Friends of Libya? I doubt
Sep 19, 2011
Last week’s visit by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya and the recent “Friends of Libya†conference that took place in Paris on September 1, are two interesting events in Libya.
Last week’s visit by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya and the recent “Friends of Libya†conference that took place in Paris on September 1, are two interesting events in Libya.
The meeting was interesting in as much as it was surprising given that it raised more questions than answers to the Libyan crisis.
The Libyan question is going to be with us for some time and we are yet to hear of many more meetings, conferences, workshops and symposia about Libya organised and funded by interested western powers.
Indeed Sarkozy came up to organise and host this meeting as a way of asserting himself as a major stakeholder in the “Libyan projectâ€.
Besides Barack Obama had proved himself by influencing the formation of the contact group on Libya while Cameron had organised and funded the London Conference on Libya.
Sarkozy had to come up with something to lay claim to his legitimate membership to the “Club of the three big brothersâ€.
At this rate you will soon hear of something like “Chinese’s solidarity for Libya Conference†taking place somewhere in Beijing.
The manner in which this conference was convened and organised created an atmosphere of mutual suspicion especially from participants who were not part of the contact group on Libya.
Such included the Russian officials who arrived in Paris with confidence that the meeting should put an end to activities of the contact group on Libya.
It should be remembered that Moscow refused to join the Contact Group on Libya, alleging as its reason that the Libyan settlement was within the jurisdiction of the UN rather than “quasi structures†as it put it.
For that reason, Moscow considered the Paris meeting as a forum for the UN Security Council to outline the parameters of international assistance to Libya. Against this background, one may be interested in knowing whether the UN had any role to play in the “friends of Libya Conferenceâ€. If at all it did, was it comfortable playing second fiddle to France?
My view of this conference was that the powerful nations of the world were coming together to mobilise from among themselves external support and assistance to Libya to help it overcome the crisis! But this was definitely not the case given the outcome of the meeting.
At the end of the day, there were two concrete outcomes from the conference, the most important of which was that some $15b of Libyan funds were immediately unfrozen.
The second was a declaration from Sarkozy and Cameron that it would be Libya’s right, to try Gaddafi if they wanted to do so, regardless of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. This looks like a slap in the face of ICC and the principles of international justice, but that is what their new Libyan friends wanted to hear. Surprisingly the ICC has turned a deaf ear to this development and no one has been accused of interfering with the work of the ICC.
The new Libyan State has serious challenges for which it has set priorities that include ensuring security, updating infrastructure, the health care system and education. Funds are also needed to re-establish the necessary political structures, given that the country had not held democratic elections for four decades. My expectation of the “Friends of Libya Conference†was to respond to these challenges in specific terms and not delve into generalities.
However, the response of the “friends†was in generalities and only in terms of commitment to provide the unfrozen funds of Libya. None of the “friends†went beyond that commitment.
From the unfrozen bank accounts, France and Netherlands pledged to give $2b each with an additional $370m coming from Norway. The UN sanctions committee also allowed UK and US to unfreeze Libyan assets out of which US pledged to provide $1.5b.
The British Royal Air Force had already delivered 40 tonnes of its newly printed dollars to Libya.
China did not make any pronouncements and so was Russia which is nonetheless going to export wheat and wheat floor to Libya.
One thing that came out clearly from the “Friends of Libya Conference†is that the “friends of Libya†are using Libyan funds/wealth to help Libya.
This reminds me of our traditional societies where village members go out to help the bereaved family of a rich man, who has left behind a lot of riches.
Their contribution in this endeavour is made very simple and is reduced to directing which bulls should be slaughtered for the funeral and how many bunches of matooke should be cut from the deceased plantation.
This is exactly what happened in Paris the other day.
Just as the case is with the funeral of a rich man, the friends of the family quite often position themselves to maximize their benefit out of the funeral.
Many of them will offer to volunteer as caretakers to help the family manage the lucrative business interests of the deceased. I guess you do not have to ask why?
Likewise, the situation in Paris was not any different, as the conference was not fundamentally about justice and true friendship.
It is common talk that on the sidelines of the “friend’s conference†there was a lot of “jostling for lucrative opportunities in restoring and expanding Libya’s oil sector along with utilities and infrastructureâ€.
The fact is clear, that there is a lot of money to be made in the new Libya and the “friends of Libya†have made their intentions known to that effect.
The question to ask is, who of the “friends†maximised the benefits of the “friends of Libya Conference�
As indicated at the beginning, the “friend of Libya Conference†leaves me with many questions that I find difficult to answer. May be with your help, some answers may be found.
The questions in my mind include but are not limited to the following:-
l Are these “friends of Libya†or “friends of Libyan oil�
l Are they donors or custodians of Libyan funds/wealth?
l Why was the “Friends of Libya Conference†held in Paris and not Addis Ababa?
l Are there no “friends of Libya†from the African continent?
l Why didn’t France host the “friends of Ivory Coast†whose leadership it had helped to change much earlier?
l Can the “friends of Libya also consider being friends of Somalia�
The brains behind the “Friends of Libya†initiative need to be commended, for the notion of friendship is something that needs to be embraced and cherished as an instrument of global peace. Besides, friendship is also necessary in enhancing goodwill in both human and state relations.
