Libya's complicated connections.......

Back in the 80's, I managed a project in Libya from my then base in London. After some months into the project, I became frustrated with client personnel and their seemingly xenophobic attitudes. During one of my site visits, I querried an Egyptian who was working there and he sorted things out for me. He said that Libya is best understood as a completely Bedouin country whose residents remained in a desert state of mind. They sought water by day and warmth by night and little else concerned them. Hence, their apparently dour and indifferent demeanor.

I was satisfied and the intelligence actually helped me get through the project. I even quoted my source from time to time. It was not until yesterday that I realized the facts did not add up. An article on various Libyan caught my attention. It noted that one tribal militia held the Tripoli airport, another the Ghadafi complex and a third the port area. Was not Libya dominated by three major and competing tribes? Some research was needed on the subject.

Libya is decidedly not totally Bedouin, but rather a mixture of Arabs and Berber peoples living in 100's of different tribal groups. Ghadafi was from a tribe of mixed Arab and Berber people called the Gaddadfa. Surnames in Libya are often the same as or very similar to a person's tribe.

Arabs form the majority of the population followed by Berbers. There are also a very large number of mixed Arabs and Berbers, like Ghadafi. An accurate ethnic census of Libya does not exist. Suffice to say the majority are Arabs and Arab-Berber mixes. The pure Berber population is quite small, as are the African or more specifically Nilo-Hamitic Tebu people, some nomadic Hausa and nomadic Tuareg. The latter are a branch of the Berber.

I am not sure of the percentages of ethnic Arab influence, but the Bedouin seem to dominate with considerable contributions from the Beni Selim and Beni Hilal which are of Bedouin origin. Other Arab ethnic groups, especially from Egypt, also penetrated the deserts comprising modern day Libya.

The Berber, or more politically correct the Amazigh, inhabited the area since the stone age. They are ethnically related to the ancient Egyptians and extend all the way to Morocco. The word Berber was imposed on these tribes by the Romans giving the impression that they, and other warring tribes of the time, were uncivilized barbarians. Hence, Berber stems from the word barbarian rather than the other way around. Another misconception of mine.

Libya follows the Sunni Muslim religion with the exception of a small group of Sufi. They are tolerated, but only just.

An index of the Arab and Berber tribes, clans and sub-clans of Libya would be an academic exercise of little immediate interest. Clearly, Libya is ethnically diversified with a mix of formerly nomadic peoples the majority of whom now live uncomfortably together in urban settings along the country's Mediterranean coast.

The future of Libya will heavily depend on the ability of the more dominant of these groups to work out there differences and set aside their ethnic and tribal allegiances. In my opinion, such a requisite is nearly impossible to achieve and Libya will remain ethnically divided, competitive, distrustful and jealous.