Between 1978 and 2006 I worked in Libya for a total of eighteen years, in petrochemical oil and gas, and on the Man Made River. I worked at Azzawia, Tripoli, Mizerata, Sirte, Bin Juwad, Ras Lanuf, Marsa el Brega, Adj Dhabia, Benghazi, and Tobruk on the coast, and inland at Amal, Tibisti, Ghadamas and Ghani,(the fort at Ghani was the futhermost western outpost of the Ottoman Empire). I met Ghaddafi in September 1978 at Ras Lanuf, while working for Stone & Webster Engineering.

Ghaddafi was no saint, but the system under him, was secular. He allowed all religious faiths as long as they did not preach sedition against the state. There was a Roman Catholic church on Nasir Street in Tripoli near the meat market, and a Synagogue behind the sooque in the old city, and numerous Coptic Christian churches around Dhara.

Women could drive, and I had met a female Libyan Arab Airways pilot over twenty years ago. The Russian influence had collapsed with the Berlin Wall, and Satellite TV, previously banned, came into many Libyan homes during the 90’s, followed by the internet in the early 2000’s. He started to develop limited tourism. There were strong Hash House Harrier clubs in Tripoli and Benghazi, and a blind eye was turned to brewing of alcohol, as long as you did not sell or distribute it. He allowed maintenance of war graves, and attendance for remembrance services on 11th of the 11th each year. He gave permission for British and German war veterans to visit Tobruk during the time I worked there in 1992, and the Egyptian border was reopened. During the air embargo, my way in and out of Libya was from Cairo, via Alexandria, by West Delta bus to Tobruk, about ten hours. On the man made river,with the Dong Ah Corporation, it was by bus from Benghazi to Tripoli, and on to Jerba in Tunisia ,by pick-up truck, or across the mediterranean by boat to Malta.

There was a growing youth unemployment problem, and there was hostility towards black Libyans in some places, but the country was becoming more liberal as the years passed. At no time did I ever feel under threat. What Ghadaffi did not tolerate, was radical Islam.

Historically Libya was, and still is, tribal, with over 140 tribes, and sub tibes many spilling,and having influence over the Tunisian, Algerian, Niger, Chadian and Egyptian borders.

When he seized control, he placed Gaddafi tribesmen in key positions in the branches of the military, and thereby removed the authority of a country formerly built up by the eastern Sanussi. Even so, the Gaddafi, still did not have the numbers to control the country.

He formed alliances for the Gadaffi tribe, who were centred around Sirte, primarily with two other western tribes, the Magariya whose numbers dominated Tripoli,(his wife's Tribe), and the largest grouping, of about a million, the Wafalla, from Bani Walid, and areas South and West of Tripoli.

In the extreme south of Libya, are the darker-skinned Toubou and the lighter skinned Berber nomads known as Tuareg. They can change sides in a minute, usually dependent on cash flow. They have often threatened to close down the oil fields in their territories,- Gadaffi usually bought them off.

Gadaffi, not merely neglected the tribes of the East, he stripped them of much of their wealth.

Umeducated Western Liberals, believed that the uprising against Gadaffi was a facsimile of the 'Arab Spring' in Tunisia, and Egypt. It was not, it was never about 'democracy.' It is a continuation of an ancient tribal war. The prize driving both major factions, is control of Libya's immense oil wealth. To understand why we are, where we are today, requires background knowledge of Libya's history.

12th Century Bedouin invasions of Libya, caused ancient coastal agricultural systems -remaining since Roman and pre Roman times, to give way to Arabic-speaking nomads, who established tribal territories. For the best part of 800 years, they devoted their energies to raiding one another.

