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The failed coup d'état in Libya

March 29, 2014 at 2:04 pm

While the most problematic issue facing post-revolution authorities in Egypt and Tunisia has been the economy, besides the deep state and foreign conspiracy, the situation is very different in Libya where the economy has been the least pressing issue. Instead, Libya is facing tribal issues, acute political contradictions and armed groups that refuse to lay down their weapons. Some of the armed groups represent individual and tribal interests, while others represent external intervention.


Regarding Tunisia, it is impossible to say that complotting against its revolution stopped after Islamists had given up authority and accepted consensus on all levels. What relatively decreased the burden of the counterrevolution in Tunisia is European intervention which did not want the Egyptian case to be replicated in Tunisia, fearing direct impact on European interests. The Europeans are undoubtedly afraid that an outbreak of violence in Tunisia would lead to a huge wave of immigration to Europe. All in all, Tunisia’s influence in the Arab world remains limited and less prominent that other Arab Spring countries.

The counterrevolutionary forces, tempted by success of their counterparts in Egypt and Yemen, realized that lack of economic need in Libya would not prevent them from meddling, particularly that they own plenty of financial resources which would enable them to exercise influence in various ways.

Libya is an important country, not only because of its abundant wealth, but also because of its geographic location, which largely affects its Arab and African neighbours. Therefore, aborting its revolution and restoring the previous regime does not only indicate a continuation of the war on the Arab Spring, but it also hinders its attempts to have political representatives who reflect the will of the people and who would position Libya away from the Arab counterrevolution camp.

Thus, complotting against the Libyan revolution has never stopped. What happened on Friday confirmed this view. When a senior officer announces a coup through a media platform, known for its anti-Arab Spring and anti-Islamist stance, it means that there is a planned coup sponsored by the camp which aborted the Egyptian revolution and bankrolled its local allies to support the coup.

While I am writing this, the Libyan authorities announced the failure of the coup d’état. However, what happened raises fears that conspiracy will continue and will keep the country subject to further conspiracies because the counterrevolution does not want any democratic experience to succeed. They are intent on extinguishing any hope for change, particularly as the downfall of Gadhafi was a milestone of hope in the Arab Spring as Gadhafi’s dictatorship has been unmatched in the scale of injustice, arrogance, and foolishness which squandered the nation’s wealth and involved Libya in destructive adventures.

When Libya stabilises and starts real representation of its people’s concerns and interests, it would become more influential in its Arabic and regional spheres. Gadhafi was effective, but he negatively affected his surroundings in a way that did not serve the interests of his people.

Therefore, we ask the mindful people in Libya to be cautious and on high alert in order to protect their revolution and the will of their people, who do not long for the return of Gadhafi’s regime. Whatever is being said about the security issue, which has not been resolved yet, is nothing more than a small number of former regime cronies who yearn for the past.

What is going on in Libya and what happened in Egypt and Tunisia prove that the Arab Spring was not a conspiracy, but a reflection of the conscience of the people. Conspiracy against the Arab Spring has been unbelievably huge, especially by countries having an abundance of money which they are ready to spend to stave off the threat of the Arab Spring from their borders.

This article was first published on Arabi21

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.