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)
TT
20

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.



What Makes Greenland a Strategic Prize at a Time of Rising Tensions? And Why Now? 

A person walks on a snow covered road, ahead of the March 11 general election, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via Reuters) 
A person walks on a snow covered road, ahead of the March 11 general election, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via Reuters) 
TT
20

What Makes Greenland a Strategic Prize at a Time of Rising Tensions? And Why Now? 

A person walks on a snow covered road, ahead of the March 11 general election, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via Reuters) 
A person walks on a snow covered road, ahead of the March 11 general election, in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Mads Claus Rasmussen via Reuters) 

When US President Donald Trump first suggested buying Greenland in 2019, people thought it was just a joke. No one is laughing now.

Trump’s interest in Greenland, restated vigorously soon after he returned to the White House in January, comes as part of an aggressively “America First” foreign policy platform that includes demands for Ukraine to hand over mineral rights in exchange for continued military aid, threats to take control of the Panama Canal, and suggestions that Canada should become the 51st US state.

Why Greenland? Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and Trump wants to make sure that the US controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

Who does Greenland belong to? Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a long-time US ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Denmark has also recognized Greenland’s right to independence at a time of its choosing.

Amid concerns about foreign interference and demands that Greenlanders must control their own destiny, the island’s prime minister called an early parliamentary election for Tuesday.

The world’s largest island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Why are other countries interested in Greenland? Climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting the competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.

“Let us be clear: we are soon entering the Arctic Century, and its most defining feature will be Greenland’s meteoric rise, sustained prominence and ubiquitous influence,” said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

“Greenland — located on the crossroads between North America, Europe and Asia, and with enormous resource potential — will only become more strategically important, with all powers great and small seeking to pay court to it. One is quite keen to go a step further and buy it.”

The following are some of the factors that are driving US interest in Greenland.

Arctic competition

Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change, the hunt for scarce resources and increasing international tensions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are once again driving competition in the region.

Strategic importance

Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the US occupied Greenland to ensure that it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.

The US has retained bases in Greenland since the war, and the Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Force Base, supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the US and NATO. Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.

Natural resources

Greenland has large deposits of so-called rare earth minerals that are needed to make everything from computers and smartphones to the batteries, solar and wind technologies that will power the transition away from fossil fuels. The US Geological Survey has also identified potential offshore deposits of oil and natural gas.

Greenlanders are keen to develop the resources, but they have enacted strict rules to protect the environment. There are also questions about the feasibility of extracting Greenland’s mineral wealth because of the region’s harsh climate.

Climate change

Greenland’s retreating ice cap is exposing the country’s mineral wealth and melting sea ice is opening up the once-mythical Northwest Passage through the Arctic.

Greenland sits strategically along two potential routes through the Arctic, which would reduce shipping times between the North Atlantic and Pacific and bypass the bottlenecks of the Suez and Panama canals. While the routes aren’t likely to be commercially viable for many years, they are attracting attention.

Chinese interest

In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

Then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?” A Chinese-backed rare earth mining project in Greenland stalled after the local government banned uranium mining in 2021.

Independence

The legislation that extended self-government to Greenland in 2009 also recognized the country’s right to independence under international law. Opinion polls show a majority of Greenlanders favor independence, though they differ on exactly when that should occur. The potential for independence raises questions about outside interference in Greenland that could threaten US interests in the country.