When the Italians invaded during the First World War, the Libyan tribes sided with the Ottoman Turks in opposing the Italians, they were led by the Cyrenaica eastern-based, Grand Sanussi order, Cyrenaica's dominant religious sect. They are not unlike the Wahabists of Saudi Arabia, preaching an austere form of Islam. It was a modern vestige of this unifying Sanussi movement that rose up in Benghazi and Darnah, against Gadaffi, to reassert itself. Many of the fighters against the West, in Iraq came from these two towns They march under the old Sanussi flag.It was not clear that the rebels would prevail at all, until Western intervention , caused loss of a large part of Gadaffi's support amongst the Warfallen and Maghariya.

Of significance to the West, is that it is no longer a question of 'if' they get hold of Gadaffi's arsenal, they have got it all, including missiles.

The 'Western' recognised rump goverment, is now holed up in Tobruk, - controlling nothing. If they were daft enough to venture the 170 kilometers west to Darnah, they would be slaughtered, in much the same manner as Gadaffi, and any of his immediate followers who the rebels managed to get their hands on. The rest of the country is strewn with heavily armed tribal militias, strutting around waving guns, and by now fighting each other, much as they used to do of old, added to by a modern twist, now threatening Europe, with mass African invasion.

Four years ago, many of us, with time, long served across Libya, warned Cameron not to touch it. But what could we possibly have known that the Bullingdon Club and the Oxford Debating Society didn't?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

Well done Cameron, Sarkozy, and Obama, you have opened a Pandora’s box, and set Libya back several centuries. The path back to the 21st century will be long, and strewn with corpses.

**Searching for oil in the desert, Libya found vast quantities of fresh water under the sand. A huge engineering project was inaugurated by Colonel Gaddafi, to pipe the water from the desert aquifers to the coastal cities. The Great Man-Made River is one of the largest civil engineering projects in the world, but it is almost unknown outside Libya. Richard Hollingham, one of the first western journalists to visit the project, describes his experiences. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4...
It is a war crime to attack essential civilian infrastructure. 95% of Libya is desert and 70% of Libyans depend on water which is piped in from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System under the southern desert. On 22 July NATO warplanes attacked the pipe making plant at Brega killing six of the facility’s security guards:

http://humanrightsinvestiga... great-man-made-river-nato-bombs/

I know, it was a tragedy to perpetrate attacks on water supplies. I worked, as Contractor, constructing pipelines, reservoirs, and pump stations, on the Dong Ah Corporation, for the GMMR, on Phase I, (First Water to Benghazi), and Phase II, (First Water to Tripoli). My last job in Libya, was on the design of Phase III. Ghadamas to Azawiya, working for Brown & Root North Africa. Apart from domestic water supply, the main purpose was for agriculture. I completely fail to see why it was a target of NATO,

To an Arab, water is more important than possessions, This action, potentially preventing repair and replacement of reinforced concrete pipe, would have infuriated both sides. A possible reason for the destruction of the facility is that the illustrious western politicians, perceived contracts for western companies to rebuild the infrastructure, when the war concluded. The pipe factory was owned by the Al Noor Corporation, a Libyan Company, who took over from Dong Ah, and Price Waterhouse. Destruction of the facility, would mean that it would deprive the Libyans of the capability to manufacture their own concrete pipe, forcing them to buy in replacement equipment, or go over to Glass Reinforced Plastic Pipe from Future Pipe or Amianti of Saudi Arabia.

The problem of course being that the current Libyan militias, holding various sections of the pipelines, will have no intention of paying western companies to replace what they have destroyed. If so, things have (ever so slightly), not quite worked out the way they intended.

I hope one day someone makes a movie/miniseries on Gaddafi...

a vast public housing scheme of 10-storey blocks that was still being built when the revolution ground work to a halt in 2011..''
All is revealed...
Gaddafi had to go cos he was building more homes for his people than cameron

''In Mr Omar's block are families fleeing Kikla, while in neighbouring blocks are families fleeing the fighting in Benghazi, the eastern city that is now a stronghold of Ansar al Sharia, the al-Qaeda-linked group that killed the US ambassador Chris Stevens in 2012.''

??????????????? BUT cameron said...

