Aftermath of the Libyan civil war (2011)

The aftermath of the 2011 Libyan civil war was characterised by marked change in the social and political order of Libya, following the overthrow and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 Libyan civil war.

Uprising and civil war

Main article: 2011 Libyan civil war

The popular uprising against the government of Gaddafi began in January 2011 as non-violent protests, simultaneously with other protests in the Arab Spring. Within weeks, violence broke out in clashes between police and protesters. In Februrary the National Transitional Council (NTC) was formed in an effort to consolidate efforts for change in the rule of Libya. Gaddafi forces lost control of several cities in eastern Libya, and a number of officials resigned or defected from his government. In March, Gaddafi forces launched a counteroffensive, and regained many of the cities that had been lost to opposition forces. In mid-March, tanks of Gaddafi forces rolled into the main remaining bastion of the opposition forces, Benghazi. At the same time, aircraft of the French Air Force entered Libyan airspace under the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, to prevent any attacks on the city. A multinational coalition launched a large scale air-based military intervention to disable the Gaddafi government's military capabilities and enforce the UN Security Council resolution. By the end of March, command of the coalition operations had been assumed by NATO under Operation Unified Protector.

The following months were characterized by a stalemate on the ground, as opposition fighters were unable to retake cities in western Libya. The stalemate was broken in August as opposition forces advanced on the cities surrounding Tripoli. By the end of August, opposition fighters had captured Tripoli, with little resistance from Gaddafi forces. The opposition then launched a series of campaigns against the last pockets of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists, and in October, Gaddafi and several other leading figures in his government were captured and killed in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

After Gaddafi

On 23 October 2011, the National Transitional Council officially declared that Libya had been liberated.

Libya's de facto prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril announced that consultations were under way to form an interim government within one month, followed by elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months and parliamentary and presidential elections to be held within a year after that. Jibril then stepped down to make place for elections and was succeeded as interim prime minister by Abdurrahim El-Keib after a brief period in which his deputy, Ali Tarhouni, assumed his duties. El-Keib was elected by members of the National Transitional Council, gaining 26 out of 51 votes.

On 31 October, the United Nations mandate authorising international military action in Libya was lifted, and NATO's Operation Unified Protector formally ended, in spite of requests by the NTC for military assistance to continue.

Security

Lawlessness under the interim government

During the civil war, brigades of armed volunteers sprang up around the country, reporting to local military councils, which became de facto local governments. Civilian leaders say that, after the declaration of liberation, the militias have shifted from merely delaying the surrender of their weapons to actively asserting a continuing political role as "guardians of the revolution". Some of the largest, and most well-equipped brigades are associated with Islamist groups now forming political parties.

Reports suggested sporadic clashes between rival militias, and vigilante revenge killings. Hundreds of suspected Gaddafi supporters were being rounded up, often on the basis of only rumour and accusation. Civilian residents reported being subjected to looting and robbery by gunmen.

Proliferation of weapons

On 31 October, the United Nations Security Council expressed concern over the proliferation of weapons from Gaddafi's stockpiles, worrying they could fall into the hands of al-Qaeda and other militant groups. Officials of the NTC said it was not clear how many weapons were still in circulation.

In November, a convoy loaded with heavy weaponry was intercepted when trying to cross from Libya into neighboring Niger, according to Nigerien security officials. The officials said the convoy was composed of loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi. Mokhtar Belmokhtar, believed to be one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, acknowledged that his Al-Qaeda franchise had acquired weaponry from Gaddafi's arsenal.

Influence of Islamist and foreign powers

In August, Abdelhakim Belhadj was appointed commander of the Tripoli Military Council, a grouping of several brigades of rebels involved in taking the capital. Belhadj was the emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militant Islamist group banned under Gaddafi's rule. In 2004, he was taken into custody by the CIA and rendered to the Gaddafi goverment, who held him in the Abu Salim prison for seven years, where he claims to have been subjected to torture. Rival commanders have complained that Belhadj has close ties to the Qatari monarchy.

Ali al-Sallabi, an Islamist cleric, who lived in Doha for four years, was a key conduit for weapons, vehicles and funds from Qatar to the Libyan rebels during the civil war. Rebel commanders outside of al-Sallabi's circle openly complained that they lacked weapons and medical supplies, leading NTC's head of government, Mahmoud Jibril, to send an envoy to Doha to lobby for weapons and supplies to be sent through him. But of the 18 planeloads from Qatar, only five were sent through this NTC-approved channel. This led NTC and Western officials to raise concerns that the Qataris seemed to be aiding primarily Islamist leaders at the expense of the NTC. al-Sallabi, who is well-known as an Islamic scholar and orator in Libya, announced the formation of a party based on Islamic principles, which will run in the democratic elections.

Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Abdel Rahman Shalgham, criticized Qatar's presence in the country, saying that the emirate wasn't neutral, and had forced itself upon Libya, and that it "might have delusions of leading the region".

Politics

Ethnic and tribal reconciliation

During the civil war, many Tuareg nomad tribes in southern Libya supported Gaddafi because of his past support of their people's rebellions in Mali and Niger. This has led to tensions between Tuareg and Arab Libyans, and the NTC has sent out delegations to mediate disputes and reconcile the region with the interim government. The tribes, who roam Libya's vast desert expanses, are important to security in the region's remote areas, which are often exploited as a safe haven by drug traffickers and Islamist militants.

Fathi Ben Khalifa, president of the World Amazigh Congress, has criticized the NTC for not formally recognizing the Berber people, saying that his people is experiencing a "déjà vu feeling", as Libya's rulers also failed to recognize the Berbers when the country gained its independence in 1951, making way for Gaddafi's policies of assimilation. Khalifa claims that the NTC is adhering to "Arab and Islamist" ideologies that caused "much of what has happened in [Libya] for the last decades", and that the council envisions the new Libya being rooted in an exclusively Islamic constitution. According to Khalifa, "no [Berber] will accept this situation".

Islamic movement

Ali al-Sallabi, a well-known Muslim cleric who played a key role in funneling arms from Qatar to the anti-Gaddafi fighters during the civil war, has announced the formation of a party with the provisional name "The National Gathering for Freedom, Justice and Development". According to al-Sallabi, the party is not Islamist, but respects the general principles of Islam and Libyan culture. al-Sallabi would not oppose Hamas' armed struggle against Israel and supports the lifting of laws banning polygamy. The party has the backing of the head of the Tripoli Military Council, Abdelhakim Belhadj, as well as tribal leaders and members of the NTC.

Loyalist remnants

In the Sahel region south of Libya, members of the Qadhadhfa and Warfalla tribes are organizing a growing movement, known as the Libyan Liberation Front (LLF), to "liberate" Libya from "NATO-installed colonial puppets". According to a member of the movement, more than 800 organizers have arrived from Libya to the LLF's offices in Niger, with more coming every day. The movement is planning to compete in the upcoming election in Libya, and is in the process of composing a nationalist campaign message, as well lists of recommendations of specific candidates. In opposition to some of the Islamist voices now in Libya, women's rights will be a major plank of the movement's message. Ayesha Gaddafi, who was a major force behind a 2010 enactment of more rights for women in Libya, has been asked to write a pamphlet on the subject. The LLF believes their tribes are crucial to get out the vote, and it is able to draw on the political experience of the People's Congresses, dissolved during the civil war but now regrouping.