Libya Since Kadhafi: A Decade of Civil War and Chaos

A Libyan soldier waves the national flag during a gathering to mark the eighth anniversary of the uprising in Libya’s second city of Benghazi, on February 17, 2019. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
A Libyan soldier waves the national flag during a gathering to mark the eighth anniversary of the uprising in Libya’s second city of Benghazi, on February 17, 2019. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
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Libya Since Kadhafi: A Decade of Civil War and Chaos

A Libyan soldier waves the national flag during a gathering to mark the eighth anniversary of the uprising in Libya’s second city of Benghazi, on February 17, 2019. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
A Libyan soldier waves the national flag during a gathering to mark the eighth anniversary of the uprising in Libya’s second city of Benghazi, on February 17, 2019. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)

With Libya's first direct presidential election due to be held on December 24, here is a timeline of the chaos that has gripped the country since the late Libyan leader
Moamer Kadhafi was ousted in 2011.

- 2011: Kadhafi killed -Encouraged by Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, protests erupt in Libya in February 2011.

The United States, France and Britain give military backing to what becomes an armed revolt in the oil-rich North African country.

Kadhafi, in power for 42 years, flees the capital Tripoli but rebels capture and kill him on October 20.

In August 2012, the rebels hand power to a transitional authority, the General National Congress (GNC).

- 2012: Foreign missions targeted -US ambassador Chris Stevens and three American staff are killed in a September 11, 2012 attack on the consulate in Libya's second city, Benghazi. An Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group is blamed.

A car bomb in April 2013 targets France's Tripoli embassy, wounding two French guards.

Most foreign diplomats leave the country.

- 2014-2016: Rival administrations -Legislative polls are held in June, producing a lower house of parliament -- the House of Representatives -- dominated by anti-Islamists.

But militias contest the results and storm Tripoli in August, restoring the GNC to power.

The internationally recognized House of Representatives takes refuge in the eastern city of Tobruk.

A rival body equivalent to Libya's senate and formally known as the High Council of State is established in Tripoli in the west.

Libya thus finds itself with two administrations and two legislatures.

In December 2015, after months of talks, the rival parliaments sign an accord in Morocco establishing a Government of National Accord.

In March 2016, its chief Fayez al-Sarraj arrives in Tripoli to install the new administration, but eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar refuses to recognize it.

- 2019: Haftar's offensives -Haftar announces the "total liberation" of Benghazi from jihadists in July 2017, after more than three years of fighting.

In January 2019, Haftar launches an offensive into oil-rich southern Libya, seizing the region's capital, Sebha, and one of the country's main oil fields.

In April, he orders his troops to advance on Tripoli.

In June 2020, Tripoli's forces, backed by Turkey, say they have overrun Haftar's last western stronghold, driving out Haftar's fighters who are backed by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

- 2020-2021: Talks and tensions -The rival administrations sign a "permanent" ceasefire agreement in October after UN-hosted talks in Geneva. The following month in Tunis they agree to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2021.

Libyan delegates to the UN process approve a unity government headed by interim prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in March, 2021, charging it with leading the country to the elections.

- Election wrangling -In September, the eastern-based parliament adopts a law governing the legislative elections, also ratifying a text governing the presidential poll that critics say favors Haftar.

In early October, the parliament in Tobruk rubber stamps the presidential poll for December 24 but postpones the legislative elections to January.

World powers meeting in Paris in mid-November urge Libyan leaders to stick to the election timetable, and say foreign mercenaries should leave.

Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam throws his hat into the ring as does Dbeibah, and Haftar confirms he too is standing. Divisions mar the run-up to the poll over who should be allowed to run.

At the end of November, Interior Minister Khaled Mazen says Libya may have to delay the presidential polls if worsening "violations" threatening the electoral process continue, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he does not want the vote to become "part of the problem".

Despite Libya's election commission delaying a final list of candidates on Saturday, interim head of government Ramadan Abu Jnah insisted Sunday the elections will go ahead and "nobody should deprive Libyans of this historic" choice.



Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

Hatem Abdelhamid stands amid his once-thriving date palms in northern Sudan, helpless as a prolonged war-driven power outage cripples irrigation, causing devastating crop losses and deepening the country's food crisis.

"I've lost 70 to 75 percent of my crops this year," he said, surveying the dying palms in Tanqasi, a village on the Nile in Sudan's Northern State.

"I'm trying really hard to keep the rest of the crops alive," he told AFP.

Sudan's agricultural sector -- already battered by a two-year conflict and economic crisis -- is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages.

Since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, state-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water.

Like most Sudanese farms, Abdelhamid's depends on electric-powered irrigation -- but the system has been down "for over two months" due to the blackouts.

Sudan had barely recovered from the devastating 1985 drought and famine when war erupted again in 2023, delivering a fresh blow to the country's agriculture.

Agriculture remains the main source of food and income for 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Now in its third year, the conflict has plunged more than half the population into acute food insecurity, with famine already taking hold in at least five areas and millions more at risk across conflict-hit regions in the west, center and south.

The war has also devastated infrastructure, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 13 million.

A 2024 joint study by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that nearly a third of rural households have lost irrigation and water access since the war began.

Without electricity to power his irrigation system, Abdelhamid -- like thousands of farmers across the country -- was forced to rely on diesel-powered pumps.

But with fuel scarce and prices now more than 20 times higher than before the war, even that option is out of reach for many.

"I used to spend 10,000 Sudanese pounds (about four euros according to the black market rate) for irrigation each time," said another farmer, Abdelhalim Ahmed.

"Now it costs me 150,000 pounds (around 60 euros) because there is no electricity," he told AFP.

Ahmed said he has lost three consecutive harvests -- including crops like oranges, onions, tomatoes and dates.

With seeds, fertilizers and fuel now barely available, many farmers say they won't be able to replant for the next cycle.

In April, the FAO warned that "below average rainfall" and ongoing instability were closing the window to prevent further deterioration.

A June study by IFPRI also projected Sudan's overall economic output could shrink by as much as 42 percent if the war continues, with the agricultural sector contracting by more than a third.

"Our analysis shows massive income losses across all households and a sharp rise in poverty, especially in rural areas and among women," said Khalid Siddig, a senior research fellow at IFPRI.