Gaddafi Dead: Tribal Conflict Plagues Libya's Progress
Loyalists and Rebels Fight as the NTC Attempts to Form New Government
Revenge attacks between remaining Gaddafi loyalists and rebel forces continue as Libya’s NTC government attempts to create a stable form of leadership, post-Gaddafi.
Gaddafi loyalists continue to stage revenge attacks in the hope of substantially disrupting the building process of Libya’s new government.
“There is [...] a clear risk that unless the National Transitional Council can make tangible progress, a cycle of instability may take hold,” associate director of the Janusian risk advisory group Henry Wilkinson wrote in a report, according to Reuters.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The unrest occurs on both the rebel side and Gaddafi loyalist side, with Gaddafi loyalists toting guns through city streets and rebel forces breaking into homes, searching for loyalists.
On Sunday, Libya’s Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril announced that a chemical weapon stash belonging to Gaddafi was found near his hometown of Sirte.
According to the NY Daily News, some of these weapons have already gone missing, which poses another threat to the peaceful development of new government.
“We would like to assure you that the new Libya will be a peaceful Libya and that it is in our interests to have no weapons in Libya,” said Jibril, according to AP.
A statement made by the group Human Rights Watch documents civil unrest in the wake of Gaddafi’s death.
“Militias from the city of Misrata are terrorising the displaced residents of [...] Tawargha, accusing them of having committed atrocities with Gaddafi forces in Misrata,” read the statement.
“Revenge against the people from Tawargha, whatever the accusations against them, undermines the goal of the Libyan revolution," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East and North Africa director, according to BBC News.
Critics contend that this tribal unrest could result in a divided Libya, as opposed to a unified NTC government.
Libya’s ex-dictator of 42 years Muammar Gaddafi was buried in an undisclosed desert location at dawn on Oct. 25, along with his son Muatassim, and his former Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis.
According to a senior NATO official, ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi was wounded in an air strike that took place Thursday morning, Oct. 20. In the airstrike, a French Mirage Jet and a U.S. predator drone fired weapons, including a Hellfire missile, into Gaddafi's convoy. Gaddafi's green getaway vehicle was damaged in the attack.
It has been claimed that Gaddafi escaped the air attack with injuries, fleeing by foot and taking refuge with his body guards in a nearby concrete sewer tunnel located in a drainage ditch, where he was found by the Misrata Military Council.
Gaddafi’s death is currently under investigation, for it is disputed whether his fatal gunshot wound to the head was received during crossfire between rebel and loyalist forces, or if he was executed by rebel forces while in transit.
Libyan citizens swarmed the streets to celebrate the death of their overbearing dictator. The dictator's death ushers in a new age for Libya, providing the country a chance to establish a stable, democratic government.
