Libya's Constitutional Drafting Assembly holding meetings in Oman

The Libyan Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDA) has already held two meetings in the city of Salalah, Oman. The most recent meeting concentrated on efforts to end the boycott of the CDA by members from the Tebu and Tuareg tribes.

The two Tebu and two Tuareg members walked out of the CDA last August after complaining that the Committee refused to take into account rights of Libyan minorities. However, they attended the most recent meeting. The Special Representative of the Secretary General, Martin Kobler, also attended the meeting. No one attended from Oman as officials did not want to interfere in Libyan affairs. Kobler tweeted:“Listening to Tebu and Twareg @CDALibya. Protection of rights is absolute must. Constitution must satisfy all.” Kobler said he was also encouraged by the spirit of compromise among those at the meeting. Kobler said that the mission of the UN in Libya is not to intervene in the political issues but to support by providing technical advice.

Kobler thought the meeting important enough to issue a short press release on the UNSMIL site. The meeting was designed to discuss constitutional issues that had yet to be solved. As usual any negative aspects of what has been happening with the CDA are completely ignored. For example, the head of the CDA, Ali Al-Tourani, who has dual American and Libyan citizenship,was disqualified from his position after some members of the CDA brought a suit against him resulting in a court decision that he did not qualify for the position.

There are also 11 members, mostly from western areas of Libya, who were not present at meetings. They are boycotting the meetings because they object to the manner in which jobs and positions are being divided on the basis of a third each to the three traditional divisions,Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. Tripolitania in the west contains two-thirds of Libya's population and the boycotters think this should be reflected in the division of jobs. The boycotting members have other objections as well. Members of the judiciary have protested against the draft constitution, complaining that the group refused to enshrine independence of the judiciary in the draft as they recommended.

Articles to be included in the draft constitution must be approved by a vote of two-thirds plus one or 41 votes. There are only 33 members in the sessions in Oman according to the Libya Herald. There are not enough to pass any articles. There are only 41 members altogether taking part in CDA proceedings. In other words they need all to be present and all vote in favor of any article for it to be adopted. A number of members of the CDA refused to travel to Oman. They said the discussions could have taken place in Libya just as easily. None of this is mentioned in Kobler's press release. The Gulf News claims that 56 of 60 members of the CDA attended the first meeting on Saturday. This conflicts with other sources and makes no sense when there are 11 boycotters plus a number of members who objected to meeting in Oman and refused to go.

Southern Libya Tuareg and Tebu tribes agree to ceasefire

After a conflict that has lasted over a year, the Tebu and Tuareg tribes that control territory in the south of Libya have signed a ceasefire. Much of the conflict has been in the southern city of Obari.

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The deal was worked out with Qatar acting as mediator and was signed in Doha, Qatar on November 23. There will be an immediate ceasefire and thousands of people displaced during the conflict will be able to return. In July of this year, the battle between the two tribes reached into Sebha or Sabha, the largest city in the south, causing hundreds to flee their homes. An attempt to negotiate a truce in September failed due to violations of the ceasefire. More details are given at the usually pro-HoR Libya Herald. The Herald expresses scepticism about the present ceasefire as well.

The Toubou or Tebu are a group of Berbers. They live primarily in northern Chad, but there are also significant numbers in southern Libya, and some also in Southern Sudan and Niger. The group were discriminated against during the Gadaffi regime and fought with other rebels against him. The Tuareg are also a Berber nomadic group who live mostly in Niger and Mali. They often are in conflict with governments as they seek autonomy. At one time they controlled much of northern Mali. There are a significant number of Tuareg in the south western part of Libya. The group being nomadic, as are the Tebu, they often move from one country to another.

The Tuareg representative, Mustafa Salem, said to an Al-Jazeera reporter:"Signing this deal means the start of the construction and development period, and reconciliation. After 14 months of war, I think all of us are convinced that no one has interest in war.There are fingers of regional powers and competing political orientations and ideologies...it is not a merely tribal conflict."The Tripoli-based General National Congress(GNC) applauded the ceasefire and thanked Qatar in its role as mediator. The GNC saw the agreement as a move towards reconciliation in the whole of southern Libya.

Youssef Cherif, a political analyst based in Tunis, claimed the situation remains fragile:"While the Tripoli government welcomes the news, [on] the other side - the [UN-recognised] Tobruk government and Khalifa Haftar - there is a lot of criticism." Khalifa Haftar is the commander of the armed forces of the internationally-recognized House of Representatives(HoR) based in Tobruk. The GNC has often accused Haftar of fomenting strife in southern Libya to gain control of the area for groups favourable to the HoR and himself.

