"Everything is happening, they stop cars, kidnap people, rob. All kinds of groups, Arabs, Berbers, the army, gangs, you don't know who is who anymore," said our fellow citizen who is now in Libya and who wished to remain anonymous, in an interview with "Vreme". "A few days ago, some people ran into the operating room, they shot from a machine gun, but only at the ceiling." When they stop us on the road, we say that we are not interested in politics and that we work here, so they let us pass."
Libya's ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabashi, warned that the country was facing a "real civil war", but his dramatic warning came a little late. The war in Libya has already flared up in full intensity. Tripoli's airport was almost completely destroyed after three weeks of fighting, during which rockets hit and set fire to a huge fuel depot. There are many victims, in Tripoli, a shell accidentally fell on a building where Egyptian workers lived and killed twenty people. Bloody clashes in Benghazi, with the use of aviation and artillery, have been going on for months. Tens of thousands of people have fled or are fleeing Libya, mostly across the border with Tunisia. The UN mission was evacuated from Tripoli, as well as most foreign embassies. Convoys with embassy personnel retreated from Tripoli on the way to Tunis, often under fire, accompanied by fighter jets and helicopters.
It is difficult to define exactly who all the actors are in the current war. In the media, rather simplified assessments are reported, for example, that the battle around the airport in Tripoli is being waged by members of the militia from Zintan against fighters of something called Shield of Libya, and it consists of militia from Misrata (currently "secularists"), allied with "Islamists"; in Benghazi, the so-called National Libyan Army of General Khalifa Haftar (whom it is mandatory to state that he also served under Gaddafi), who claims to be fighting against "Islamic terrorists", is fighting in Benghazi.
...the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Latif al Zayani and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan;...
WHO IS BOMBING WHOM: However, a simple division into "moderate Islamists", "democrats", "jihadists", "government army" means nothing in Libya at the moment. The country has sunk into chaos and anarchy in which various groups and gangs are running rampant, the only thing in common is that back then they fought together against Gaddafi, and that their motives are now mostly banditry, not religious-ideological.
However, the new actors of the war in Libya probably do not think so, but have a side they support. According to the American newspaper "New York Times", on August 17 and 23, the aviation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carried out two waves of attacks on Islamist fighters at the airport in Tripoli, in which at least 18 people were killed. Citing sources from the US administration, the text also stated that the planes took off from a military base in the city of Siwa in Egypt (by the way, the main street in Siwa is named after the president of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, as a sign of gratitude for the country's donation money for the construction of a solar power plant). Although both Egypt and the UAE are close allies of Washington, New York Times sources claim that the attacks were carried out without the knowledge and consent of the US. In a joint statement, Washington, Berlin, Paris, London and Rome condemned any "interference from outside" in the events in Libya.
...Qatar Emir Hamad bih Khalifa al Thani
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi denied that his country was in any way involved in the bombing, but added that Egypt fears the spillover of the war from Libya to its own and other countries in North Africa - more than 20 Egyptian soldiers were killed in the exchange last month. fire with militants along the border with Libya. Sisi added that the NATO operation in Libya in 2011 was not complete, that it left the country without an army and police capable of protecting the population. If Emirates planes bombed the airport in Tripoli, it was the first independent military action of this country in another country since its establishment, but not the first time that the "Mirages" of the UAE dropped bombs in Libya. Six UAE aircraft joined the NATO intervention in 2011 that toppled Muammar al-Gaddafi. In addition, after the intervention, information appeared in some media, never refuted, that the mercenaries of the private company Blackwater, who had previously gathered in a camp in the UAE, participated in the battles on the side of the rebels against Gaddafi.
THE STRUGGLE FOR SOULS AND INFLUENCE: The irony is that in 2011, NATO forces and UAE planes fought on the side of those they are now bombing - the brigades from Misrata, Zintan, hard-line Islamists from the east of Libya, were united against Gaddafi. Other states from the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, participated in the war against Gaddafi. Qatar, for example, allowed the rebels to export oil, armed them, the "special forces" of the Qatari army fought alongside the rebels. The Gulf monarchies, led by Saudi Arabia, in the Arab League pushed through a resolution on the protection of Libyan civilians from the attacks of Gaddafi's aircraft, which served the USA, France and Great Britain to propose and vote such a resolution, after which the bombing of Libya began, in the UN Security Council. a.
