birki of fabricating crises in order to drive them out of the capital. Fierce gun battles have been raging in Tripoli between rival militias bent on securing territory and eventually monopolising control. The Al-Qaaqaa militia members have charged that the Al-Kakoli and Al-Birki-led militias of killing civilians and torturing captives.
People interviewed in Zintan told the Weekly that members of the Libyan General National Congress (GNC) were aware of the warfare between the various militias in Benghazi and Tripoli. As one person put it, "they know it's a volcano spewing fire before it erupts," the implication being that Libya is on the verge of plunging into a full-scale civil war along tribal lines.
A closer look at the fighting that has been taking place in Benghazi and Tripoli over the past weeks supports this assessment. The battles that flared outside the Libya Shield Camp in Benghazi's Koweifiya district at the beginning of June were initiated by a group that rejects the current command structure of the Libya Shield because most of its commanders come from or have their roots in Misrata in western Libya.
Easterners, from whom a good many police and army officials have been drawn, have been incensed at what they have interpreted as deliberate slights, if not attempts on the part of the west to dominate the east, as was the case under the previous regime.
It appears that people in Zintan share similar sentiments. "The designs that the Islamist leaders of the militias in the capital are harbouring towards Zintan do not bode well," said one source. "Although the Zintan brigades have shown only the best intentions towards Libya and toward those leaders, the Islamist militia leaders are apparently bent on evil."
During the revolution, the Zintan militia, which was also fighting the Gaddafi regime, seized control of what was formerly the Mitiga International Airport which once served as the largest US military base in the region. After the fall of Gaddafi, the militia officially handed over control of the airport to the interim government headed by Abdel-Rahim Al-Kib.
However, an Islamist militia under the command of Abdel-Raouf Kara subsequently seized control of the militia. Kara is closely connected with the jihadists and the Libyan chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and there have been substantiated reports that the Islamist militias have turned the airbase into their version of Guantanamo Bay, if not into something worse.
In spite of various patterns of intersecting interests, the splintering between the Islamist-oriented and regionally affiliated militias has increased beyond expectation in pace and scale over the past month. The battles to the east in Benghazi during "Black Saturday" and the following Saturday earlier this month and the recent militia warfare in Tripoli testify to this ominous trend.
It also appears that both sides fear the other more than ever, as the fighting has given them a sense of their adversaries' strength. The militias on both sides possess arsenals that are far superior to the weaponry at the disposal of official government forces, yet both sides are also shielded by official political support from the government and the GNC.
With militias bristling with arms and gunmen shooting it out in the streets, many Libyans believe that the international community must now devote closer attention to the state of lawlessness that is gripping their country. Indeed, some GNC members have openly begun to hope for another international military intervention in order to restore security in the country before the situation deteriorates further into civil war.
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