Tribal clashes hit southern Libyan city of Sabha

While much of Libya is divided up into areas controlled by the rival governments in Tripoli and Tobruk, some parts of the south are still controlled by tribal groups who often clash with each other.

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In southern Libya, the largest city of Sabha has seen fighting break out between members of the Tuareg and Tebu tribes for control of the key city. According to the city's mayor, Hamed al-Khayali, the conflict began in a suburb four days ago after a member of the Tebu tribe was killed at a checkpoint. He said that in all around 29 members of the Tuareg tribe were killed and four more wounded in the clashes. A local Tebu official said eight Tebu were killed and 18 wounded. The mayor said attempts to negotiate a truce had failed. The Tuareg are also active in northern Mali.

While Sabha is nominally under the control of the Tripoli government, military officials in Tripoli did not respond to a request for help to restore order in the city. The Tuareg control much of south-western Libya. The Tuareg were supporters of Gadaffi when he was in power and there were clashes between the two groups then, but Gadaffi was able to keep a semblance of order in the area compared to the present situation. There have been shortages of many supplies developing in the south as the two rival governments compete with each other and fight with Islamic State militants as well. Flights from Tripoli have been cancelled.

Sabha is about 700 km south of Tripoli. The Tripoli government is not recognized internationally but controls the capital and much of western Libya.

There were also clashes near the city of Derna on the coast in eastern Libya. The Islamic State has been driven out of the city by an umbrella group of rival jihadists. However the Islamic State still occupies mountainous areas near the city. A spokesperson for the military of the Tobruk government that controls most of the surrounding area said that three IS fighters had been killed in clashes with its troops.

U.S. Special Forces in Mali

An article in the Washington Post by Craig Whitlock  reveals some details about U.S. Special Forces operations in Mali. He has a fascinating story about the crash of a jeep back on April 20 in the capital Bamako. The jeep went through a guard rail on a bridge and crashed into a river killing three U.S. Army commandos and three women. The women were apparently known as prostitutes. The crash took place early in the morning just before dawn.
   This crash happened a month after the U.S. had supposedly suspended military operations in Mali after a coup by Captain Sanogo. The coup leader was himself  U.S. trained. Military officials have yet to fully explain what the commandos were doing.
   What is clear is that Special Forces are engaged in counter terrorism operations. Obama has spoken of his desire to rely on Special Operations forces rather than regular troops. Their ranks have been increasing. The group still remaining in Mali were said to be there to provide assistance to the U.S. embassy in Mali and were winding down civil affairs but hoped to resume activity soon. Two of those killed were communications specialists.
    For about six years the U.S. has been increasing military and training programs in Mali. Rather than crushing Islamic radicalism the result has been increased activity and now the Islamists (Ansar Dine) have wrested control of the whole of  northern Mali from control of the Tuareg and the central government.
   Earlier the U.S. had carried out an extensive classified program called Creek Sand. There was even a plan to embed U.S. special forces commandos with Malian troops but this was rejected by the U.S. ambassador. No doubt the U.S. will again become involved once the post coup government is more stable. Of course the U.S. trained coup leader was never punished for overthrowing a democratically elected president. Instead Captain Sanogo was able to gain influence in the new government. For more see this article.

African states seek UN resolution authorizing military intervention in Mali

The northern part of Mali has been taken over by Tuareg rebels and Islamists. The Tuareg have declared the area the independent state of Azawad. However no country has recognized the state as yet.

ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) has requested a UN resolution that would legitimize military action against the northern rebels. A Security Council diplomat said:"It's going to take some time before the Security Council is in a position to approve outside intervention in Mali," "It's not that we're opposed, it's just that there are many questions about how it would be done that need to be answered first." The African Union has also requested a resolution that would sanction intervention.

The original coup that overthrew the democratic president of Mali was motivated partly by the fact that the Mali government had not put down the rebellion in the north. However the coup itself led by a U.S. trained captain created conditions which allowed the rebels to consolidate their hold on the entire northern part of the country. Now it appears that the transitional government is intent on getting outside help to drive out the rebels and retake the territory.. There seems to be no talk of negotiations. Expect a long and bloody war supported by the U.S. France and other western powers. For more see this article.

U.S. troops sent to Mali on "standby" status

   In 2009 U.S. began anti-terrorist training of Malian armed forces

A small group of U.S. troops are in Mali on what is termed "standby" status even though the U.S. has suspended military cooperation. The coup leader is U.S. trained. Apparently negotiations for return to civilian rule are ongoing.

