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Books on Libya
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Update No: 047 - (01/11/07)
Libya's Diplomatic Whirlwind
Although Libya's international rehabilitation owes much to its coveted crude oil
resources, the country's leader, Col. Qadhafi, has been cultivating the image of
diplomatic broker trying to resolve some of Africa's worse crises. In a sense
this is the flip side of the coin he played in the 1970's and 1980's, when Libya
helped foment rebel movements and freedom fighters of all stripes. The shift
effectively began as Qadhafi started to focus more on African unity, and less on
the prospects for an Arab one, in the late 1990's, proclaiming his desire to
help establish a United States of Africa. However, Libya's new role made its
grand appearance on the world stage when it played a key role in negotiations
with rebels of the Abu Sayyaf group, who were holding western hostages in a
jungle on the Philippine island of Jolo in April 2000. Reports suggested Qadhafi
paid $1m for each released hostage, but both Libya and the Philippines deny that
any ransom has been paid. Libya had been closely involved in negotiations with
the rebels and the Qadhafi Foundation, headed by Seif-ul Islam Qadhafi, offered
development aid to the region in exchange for the hostages. While sometimes
forgotten, the Philippine hostage negotiation was Qadhafi's first real attempt
to reopen links with the world in a positive manner, even as the Lockerbie trial
got underway. Since then, Libya has sponsored a variety of talks to resolve
international crises, but none so important - at least from the public relations
standpoint - as the UN and African Union-backed talks for peace in Darfur that
started at the end of October in Sirte.
Darfur
From Libya's perspective, the outcome of the talks are less important than the
fact that Qadhafi is seen as a promoter of peace and a leader who is actively
involved in helping to resolve humanitarian crises (that also happen to draw
considerable attention in the West). Only six of Darfur's rebel factions are
attending the talks in Libya, which as Qadhafi himself has acknowledged, will
not lead to any progress. The Libyan leader criticized the international
intervention in Darfur, noting that the local population should be left alone to
find a solution and that the crisis does not constitute a threat to
international peace and security. Yet Libya emerges as an important diplomatic
broker for African crises. In the past Libyan meddling in the continent involved
overt challenges to African governments by way of financial and arms backing for
rebel groups (Libya is said to have played a role in wars involving Liberia and
Sierra Leone in the 1990's), whereas now, Libya is re-invented as the
continent's main promoter of peace. The Darfur peace process has been deadlocked
since the Abuja meeting, as other rebel groups had refused the Abuja peace
agreement, claiming that it did not meet all their demands. The US president's
special envoy in the Sudan, Andrew Natsios, arrived in Libya to attend the peace
talks on the Sudanese Western region of Darfur, which began on October 27.
Natsios said that the United States fully supported Libya's efforts and key
roles to restore peace in Darfur. Natsios also acknowledged Libya's efforts
noting that it hosted two previous international meetings in April and July all
aimed at restoring peace in Darfur. While, Libya's diplomatic ambitions in
Africa started before the reconciliation with the 'international community',
there appears to be a strong desire on the part of Qadhafi to truly change his
image, not just with western governments and oil companies, but with the
ordinary people of these countries, such as to imply that he is in search of a
positive legacy. No doubt, efforts to bring peace to Darfur also offer Libya a
further means to ingratiate itself to the United States - in addition to oil.
France (via Chad)
Indeed, if Sudan and Darfur are of concern to the United States, Libya has also
been actively cultivating its relationship to France by playing a constructive
role in helping to resolve an longstanding internal conflict in the former
French colony, the central African country of Chad. Just before the Darfur peace
conference began, the Libyan leader hosted talks to curb the rebellion in Chad,
securing a peace agreement that brought together the presidents of Chad and
Sudan. Insurgent groups accused of being backed by Sudan, have fought a
rebellion against Chadian President Idriss Deby, for years in fighting related
to the Darfur conflict. This is all the more noteworthy as Libya had intervened
militarily and directly in Chadian internal disputes on four occasions: ( in
1978, 1979, 1980-1981 and 1983-1987). In all of these occasions Libya had allies
among factions participating in the civil war, while Libya's opponents found the
support of the French government, which intervened militarily to save the
Chadian government.
The Chad effort, which would certainly facilitate France's role in Chad (given
that it has troops and plans to supply peacekeepers to the area) may also be
part of the growing ties to France, highlighted by the Bulgarian nurses deal
last summer in which French president Sarkozy (and now ex-wife Cecilia) played
at the end, an important role. To this effect, various French sources have
indicated that Qadhafi would visit Paris next December, sometime before or after
a European Union-Africa summit in Lisbon on December 8-9. Sarkozy's office
confirmed a visit was being arranged but did not give a precise date. The trip
is very important (and somewhat embarrassing for Italy, as Qadhafi has not yet
visited Italy - the former colonial power - which was expected to take a
frontline role in spearheading Libya's diplomatic re-integration in Europe).
Sarkozy signed a defence accord and a memorandum of understanding for a nuclear
energy deal during his July trip. Libya is also rumoured to be ready to purchase
French anti-tank missiles and radio systems from European aerospace and defence
group EADS - which has faced some goverment scrutiny over allegations that the
arms deal was a trade-off for the release of the Bulgarian medics. While Qadhafi
is in search of improved weapons and prestige, France sees Libya as an important
potential growth market for many companies. Le Journal du Dimanche said
important French business deals could be signed during Qadhafi's visit to Paris.
As anticipated, France will likely sign a deal to maintain 15 Mirage F1 fighter
planes currently used by the Libyan air force, and might try to sell Libya the
Rafale combat jet. Both planes are made by French group Dassault Aviation. Libya
and France might discuss nuclear energy and water treatment or direct Libyan
investment in leading French companies (for years the Libyan government had
almost 15% of Fiat shares in Italy through its investment arm LAFICO). Sarkozy
and Qadhafi are also likely to discuss Sarkozy's proposal for a Mediterranean
Union.
Finally, if Africa were not enough of a concern, Libya has also hosted an
international peace conference to help resolve the inter-religious conflict in
South-East Asia in Tripoli. The conference was organized by the Qadhafi
Foundation for Development and aims to promote peaceful relations between
Muslims and Buddhists in Asia, especially in Thailand. The conference is
discussing conflicts and tensions in the Asian region, religion and politics,
culture, co-existence, Islamist and Buddhist concepts and the role of religious
hierarchies in containing hotspots. Thai religious leaders, the Dean of the
International Economic Management Academy in Macati City, in the Philippines,
the Chairman of the Buddhism Foundation, the Chairman of the Islamic Social and
Economic Development Foundation as well as the Chairman of the Islamic
Foundation in Thailand attended the conference.
Energy News
Eni SpA said it has reached a wide-ranging agreement with Libya's National Oil
Corporation (NOC) to increase Eni's gas and oil production. Eni and NOC have
renewed production contracts, extending their expiry to 2042 for oil and to 2047
for gas, and to invest USD 28 billion in oil and gas projects over ten years.
Eni and NOC will start drilling in areas close to existing oil fields and use
CO2 injection and water alternate gas technologies to maximize the production of
existing oil fields - presumably to extract heavier oil. Eni and NOC will expand
the export capacity of the Mellitah hub to 16 billion cubic meters of gas per
year from 8 billion. Eni is still the largest foreign operator in the country
with a total average daily production of about 250,000 barrels of oil.
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