The abduction of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan by a group of armed former rebels at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli last Thursday is extremely worrying and points to a country on the verge of anarchy.
The incident highlights both the vulnerability of Zeidan’s government and a serious security vacuum two years after Muammar Gaddafi’s regime was overthrown by rebels and Nato airstrikes in 2011.
Mr Zeidan was released several hours after he was seized, but this does not make his kidnapping any less serious. The fact that 100 militiamen can calmly walk into a five-star hotel in the Libyan capital and capture the country’s Prime Minister at his residence (he lives at the Corinthia Hotel) is simply outrageous.
Where was the Prime Minister’s security? Where was the security around the hotel? Why should it be so easy for 100 armed militiamen to walk into a hotel lobby, especially if the hotel in question is the residence of the Prime Minister?
Zeidan’s abduction was apparently in retaliation for the Libyan government’s collaboration in last week’s capture by US forces of Abu Anas al-Libi, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya which killed 224 people. Al-Libi was in fact indicted in a New York court in 2001 on charges of helping to plan these terrorist attacks.
There is some confusion over whether the Libyan government was involved in al-Libi’s capture. The US said the arrest was carried out with the knowledge of the Libyan authorities and some press reports actually suggested that it was a Libyan militia (working for the Americans) which abducted al-Libi.
However, soon after al-Libi was taken into custody by US special forces, the Libyan authorities said it wanted answers from the US over the “kidnap of a Libyan citizen” on its own soil and demanded to know why it had not been told about the raid before it took place. So we’ll probably never really know what involvement there was (if any) by the Libyan authorities in the abduction of this alleged al-Qaeda operative.
However, the fact that al-Libi had returned to Libya and lived openly with his family in Tripoli after the 2011 revolution says a lot about the security situation in Libya. Why did al-Libi feel safe to return to Libya in the first place?
Unfortunately, it is more than clear that the Libyan government is not in full control of the country. Hundreds of armed militia groups – many of which helped overthrow the Gaddafi regime –control vast areas of territory and do not recognise the authority of the central government. Some of these militias, including the one that captured Zeidan, have semi-official ties to the government, but this only makes things more complicated.
To make matters worse, a number of the Islamist militia groups have links to al-Qaeda. The fact that Libya is awash with weapons throughout its vast territory – Gaddafi spent billions on arms – should be a matter of great concern for the international community. Such weapons, which include surface to air missiles that can be used against civilian passenger airlines, could easily fall into the hands of terrorists.
Imagine the consequences for Malta should Libya become a failed state
Only last Monday Zeidan had told the BBC that Libya was being used as a base to export weapons throughout the region, and he appealed for help to stop this.
It is well known, for example, that arms from Libya are being sent to extremist Islamist groups in Syria and were also used to supply similar groups in Mali.
The political transition to a stable democracy in Libya is proving to be very difficult and the government has so far failed to restore law and order and integrate the various militias under one central command. Of course, the fact that under the Gaddafi dictatorship there was no democracy, no rule of law, no civil society and no independent army (Gaddafi relied mainly on his militias and secret police who were loyal to him and not the State) certainly does not help at all.
If the security situation in Libya continues to deteriorate the country could end up as a failed state, with obvious negative consequences for the entire region. Just imagine the consequences for Malta should Libya become a failed state. Libya would descend into a spiral of chaos and anarchy which will play into al-Qaeda’s hands. Irregular migration would increase and prove even harder to control. Maltese investment in Libya would go down the drain.
Restoring law and order and integrating the various militias under one central command must become the priority of the Libyan government. There have been attacks on politicians, members of the judiciary and the security services. Last year the American Ambassador and three US officials were murdered by an al-Qaeda linked militia group in Benghazi and 10 days ago the Russian embassy was evacuated after it was attacked by gunmen.
The lawlessness and violence in Libya is harming its economy and preventing investors from pumping money into the country’s reconstruction. Despite having the largest oil reserves in Africa Libya has had to import oil as many of its refineries are in areas controlled by various militias. Unless action is taken now the economy could come to a standstill.
The West played an important part in the overthrow of Gaddafi, so it must make it a priority to help bring about stability. However, there is only so much the international community can do – it can, for example, offer to train and set up a proper professional army and police force which is loyal to the country – but ultimately it is Zeidan and his government who must make the extra effort to get the situation under control and convince the various militias to integrate themselves into State institutions.