Over the weekend the African Command sent what it called advisory troops to the capital Bamako, Interesting that the insurgents let foreign troops in with not even any complaints it seems. A spokesperson for the African command said:.“The U.S. military members will not engage with the Malian military … until the current situation is resolved and the U.S. Government approves restitution of the long-standing U.S.-Malian partnership,”

Notice that the situation is not described as a coup. This is the same line that the U.S. took in Honduras. The situation there ended up with the elected president who was kidnapped in the coup never returning to power. Eventually a new president was elected under a government set up by the coup. The press then turned to other events. The ruling clique and the U.S. troops stationed in Honduras carried on as usual. So did the drug lords. Deciding a coup had taken place would mean cutting off all aid.

Meanwhile in the north the Tuareg rebels seem to have captured most if not all of the northern territory. They have even declared independence and imposed Sharia law. The U.S. will certainly not accept the situation and is no doubt anxious for some settlement with the rebels so that the Malian armed forces can begin retaking the north no doubt with the help of U.S. advisers and perhaps even drone attacks as in Yemen.. The rebellion was promoted on the grounds that the rebellion in the north was not being put down as it should have been.

The African Command spokesperson said:. “We’re still considering this a ‘mutiny’ with uncertain results,” Some of the Turareg rebels may have come from Libya as Gadaffi forces were defeated. Many were in the Gadaffi armed forces. For more see this article.

U.S. trained Mali coup leader

The leader of the Mali coup Captain Amadou Sanogo participated in a U.S. training program and has visited the U.S. several times. Sanogo trained as a part of the U.S. International Military Education and Training Program. The program is sponsored by the State Department.

Participants are handpicked by U.S. embassy staff in the countries involved. Sanogo with soldiers loyal to him staged a coup and looted the presidential palace in the process. The democratically elected president Amadou Toure is being held by the coup leaders. Sanogo staged the coup just a month before elections.

Sanogo says that the government did not provide enough resources to fight Tuareg rebels in the north. No doubt he hopes that the U.S. or others will provide military aid. Some of the Tuareg fought for the Gadaffi regime in Libya.

The coup was relatively bloodless. The coup claims that three were killed and about 40 wounded. However, these are figures from those who staged the uprising.

Sanogo claims he will call an election as soon as he puts down aa Tuareg insurgency in the north of the country. Good luck! Tuareg rebellions began back in 1916 and there have been five since. The most recent rebels have merged as the National Movement for Liberation of Azawad. See this article.

There has been widespread looting by soldiers in Bamako. Sanogo blames the looting on ill intentioned individuals. These individuals of course are among those who brought him to power.

The U.S. has condemned the coup, so has the African Union. The African Union suspended Mali's membership in the Union. The U.S. will continue its 140 million dollar aid program and has no plans to suspend it. For more see this article.

African Union suspends Mali membership after military coup

Rebels in Presidential Palace

As well as suspending Mali the AU is sending a mission to Mali to investigate after mutinying soldiers took over power. The AU met on Friday and said it would deploy a group to Bamaka the capital of Mali immediately.

Chairman of the AU Jean Ping said that the coup was a backward step for Mali and to attempts to promote democracy in Africa. The coup toppled President Amadou Toure's democratically elected government. The armed forces have complained that the government has not provided the resources they need to fight Tuareg rebels in the north of the country.

The rebels who call themselves the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad are Tuareg who live in the Azawad area that straddles several different African countries. Some of them fought for Gadaffi in Libya and have now returned many with weapons.

The rebels insist that they will dislodge the Malian armed forces and the Malian administration from all the Azawad area which is in the north of Mali. Both the World Bank and African Development Bank announced they were suspending all development aid to Mali pending the restoration of constitutional government.

The rebels claim to have seized the town of Anefis which is on the highway linking the two main northern towns of Gao and Kidal. In the capital Bamako residents say that bread and fuel supplies were running low as the soldiers looted gas stations and shops and even took cars. For more see this Al Jazeera article.

Mali: Tuareg rebels threaten northern city

  Tuareg rebels have taken up positions near the city of  Kidal in northern Mali. The Tuareg are a nomadic group who inhabit regions in several countries. The entire region is called by them the Azawad. They have been rebelling for almost a century! See this article for their most recent actions.
    Many of the Tuareg were active in Gadaffi's Libyan armed forces. With the defeat of Gadaffi many have migrated back into the Azawad regions. Some say they have brought with them many weapons. In Mali the rebellion was ended in 2009 but relations between the group and the central government have remained strained.
     Security forces recently in Kidal stopped protests against the arrest of two female members of the Tuareg. The rebels have attacked six towns in the region of late. A rebel spokesperson said  that their strategy was to begin with small towns but that they had the capacity to take larger towns. He said:“Like all the other major towns in the north, Kidal is one of the towns we intend to take over,”“Our strategy has been to attack smaller towns with major military bases first so later we don’t have to worry about attacks coming from many directions." Obviously these clashes could evolve into a major civil war in the north of Mali. For more see this article.