: "It is great to be in a free Benghazi and in a free Libya. The people of Britain salute your courage." "Your city was an inspiration to the world. You threw off a dictator and chose freedom,"
"Now, just as your courage has written the last chapter of Libyan history, so it must write the next one, and your friends in Britain and in France will stand with you as you build your democracy and build your country for the future." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

Britain and in France will stand with you????... cameron's a no show!!

Perhaps cameron ought to be parachuted into that place. Oh, how they'd cheer! So would many here.

Tripoli now has a defacto Islamic government

The pride of conservative Britain is that Britain has the longest standing government in history - change was brought about slowly, step by step, all the while maintaining order, and peaceful commerce. This is the essence of conservatism. All British and especially the tories abhor the french revolution, as the antithesis of how to bring about change. And yet, the same conservatives are rabid frothing at the mouth supporters of revolution everywhere in the world where non-white people are(please note that, revolutions are good for non-white people only), making them the biggest hypocrites in the world.

Not a word about oil sales, which is the main reason we take an interest in Libya.

LOL this line reminds me of the nonsense we are being swallowed in about Syria's so called Opposition..

"One is the General National Congress (GNC) which is allied to the Libya
Dawn Islamist coalition. Some are moderate and some aren't. "

You mean just how the freedom fighters were so moderate in Afghanistan?

"Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is now active in eastern Libya"

Americans "regime change" under the disguise of "democracy" has produced ISIS and it is the people in Iraq, Syria and Libya who are suffering.

It is too gross yet those lofty Americans are not thinking of it.

No, American 'regime change' led to Gaddafi having the wits scared out of him so that he discontinued his own WMD programme (of which no-one doubts the existence) and sought rapprochement with the West.

American 'electing a dithering new president massively out of his depth and leaving Iraq too early' re-emboldened Gaddafi to the point where he would have massacred goodness know how many of his own people had the West not taken some sort of action. The problem was that the action that the West took was too limp-wristed and ineffective to achieve any lasting good.

"he would have massacred goodness know how many of his own people"

How do you know? What a load of crap.

Have you noticed how now the ICC claims that there is still some stability being made in Libya lol.

There is a sable part of it. However, it's very tiny, and has no influence on the rest of the place.

To be fair how did cameron know that the oil price would drop and that gadaffi was actually telling the truth when he said the rebels where alquida/ISIS. Cameron like a gentleman acted in good faith

Crazy as Gaddafi was in some ways most Libyans, as long as they did not challenge his rule, lived reasonably prosperous, peaceful lives (yes, I did visit the country then and saw it for myself!). Then the Western powers intervened and the country has sunk into anarchy. One more example of disastrous intervention by outsiders — in whose interests?

What was done in Libya is a crime Obama,Cameron have a lot of blood on their hands. Beware yanks bearing gifts of democracy and regime change look what was tried in Syria until the Russians stepped in and said NO.

Yes the cheese eating surrender monkey's should have been included

How Libyans run their country has nothing to do with your crazy lot American sphere regime change fanatics.

You lot need to learn hands off and respect other nations.

That is exactly as it was.

The idea that NATO should have disarmed the militias after the destruction of the Qaddafi state highlights the folly of regime change. What the author does not seem to understand are the implications of his suggestion, i.e. the re-imposition of Western imperialism. Was this feasible? For how long? At what cost in lives and money? What about international law?

This is all scratch and sniff bleeding-heart nonsense and nowhere near describes adequately the ins and outs.
No revolution starts and ends with immiediate peace and tranquility, it never does, it rumbles on for decades. British history is an example of that, and American history (numerous wars of independence and brutal civil wars).
The idea that the West is to blame for anything is just such rubbish and naivety.

browne: "The idea that the West is to blame for anything is just such rubbish and naivety."

Whose military and covert operations were involved?

To use your own words, "you aint got a clue

So, let's allocate blame for this horrible situation to those causing it:

1) The usa.
2) france.
3) The UK.

