POWER BROKERS n°1080 - 03/10/2013 Oil falls victim to tribal quarrels The blockade of Libya’s oil facilities, initially driven by “wage” demands by former rebels in charge of protecting them, is now complicated by tribal factors. The government’s powerlessness in responding to Ibrahim Al Jadhran (see opposite) whose men have been blocking the Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Zuweitina and Marsa Al Hariga oil terminals since the end of July, can be explained by the fact he belongs to the Mgharba tribe. Tripoli doesn’t want to alienate this powerful tribe that is rooted along the entire eastern coast and already susceptible to strong autonomist sentiments. Al Jadhran has additionally made a point of rallying to the Toubous in southern Libya. According to Maghreb Confidential’s sources, the Toubous have already dispatched 225 fighters to bolster Al Jadhran’s forces at Aidabiya. Although they form a small minority, the Toubous are nonetheless able to block production on fields in the southwest like Elephant, Murzug and Sharara where they see to the field’s security. To further complicate matters, the Toubous have been fighting openly since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi with the Zwai tribe. The latter has forged alliances with other tribes in Libya’s east and center, including the Kadhafa and Barasi communities. Tripoli has little leverage to resolve the crisis. A delegation of dignitaries from Tripolitania and from Djebel Nefoussa travelled in late September to Ajdabiya to try to mediate but was sent packing by Al Jadhran. And a military option seems unthinkable. Urged by PM Ali Zeidan to deal with the problem, the special forces chief in Cyrenaica, Wanis Boukhmada (also read p.4) thought it best to do nothing. As for the president of the General National Congress, the Moslem Brotherhood member Nuri Ali Abusahman, he could be tarnished by the Naji Mokhtar affair. A legislator from Sebha and chairman of the energy committee, Mokhtar confessed to paying over 4 million dinars to Al Jadhran, officially to lift the blockade. For the moment, he has agreed to carry the can, claiming it was his own initiative and that the money came from his pocket. But sources say certain Brotherhood members were involved in illicit oil sales at the terminals and paid off Al Jadhran to keep his mouth shut.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 08:46:24 +0000
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