MUAMMER EL GADDAFIโฆ
A unique performance, like this one in Libya, is rare, but explainable. Gaddafi did not respect any authorities, his language was quite nasty, he spoke harsh words against the ruling houses of the mentioned countries many times, accusing them of betraying Arab interests due to cooperation with America, greed, corruption; Gaddafi's "socialist Islam", which he promoted throughout the Arab world, made the hair of all monarchs stand on end. And the uprising against Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2011 put all the mentioned countries on the same side, along with rebel groups of all profiles. Like Libya, "fighters for the true faith", weapons, equipment, and money flowed into Syria across the borders.
At the same time, on other fronts, some of the actors of the then (and now) Libyan and Syrian crisis are fighting for influence and souls on the opposite sides. In March, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain withdrew diplomats from Qatar. The explanation was that Doha does not respect the "security agreement" that the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman) signed in October. That agreement, among other things, mentions non-interference in the internal affairs of other Council states that could undermine their stability and security. The specific reason for the conflict has not been publicly named, but it is clearly related to the relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Since Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by a military coup in Egypt in July of last year, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have helped the new authorities, embodied in the then Chief of General Staff, the current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with billions of dollars. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are making great efforts to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, supporting the war waged against the Brotherhood in Egypt by the Sisi government. In that war, over 1500 people were killed by the coup, tens of thousands were arrested, the leaders of the Brotherhood and hundreds of supporters were sentenced to death in mass trials.
...AND LIBYA AFTER IT: Benghazi today
TELEVISION PREACHERS AND THEIR OPPONENTS: Unlike its Gulf neighbors, Qatar is firmly on the side of the Brotherhood, with heavy support coming through the Al Jazeera television station. Al Jazeera has earned the respect of its audience, both in the Islamic world and beyond, for its balanced reporting from Afghanistan and Iraq. Although Qatar is a partner of the USA, Al Jazeera's studio in Kabul was destroyed by an American bomb in 2001, and in 2003, an American missile killed its journalist in the office of that TV station in Baghdad. Al Jazeera's aura of objectivity suddenly evaporated at the beginning of the war in Libya in 2011, when this station wholeheartedly joined the coalition that overthrew Gaddafi with war-mongering propaganda and fabricated news; a slightly less propagandistic approach followed the civil war in Syria.
photo: phonetA STRONG HAND IN TURKEY, EGYPT, SYRIA: Recep Tayyip Erdogan,...
As for the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar has long hosted an Egyptian cleric close to the Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has his own show on Al Jazeera. In one of his televised sermons, Qardawi called the UAE an "un-Islamic state". It must have offended the ruling families in the Emirates, such as the powerful Bin Zayeds in Abu Dhabi, but the remark exposed the two "blocs" that are currently breaking spears among the most powerful and richest Arab states. On one side, the most prominent representative is Qatar, with whom Erdogan's Turkey can also be placed. Turkey is not an Arab country, but it also firmly sides with the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi in Egypt; on the other side, the most prominent are Saudi Arabia and the UAE. At the same time, it would be said that different views on religion in that confrontation are not so controversial, just like the way of ruling, and that the only reason is the struggle for power and influence, which goes far beyond the Middle East region. Hitting under the table in that game shakes many countries in the neighborhood, but the tremors are felt in faraway places.
photo: reutersโฆAbdel Fateh al-Sisi,โฆ
COMMON THREAT: The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council agreed on something these days. They jointly condemned the activities of the Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria and their "extreme interpretation of Islam", supported the resolution of the UN Security Council calling on "all member states to take measures to suppress the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters". Saudi King Abdullah said that terrorist groups will reach Europe and America in a month or two if the international community does not use collective "power and speed" against them. It sounds reasonable, only if it were not known that most of the aforementioned countries supported those fighters in Syria, Libya, Iraq, that they picked up the "extreme interpretation of Islam" in some of the concerned countries, such as Saudi Arabia, and that fear only appeared when they things got a little out of control.
photo: phonet...Bashar al-Assad
As for Libya - a country that disappeared from the radar of the world public after the fall of Gaddafi, although a lot of bad things happened there in the previous three years, which inevitably led to the current situation - there were also voices calling for some action. The devil took the joke - extremists of all kinds circulate across the practically non-existent borders, as well as weapons, oil production is falling, chaos threatens to spill over into neighboring countries.
In the elections in June, in which barely 20 percent of the voters turned out in Libya, the parliament was elected. In a tragicomic turn of events, the parliament was not recognized by all parties, leaving Libya with two rival assemblies in different parts of the country. One of them, which sits in Tobruk, near the border with Egypt, called on the UN to take care of security in Libya, but it was not specified where the front lines were or between whom the Blue Helmets would stand. An invitation was sent to the neighbors and the surrounding area to intervene, but even that invitation does not make much sense: on Libyan soil since 2011, neighbors, regional and world powers have been fighting their battles, just like in the Near and Middle East. The most visible result of those games so far is the total disintegration of Libya, Syria and Iraq, and those who participated in creating chaos will hardly fix anything...