Put them in any order you like. Their leaders and no-one else are responsible for this outrage, and all the fallout from it, from the dreadful situation there to that in Syria, which they're still adding fuel to the fire of, to the problems being experienced in "eu" states resulting.

Main culprit was France (due to the oil companies). Then UK due to BP and then Obama so clinton could look like she was doing something.

Cameron was the 2nd biggest supporter of attacking Gadaffi so i'm sure that BP lobbying helped. Wasn't gadaffi cancelling all the contracts that he signed with BP when he was friends with Blair?

So why was he so keen on taking gadaffi out? Revenge for Lockerbie and to humiliate Blair? Blair ended up pleading with the Americans to save Gadaffi as obviously cameron was ignoring him.

Hi steviebaby, I concur with stupidity, topped off with ignorance. If you remember at the time, the British Embassy staff, were the first out of Libya, long before many of the rest of the British expats could get out. They inhabited the eighth floor of Bab al Fitah, facing out to sea. All they ever saw of Libya was on the daily bus journey, along the Corniche, to their accommodation, the odd trip to Leptus Magna, and the road to and from Tripoli airport. I knew the Canadian Ambassador socially, he was a member of the Tripoli Hash House Harriers, and of much more use to me, while I was working out of Tripoli on Veba Oil Operations, than the British Embassy ever was.

Yes, they don't seem to be improving much. Have a look at their latest ongoing fiasco here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

Fresh out of Oxford and Cambridge, the FO must be sending them on courses in how to continually screw up and not get fired. Every time they open their mouths, it seems to only be, to change feet. In fairness to them, the government have probably failed to keep them informed of their own latest gaffs, and the FO staff in far flung places, hear about the problems, at the same time as the rest of us,- on CNN.

I am currently in Nigeria, and were I ever to face a serious threat, the last people I would resort to are the British Consulate. I think I can do much better on my own.

That does not surprise me in the least. When I worked at Umm Said Refinery in Qatar for the French Company Technip, I needed to get an alcohol permit endorsed by the British Embassy. When the trade representative found out that I worked for the French, I was continually pestered for access to the Company. He was sniffing out potential business for British companies. I played him along. I was getting invites to cocktail parties, piano recitals, and coffee mornings, but when he realised that I had no influence whatsoever, over commercial matters, only engineering, he dropped me like a stone.

William Hague was a huge believer in the arab spring and how it would bring "moderate" governments into the middle east. Remember how he was a huge backer of the Muslim Brotherhood? As such I doubt he would have listened or tolerated any dissent from anyone in the FO, instead wanting to put himself in the history books. Hillary Clinton wanted the campaign so she'd have a victory for her future presidential campaign so would not have even bothered to worry about the consequences in Libya, especially as US big oil is not represented well there. Obama was against the whole action. Kind of shows how poor our journalism is that no one knows or no journalist asked why cameron was so keen on toppling gadaffi???

Their are many theories running around why Gadaffi was topped so quickly after his capture. Why would an anti western militia kill him so quickly, when he knew so much of the deals that were being made with the West. It should also not be forgotten that Gadaffi had sent an assassin to Saudi Arabia, to kill a member of the Saudi Royal family. I have no doubt that the Saudi's would not be sorry to see him killed so quickly. Now all that we have, of the full extent of Blair's dealings, is speculation.

He was killed quickly as he was offered safe passage out of Libya (probably brokered by blair) and then his convoy was targeted and bombed by the americans. The americans then flew a special forces team and Libyan militia to the convoy site where Gadaffi was shot in cold blood by the militia. The US then flew his body back to the capital. I personally doubt cameron had anything too do with his murder as he would have loved to have gaddafi spill his guts about blair.

you aint got a clue

Maybe if the west hadn't set up Gaddafi to be murdered those buildings would have been completed.

I think it's almost certain that the area would not be in the dire situation it is in now, and that we in the West would not have the knock-on issues we do.