The New Tribal Elite
From our vantage point, we can discard Qadhafi's one-dimensional media image as leader of a revolutionary nation-state and assign him a more parochial role as a traditional leader who controls Libyan politics using heavy-handed tribal tactics. Like King Idris's praetorian Cyrenaican Defense Force, Qadhafi's Republican Guard recruits almost exclusively from tribes whose loyalty he cultivates through economic largess.
Sourcing and Commentary
Hasan Salaheddin Salem, "The Genesis of the Political Leadership of Libya 1952-1969: Historical Origins and Development of its Component Elements," (Ph.D. Diss., George Washington University, 1973)
Benjamin Kyle, "Muammar el-Qaddafi" (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987)
Salem notes that Cyrenaican Defense Force commanders were drawn from Sa'adi tribes, while Kyle identifies Qadhadhfa as staffing Republican Guard units. The Guard works as a shock troop to confront threats from any quarter—especially the regular armed forces—and works double duty as a bodyguard. Seldom are the red berets of Guard troops seen far from their leader. His tribal allies additionally manage a paramilitary network of Revolutionary Committee cells, which are embedded in military barracks and local political conventions across the country where they monitor indicators of dissent and shape local policies.Sourcing and Commentary
Al-Dustur, "What Remains of the Jamahiriyah of the Green Book?" London, 21 July 1986 Disparate biographic information published over the past 25 years by Libyan oppositionists reveals that key security posts are held by an unsavory collection of Qadhadhfa who form the leader's inner circle, including:
- Khalifa Hunaysh, commander of the Republican Guard. Hunaysh, by far the most reclusive of Qadhafi's aides, has a hand in most aspects of regime security.Sourcing and Commentary
Hunaysh may be the mysterious "Lieutenant K." and "Lieutenant Khalifa" refered to by Mirella Bianco on pps. 11-13 & 57 in her unapologetic tribute to Qadhafi published in 1975, "Gadafi: Voice from the Desert."
- Muhammad Masud al-Majdhub, a cousin of Qadhafi, may continue to manage the Revolutionary Committee apparatus.Sourcing and Commentary
'Abd al-Salam Jallud served as titular head of the Revolutionary Committee network but wields limited authority within the organization, according to opposition accounts. Majdhub became infamous in Libyan dissident circles by the early 1980s for his role in liquidating Libyan dissidents, or "stray dogs," at Qadhafi's behest.
- Ahmad Qadhaf al-Dam, another cousin, similarly proved his mettle during regime operations against the Libyan dissident community in the 1970s and 1980s. He regularly undertakes sensitive negotiations for the regime, as when he helped to reopen diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1990.Sourcing and Commentary
More recently, Ahmad appears to have overseen liaison arrangements with British security officals during visits to the UK by Qadhafi's wife and children, including his daughter Aisha. Sunday Times, "Ms. Gadaffi blows up at Speaker's Corner," 30 July 2000
- Sayyid Qadhaf al-Dam, Ahmad's brother, plays a prominent role in managing Libya's intelligence services and has written articles for the regime mouthpiece Al Zahaf al-Akhdar.
- Ma'sud 'Abd al-Hafiz, yet another cousin, often commands important military districts. He also monitors tribes, including the Qadhadhfa, for signs of disloyalty toward the regime. Ma'sud is best known for helping orchestrate Libya's assault on Chad in the 1980s.
- Ahmad Ibrahim, renowned as a leader among student radicals during the 1970s—when the regime hanged student dissidents before television audiences—later entered the Revolutionary Committees apparatus and helped implement unpopular education system reforms as a Cabinet official in the late 1980s.
- Musa Kusa, another close relative, headed the Libyan People's Bureau (embassy) in the United Kingdom until 1980, when he was expelled for condoning the murder of two Libyan dissidents. He later directed the Mathaba, or World Anti-Imperialism Center, a linchpin in regime efforts to foment subversion among Third World countries, and served as Deputy Foreign Minister.
Qadhafi's search for security has by necessity led him to expand his tribal support base beyond his small band of Qadhadhfa deep into the Saff Awlad Sulayman. His regime almost certainly enjoys strong support from the Qadhadhfa's sister tribe, the Warfalla, the confederation's largest and most militarily significant tribe. In addition, the Qadhadhfa's centuries-old intermarriage with the politically prominent Sayf al-Nasr clan of the confederation's Awlad Sulayman tribe probably has afforded Qadhafi's leadership greater legitimacy among his tribal confederates.Sourcing and Commentary
De Agostini notes Qadhadhfa intermarriage with the Awlad Sulayman's Awlad Sayf al-Nasr, a clan described by Evans-Pritchard as Libya's "most famous house of all." Qadhafi's decision to arm both tribes along with his own in early 1987 when his failed war in Chad threatened the regime demonstrates his faith in the confederation's continued viability as a political and military entity.Sourcing and Commentary
MENA, "Libyan Opposition Claims al-Qadhadhfi Gives Arms to Tribes," Cairo, 20 July 1987 Members of both tribes, moreover, burnish impressive regime credentials. For example, Awlad Sulayman tribesman 'Abd al-Salam Zadma, a former Libyan diplomat expelled from the United Kingdom in 1982 for anti-dissident activities, wielded an iron fist against objectors as a leading official within Libya's repressive internal security service before his untimely death in 1998 in an equestrian accident.Sourcing and Commentary
Jeune Afrique, "Clan War in Tripoli," 4 June 1992Next Page »