Libyan tribes are they able to implode the country? In his speech broadcast live on air on state television, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi stirred the threat of clan divisions. "Libya is a society of clans and tribes," he said. This could cause civil war. " While the riots were quelled, the son of Colonel Gaddafi gave assurances that the regime would fight to the last man to remain in place.
Representatives from various tribes have reacted violently to the bloody suppression of protests. Al-Warfala tribe, one of the nation's largest with nearly one million members, has urged people to oppose the regime. A call followed by another major clan, the Tuaregs, who have nearly 500 000 people.
Protesters from the tribe have attacked government buildings and several police stations, according to Al Jazeera. The same day, the leader of the tribe Al Zouaya, Faraj al-Zouway has threatened to cut off oil exports to Western countries if the violence did not cease within twenty-four hours.
"Libya has a dozen tribes. They are like a family, a safe haven at the lack of institutions," said Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM) . Many Libyans themselves first members of a clan before being citizens of a country.
The strength of these allegiances dating back to colonial times, when tribes had united against Italian rule. Today, leaders of different tribes occupy key positions in the army, administration, business. Since his coup in 1969, Colonel Gaddafi, hostile to any form of centralized government, has focused on these type of family ties, in which he draws a form of legitimacy.
"It divides to conquer. He has placed chiefs to head Commandments popular and social, designed to include the different factions in the political decision making. Many of them are represented in the army," explains Diederik Vandewalle, a professor at Dartmouth, an expert on Libya. A strategy that, today, may turn against him.
Traveled to multiple allegiances, the army is far from acting as a single man. "That's why the regime brought in foreign mercenaries to quell the uprising. It can apply to members of a clan fighting its own. It could tribal warfare," says Riccardo Bocco, Professor of Development Studies at the 'Graduate Institute, Geneva.
"The regime has sown hatred between tribes, the risk of confrontation in a fall from power is real, especially if some clans looking to take their revenge by destroying the tribe of Gaddafi," Moncef Ouannès analysis, a professor at the University of Tunis. "The tribes are not able to topple the regime in the immediate relativizes Diederik Vandewalle.
But if the government collapsed, the logical clan could then reassert itself." 
Representatives from various tribes have reacted violently to the bloody suppression of protests. Al-Warfala tribe, one of the nation's largest with nearly one million members, has urged people to oppose the regime. A call followed by another major clan, the Tuaregs, who have nearly 500 000 people.
Protesters from the tribe have attacked government buildings and several police stations, according to Al Jazeera. The same day, the leader of the tribe Al Zouaya, Faraj al-Zouway has threatened to cut off oil exports to Western countries if the violence did not cease within twenty-four hours.
"Libya has a dozen tribes. They are like a family, a safe haven at the lack of institutions," said Hasni Abidi, director of the Center for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM) . Many Libyans themselves first members of a clan before being citizens of a country.
The strength of these allegiances dating back to colonial times, when tribes had united against Italian rule. Today, leaders of different tribes occupy key positions in the army, administration, business. Since his coup in 1969, Colonel Gaddafi, hostile to any form of centralized government, has focused on these type of family ties, in which he draws a form of legitimacy.
"It divides to conquer. He has placed chiefs to head Commandments popular and social, designed to include the different factions in the political decision making. Many of them are represented in the army," explains Diederik Vandewalle, a professor at Dartmouth, an expert on Libya. A strategy that, today, may turn against him.
Traveled to multiple allegiances, the army is far from acting as a single man. "That's why the regime brought in foreign mercenaries to quell the uprising. It can apply to members of a clan fighting its own. It could tribal warfare," says Riccardo Bocco, Professor of Development Studies at the 'Graduate Institute, Geneva.
"The regime has sown hatred between tribes, the risk of confrontation in a fall from power is real, especially if some clans looking to take their revenge by destroying the tribe of Gaddafi," Moncef Ouannès analysis, a professor at the University of Tunis. "The tribes are not able to topple the regime in the immediate relativizes Diederik Vandewalle.
But if the government collapsed, the logical clan could then reassert itself."
No comments:
Post a Comment