The agreement of the Fezzan signed in Rome last year by Minister Minniti no longer exists, the French once again managed to frustrate a "small" Italian success in the area. An editorial of "La Stampa" analyzes in detail the updated situation in the field.
The element of novelty would be the infiltration of the Libyan Tebu tribes by elements of the same ethnic group coming from Niger and Chad, inclined towards a new conflict to gain power and resources. General Khalifa Haftar and the French are benefiting from the tensions. The south-western region of Libya is the center of human trafficking but also rich in oil fields, including the largest in Eni in Libya. The fall of Gaddafi by Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 meant that three groups contended for power in Fezzan. The Tuareg, a Berber population that also lives on the border with Algeria, the Arab tribe of Aulad Suleiman, and finally the Tebus, a population of ethnicity and African language. The end of the dictatorship brought to light endemic rivalries that had already been seen in the war in Chad of the XNUMXs, when the Tebus were with Gaddafi and the Tuareg against. The Italian mediation, begun in 2015 under the auspices of the Community of Sant'Egidio, had been finalized by former Interior Minister Claudio Minniti on 3 last April. The agreement was able above all to bring the Tebu near the positions of Rome, interested in sealing the border with Niger to stop the flow of migrants. Tebu militias had begun to control the border posts and new balances had to be completed by an Italian military mission in Niger, which had never begun as it was not digested by the Nigerian and French governments. Since this spring, Italian positions have weakened more and more. The first shot was a meeting between the Fezzan tribes in Niamey, under French direction, last 12 April. At the end of the summit the leader of the Aulad Suleiman, Senussi Ornar Massoud, accused the government of national unity of Tripoli led by Fayez al-Sarraj, then also Italy, of "not respecting Rome's connection", which was "completed ». The Aulad Suleiman have always been hostile to Gaddafi, and now to Hartar, and so far they had remained closer to the government of Al-Sarraj. The Tuaregs have always been allies of France. So the last card in the hands of Italy remained the Tebus. Here two new interferences have been inserted. The first derives from the battle between Haftar and Al-Sarraj for the control of oil wells, which had resurfaced earlier this year. The center of the conflict is on the coast, in the so-called Mezzaluna del Petrolio, but it also has repercussions in Fezzan. The field disputed in this region is Hephant Field, conquered by the Tebus in the 2015 and then taken over by the Allied Oil Guard of Tripoli. Now, as Haftar is preparing a new offensive to take back the Oil Crescent, elements within the Tebu are again keen to ally with the general, even in the hope of securing a share of the oil resources. The son of the chief of the tribe, Abu Bakir, told the newspaper "The New Arab" that "the Islamists have failed, the Libyans want stability, that's why they prefer Haftar", a declaration of alliance. But the Tebus are grappling with a second element of destabilization, the infiltration of fighters of their own ethnicity, but of Chadian and Nigerian nationality. They are militias that, according to local sources, have already taken control of various locations, such as Qataroon, Murzuq (where there is oil), Traagin, and Um Aramib, but it is not clear who they are serving. The Arabs accuse the Tebus of "hosting these mercenaries to take all the Fezzan". The Tebu leadership instead claims to be engaged, alongside Haftar, in repelling the intruders. A chaos that doesn't bode well. Thus the militias that divide the Tebu country are a people of African ethnicity who speak a Nilo-Saharan language, divided into various dialects. They live between Niger, Chad, Libya and Sudan. The total population is about 800 thousand people, 70 thousand in Libya, 400 thousand in Chad. They are also called "the black nomads", while the Arabs define them sometimes with a derogatory term "mori". Gaddafi used them as mercenaries against the Berber tribes and Tuareg. Aulad Suleiman The "sons of Suleiman" are the most important Arab tribe in the capital of Fezzan Sebah, the gateway to the central Sahara. They have always been close to the Islamist and nationalist movement of Senussia, as evidenced by the title «Senussi» that precedes the name of their leaders. During the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi they were discriminated against by the regime. After the revolution they sided with the Islamic tribes of Misrata. But now they are tempted by General Haftar. Tuareg They are a Berber population, which speaks a language other than Arabic. They live throughout Western Sahara, from Mali to Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Niger. The population is estimated at over three million, two-thirds in Niger.
La Stampa source