Although often opposed to each other externally, there is much in common that binds the states of the Persian Gulf. The Gulf monarchies are practically owned by the ruling families. Those richest in oil and gas, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, spend enormous amounts of money on the purchase of weapons and influence.
For example, the UAE Air Force alone has 138 modern aircraft, not to mention other weapons, and its neighbors in the Gulf are not far behind. It's hard to say why so many weapons are piling up. It can't even justify the eternal excuse of the Iranian threat, but the arms dealers are certainly satisfied.
The firm hand of the ruling families made the "Arab Spring" revolutions, which they wholeheartedly supported in Libya and Syria, bypass the Gulf despotisms. When the local forces were not enough to keep the peace, the neighbors came to the rescue. The army of Saudi Arabia and the UAE bloodily put down a peaceful demonstration by the Shia majority in Bahrain.
The Gulf states also have extremely close relations with the United States of America. The US Sixth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain, Qatar is home to the largest US military airport outside US territory and the regional headquarters of the US Central Command, from which US military operations in the Middle East are managed, "covering" Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. The base in Qatar was also used by British bombers for operations against Saddam's Iraq.
Oil-based wealth is also the common denominator of most Gulf countries. The national income, for example, in Qatar is the highest in the world, $179.000 per capita. However, Qatar's population includes only 300.000 residents, not 1,2 million foreigners. Of these foreigners, a minority are experts, and the rest are simple laborers who perform the most difficult jobs. The situation is similar in other countries of this region. Simple workers come from poor countries in Africa and Asia, from the Indian subcontinent, the Philippines, and are generally treated as a lower race, a kind of semi-slaves of the new age, without any rights. The world was shocked when news broke of a large number of deaths at football stadium construction sites in Qatar, which is preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On the other hand, the ruling families live in vulgar opulence, which they are happy to show off both in the world and at home.
Although it is not said out loud, for most of the Gulf countries, Shiite Iran is a bigger enemy than Israel, a symbol of hatred in the Arab world. For decades, Saudi Arabia has been competing with Iran for the position of regional leader and beacon of the Islamic world, and many means are used in that competition. For a long time, the joint discomfort and concern of Israel and the Saudis due to some kind of thawing of relations between the US and Iran has been visible, there are even mentions of talks between these two countries whose goal is to agree on ways to return the situation to the previous state - constant, coordinated pressure on Iran, because of its nuclear activities. The UAE also has cooperation with Israel on many issues, although not publicly announced, and for that the greatest credit goes to our mutual friend - the USA.
Of the Gulf countries, Qatar has the best cooperation with Iran, which shares a sea border and rich underwater gas deposits with it. This does not mean that these two countries do not exchange low blows. From the beginning, the war in Syria was seen by Iran as a way to drastically weaken its position by destroying its only regional ally. Iran has warned Saudi Arabia and Qatar not to help the rebels in Syria, because they are terrorists who will carry out attacks in their backyard tomorrow.
STAR FOR SALE: Sheikh Mohammed at Maracana
photo: phonet
Arab brothers and Serbian business
According to the Belgrade-based "Politika", the main link for UAE business in Serbia is Mohammed Dahlan, personal adviser to "our" Sheikh, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. In the spring of 2013, President Tomislav Nikoliฤ awarded Dahlan with the Order of the Serbian Flag, second degree, due to the consolidation of peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries. This Palestinian had a tumultuous past: from participating in the uprising against Israel, through the post of Yasser Arafat's security advisor, to organizing and arming paramilitary units for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah fight against Hamas. He is suspected of financial malfeasance, even if he was involved in Arafat's murder
The cooperation between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates was announced with thunder in early 2012 as one of the saving options for the failing domestic economy. In the following months, Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ and Mlaฤan Dinkiฤ, the main negotiators with the Emirates, excitedly mentioned the jobs for the entire dedicated industry of Serbia, the construction of a chip factory, a scientific research center, a parts factory for Airbus and Boeing, investments in Luka Pancevo, the sale of Crvena Zvezda, the recapitalization of the Yugoslav river shipping; the construction of tourist infrastructure in winter tourist centers, the construction of a hotel on the site where the ruins of the General Staff are today, enormous investments in agriculture, a cargo center at the airport were also mentioned... The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, did not say it publicly, but Vuฤiฤ claimed that he is ready to invest in Serbia in businesses that will not bring him profit, but will help the recovery of Serbia.