For that matter, we should all strive to encourage and support the inculcation of meaningful and lasting friendship based on the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit. Friendship should be extended to the rich and the poor alike as a matter of principle.
Member of East African Legislative Assembly
The meeting was interesting in as much as it was surprising given that it raised more questions than answers to the Libyan crisis.
The Libyan question is going to be with us for some time and we are yet to hear of many more meetings, conferences, workshops and symposia about Libya organised and funded by interested western powers.
Indeed Sarkozy came up to organise and host this meeting as a way of asserting himself as a major stakeholder in the “Libyan projectâ€.
Besides Barack Obama had proved himself by influencing the formation of the contact group on Libya while Cameron had organised and funded the London Conference on Libya.
Sarkozy had to come up with something to lay claim to his legitimate membership to the “Club of the three big brothersâ€.
At this rate you will soon hear of something like “Chinese’s solidarity for Libya Conference†taking place somewhere in Beijing.
The manner in which this conference was convened and organised created an atmosphere of mutual suspicion especially from participants who were not part of the contact group on Libya.
Such included the Russian officials who arrived in Paris with confidence that the meeting should put an end to activities of the contact group on Libya.
It should be remembered that Moscow refused to join the Contact Group on Libya, alleging as its reason that the Libyan settlement was within the jurisdiction of the UN rather than “quasi structures†as it put it.
For that reason, Moscow considered the Paris meeting as a forum for the UN Security Council to outline the parameters of international assistance to Libya. Against this background, one may be interested in knowing whether the UN had any role to play in the “friends of Libya Conferenceâ€. If at all it did, was it comfortable playing second fiddle to France?
My view of this conference was that the powerful nations of the world were coming together to mobilise from among themselves external support and assistance to Libya to help it overcome the crisis! But this was definitely not the case given the outcome of the meeting.
At the end of the day, there were two concrete outcomes from the conference, the most important of which was that some $15b of Libyan funds were immediately unfrozen.
The second was a declaration from Sarkozy and Cameron that it would be Libya’s right, to try Gaddafi if they wanted to do so, regardless of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. This looks like a slap in the face of ICC and the principles of international justice, but that is what their new Libyan friends wanted to hear. Surprisingly the ICC has turned a deaf ear to this development and no one has been accused of interfering with the work of the ICC.
The new Libyan State has serious challenges for which it has set priorities that include ensuring security, updating infrastructure, the health care system and education. Funds are also needed to re-establish the necessary political structures, given that the country had not held democratic elections for four decades. My expectation of the “Friends of Libya Conference†was to respond to these challenges in specific terms and not delve into generalities.
However, the response of the “friends†was in generalities and only in terms of commitment to provide the unfrozen funds of Libya. None of the “friends†went beyond that commitment.
From the unfrozen bank accounts, France and Netherlands pledged to give $2b each with an additional $370m coming from Norway. The UN sanctions committee also allowed UK and US to unfreeze Libyan assets out of which US pledged to provide $1.5b.
The British Royal Air Force had already delivered 40 tonnes of its newly printed dollars to Libya.
China did not make any pronouncements and so was Russia which is nonetheless going to export wheat and wheat floor to Libya.
One thing that came out clearly from the “Friends of Libya Conference†is that the “friends of Libya†are using Libyan funds/wealth to help Libya.
This reminds me of our traditional societies where village members go out to help the bereaved family of a rich man, who has left behind a lot of riches.
Their contribution in this endeavour is made very simple and is reduced to directing which bulls should be slaughtered for the funeral and how many bunches of matooke should be cut from the deceased plantation.
This is exactly what happened in Paris the other day.
Just as the case is with the funeral of a rich man, the friends of the family quite often position themselves to maximize their benefit out of the funeral.
Many of them will offer to volunteer as caretakers to help the family manage the lucrative business interests of the deceased. I guess you do not have to ask why?
Likewise, the situation in Paris was not any different, as the conference was not fundamentally about justice and true friendship.
It is common talk that on the sidelines of the “friend’s conference†there was a lot of “jostling for lucrative opportunities in restoring and expanding Libya’s oil sector along with utilities and infrastructureâ€.
The fact is clear, that there is a lot of money to be made in the new Libya and the “friends of Libya†have made their intentions known to that effect.
The question to ask is, who of the “friends†maximised the benefits of the “friends of Libya Conference�
As indicated at the beginning, the “friend of Libya Conference†leaves me with many questions that I find difficult to answer. May be with your help, some answers may be found.
The questions in my mind include but are not limited to the following:-
l Are these “friends of Libya†or “friends of Libyan oil�
l Are they donors or custodians of Libyan funds/wealth?
l Why was the “Friends of Libya Conference†held in Paris and not Addis Ababa?
l Are there no “friends of Libya†from the African continent?
l Why didn’t France host the “friends of Ivory Coast†whose leadership it had helped to change much earlier?
l Can the “friends of Libya also consider being friends of Somalia�
The brains behind the “Friends of Libya†initiative need to be commended, for the notion of friendship is something that needs to be embraced and cherished as an instrument of global peace. Besides, friendship is also necessary in enhancing goodwill in both human and state relations.
For that matter, we should all strive to encourage and support the inculcation of meaningful and lasting friendship based on the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit. Friendship should be extended to the rich and the poor alike as a matter of principle.
Member of East African Legislative Assembly