we stand with people's libya On 3/2/11, Ghulam Muhammed <[email protected]> wrote: > THERE NOTHING MUCH TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE US AND QADDAFI, WHEN IT COMES TO > VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD. US IS AS BRUTAL, AS > INSENSITIVE, AS UNMINDFUL OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAWS, AS QADDAFI COULD BE. > THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO IS THAT US HAS AN UNDUE ADVANTAGE OF THE > WORLD MEDIA AND WEAK UN MEMBERS TO FORCE A WIDER APPEARANCE OF CONSENSUS > THAN QADDAFI WOULD EVEN BOTHER. > > HOWEVER, THE THREAT TO THE WORLD PEACE IS MORE FROM US ACTIONS THAN THAT OF > QADDAFI. > > GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/world/africa/02tribes.html?_r=1&nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua2 > > > > Even a Weakened Qaddafi May Be Hard to Dislodge By STEVEN > ERLANGER<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/steven_erlanger/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > Published: > March 1, 2011 > *PARIS — The regime of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar > el-Qaddafi<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/q/muammar_el_qaddafi/index.html?inline=nyt-per>, > has been badly undermined, but he retains enough support among critical > tribes and institutions, including parts of the army and the air force, that > he might be able to retain power in the capital, Tripoli, for some time to > come, say experts on > Libya<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/libya/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>and > its military. > > * > > * They caution that the situation on the ground is both fluid and confusing. > But they emphasize that tribal loyalties remain an important indicator, and > that there is no clear geographical dividing line between the opponents to > Colonel Qaddafi and his supporters. * > > * They suggest that eastern Libya, which was first to fall to the > opposition, was always considered the most rebellious part of the country > and had been starved of funds and equipment by Colonel Qaddafi. The region, > known as Cyrenaica, was an Italian colony and the heartland of the Senussi > tribe that produced the monarch, King Idris I, who was overthrown by Colonel > Qaddafi and his army colleagues in 1969. * > > * But they suggest that tribes in the other important areas of Libya — > Tripolitania and Fezzan — remain nominally loyal to the regime. The > revolutionaries of 1969 came largely from three tribes — the Qadhadhfa (the > colonel’s own ), the Maghraha and the Warfalla — which had been subservient > to the Senussis. * > > * The Warfalla are now wavering, with its leaders supporting the opposition, > having been implicated in coup attempts in the 1990’s, but its other members > split. The other two tribes “still seem loyal so far to the regime, in which > they have vested interests,” said George Joffé, a scholar of North Africa at > Cambridge > University<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/cambridge_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>in > England. > * > > * Other tribes in the areas of Fezzan and Tripolitania are “watching and > waiting,” Mr. Joffé said. * > > * Another source of potential opposition might be the old Free Officers > Movement, he added, an Arab nationalist group that carried out the 1969 coup > but was subsequently marginalized by the Qaddafi regime. * > > * “It’s quite clear that the army, some 45,000 strong, has split, but in > exactly what proportions we don’t know,” Mr. Joffé said. * > > * Colonel Qaddafi mistrusted the army and monitored its behavior carefully. > He paid particular attention to the units in the rebellious east of the > country, starving them of the best equipment and training, which he reserved > to more loyal tribes and paramilitary units, said Shashank Joshi, an > Associate Fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, which > specializes in the military. * > > * “The situation is more fluid than we imagine, with Qaddafi capable of > launching military operations outside Tripoli,” including air force sorties, > “and retaining his grip on Sirte,” Mr. Joshi said. “Qaddafi has retained > significant elements of the army and lost the elements he was always afraid > he could lose, those affiliated with tribes he had targeted.” * > > * The discovery of large deposits of oil changed the old bargain among > tribes and areas in Libya, and both required and enabled Colonel Qaddafi to > build more of a centralized state to fully exploit the resource, said > Jean-Yves Moisseron, editor in chief of the French-based magazine > “Maghreb-Machrek,” which concentrates on the Arab world. * > > * Oil revenues also enabled Colonel Qaddafi to spread the wealth among > tribes, reducing traditional conflicts, Mr. Moisseron said, and to build up > a well equipped paramilitary system loyal to the regime. * > > * Colonel Qaddafi at the same time established other military and > paramilitary units, like the 32d Brigade, based in Tripoli and commanded by > one of his sons, Khamis. That brigade, which is known as the “deterrent > brigade,” is used for internal repression and is backed up by foreign > mercenaries. Its size is not clear, but it is said to be equipped with > advanced arms and munitions and trained by outsiders. * > > * The mercenaries themselves are an offshoot of the Islamic Legion, a > pan-Arab expeditionary force Colonel Qaddafi established in 1972, soon after > taking power, when he tried to create a grand Islamic state of the Sahel. > First focused on Chad and Sudan, it was made up of immigrants from poorer > African countries looking for work. * > > * The idea was recreated after 2000 to bolster the regime, and recruits were > drawn from the million or so sub-Saharan Africans who had come to Libya to > find work or as refugees, Mr. Joffé said. * > > * In addition, Colonel Qaddafi also set up the Revolutionary Committee > Movement, itself a paramilitary unit mostly drawn from the same three > reliable tribes, the Warfalla, the Qadhadhfa and the Maghraha, which was > used to terrify opponents with revolutionary justice. * > > * In general, Mr. Joffé said, some 119,000 Libyans are part of the security > services, including the army of some 45,000, out of a largely desert country > of only some 6.4 million people. * > > * But the oil-based pact in Libya suffered from a stagnation in oil revenues > and the global economic crisis of 2008, which reduced Libyan oil revenues by > 40 percent, Mr. Moisseron wrote in an article for Libération, the French > daily “The most worrisome sign for the immediate future of Colonel Qaddafi > is the rupturing of the tribal pact,” he said. * > > * But Colonel Qaddafi retains significant strength, Mr. Joshi said. He is > thought to still control the air force, though some elements have defected. > And while there have been clashes in Tripoli, with sniper and small-arms > fire in areas of the capital, “it is not a war zone and not a city in > rebellion,” he said. * > > * While the colonel is thought to be delusional, he and his commanders have > proved capable so far of using their forces with some care, Mr. Joshi said. > “There have been no large massacres, air power is being used in a calculated > way and he is launching probing attacks” while “making constant efforts in > the suburbs of Tripoli to check small gestures of dissent.” * > > * The struggle in Libya “could go on a long time,” Mr. Joshi said. “Tripoli > is not a bunker. And this is not the decision-making of a man totally out of > touch with reality.” * > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "humanrights movement" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. > >
-- Best Regards, Arshad Sulahri President Amnesty Pakistan Sulahria House Lane No10.Sadiq Town, Dhamah Adyala Road Rawalpindi.Punjab Pakistan-44000 FAX:092515570431 Ph:092515383452 CELL: 03455279224 Email:[email protected] [email protected] web:www.amnestypakistan.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