To date, the airline Air Serbia has been established in cooperation with the UAE, which has been written about several times on the pages of "Vremena"; spears are breaking over how profitable the past investments from the Emirates in agriculture are; the last of the projects in cooperation with investors from the UAE, announced as the salvation of Serbia, is "Belgrade on the water", which is in the fog just as much as the previously listed promises.
In any case, although the realization of investments is far from the promises of our politicians, the fact is that in the last year and a half, communication between Serbia and the Emirates has revived, almost suspended since the UAE was among the first in the Arab world to recognize Kosovo in 2008, and that there was much speculation as to who is responsible for the renaissance of interstate relations.
MOHAMED DAHLAN: Belgrade's "Politika" published an article on its front page about Mohammed Dahlan, the personal adviser of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. In that text, it is said that interest in Dahlan in our country grew only after the portal Middle East Eye (MEE), which publishes news related to the Middle East in English, marked him as a key mediator in establishing close ties between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates. In the spring of 2013, President Tomislav Nikoliฤ awarded Dahlan with the Order of the Serbian Flag, second degree, due to the consolidation of peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries.
"Politics" lists Dahlan's colorful career, from one of the founders of the Fatah militant movement in Gaza, to his arrest, participation in the uprising against Israel, exile to Tunisia, leading the Gaza Strip Security Organization until 2002, when he resigned. He was Yasser Arafat's National Security Advisor, Palestinian Minister of Defense, Minister of Civil Affairs. He organized the largest rally of Fatah supporters in 2007, and was later a representative in the negotiations that resulted in an agreement with Hamas, where both sides agreed to stop military conflict and form a government of national unity. In March 2007, Mahmoud Abbas appointed him head of the National Security Council to oversee all security forces in the Palestinian territories, but, with American help, Dahlan organized paramilitary units of several thousand fighters and lobbied Israel for Fatah forces to receive a large weapons and ammunition to fight against Hamas. Hamas, however, pre-empted this move by launching a counterattack, Dahlan resigned as National Security Adviser, and during the ensuing fighting Hamas demolished his house, his forces were driven out of Gaza.
MONTENEGRIN CONNECTION: Politika cites cables from Wikileaks which say that Dahlan sent his resignation as head of the National Security Council from Montenegro, from the "Dr. Simo Miloลกeviฤ" Institute for Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Rheumatology. That America favored him can also be seen from the WikiLeaks dispatches. In 2009, Dahlan was elected to the Central Committee of Fatah, and in June 2011, he was expelled at the insistence of President Mahmoud Abbas, who suspected him of the assassination of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The MEE portal, in whose text Dahlan is described in dark colors, claims that he is also suspected of financial malfeasance.
He sought refuge in the UAE, and the fact that he was a welcome interlocutor of American diplomats can also be seen from the dispatches published by WikiLeaks. He was consulted in the peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. In one of the dispatches, Imam Sheikh Muhammad al-Qatani accuses him of being trained by the CIA as a member of Fatah.
"Politika" states that according to the official registers, Dahlan does not have any business in Serbia, but that he is very active in Montenegro, whose citizen he became in 2012, and that its sources say that he was recently seen in a friendly conversation with the Prime Minister of Montenegro at a yachts in the elite settlement of Porto Montenegro in Tivat. In a public address, Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ thanked the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo ฤukanoviฤ, "for his kind words about Serbia in the United Arab Emirates", directly marking him as one of the main mediators in renewed cooperation. "Politika" also writes that, upon inspection of the Central Register of Business Entities, it can be seen that Dahlan is the founder of at least two companies in Montenegro, that there is no publicly available data on the operations of these companies, and in the Central Register of Business Entities of Montenegro there is no financial report for all five years of business.
In the text published by MEE, it is also claimed that the UAE is using investments in the production of weapons in Serbia because they want to use this "loosely" regulated market in Serbia to distribute weapons in the Middle East, that they are doing this as representatives of Israel and the USA, but they are not cites evidence for such speculations, except for "a Serbian intelligence source who requested to remain anonymous." Of the data that can be easily verified, at least two are not correct - that the UAE invested "billions" of dollars in Serbia in the last two years, and that the UAE gave the Serbian government a multi-billion dollar loan. Except in the MEE text, those billions are still only in the promises of Serbian politicians.
MT
MEETING AT THE SUMMIT: Arab investments in neighbors as well
photo: phonet
