Libyan PM escapes country after assembly ousts him over oil tanker fiasco

The New York Times notes that the fact that a foreign vessel came to al-Sidra and sailed away with oil is an important victory for Ibrahim Jathran, 33, the leader of the militia which has been in control of Libya’s oil fields and east coast ports for the last eight months. His militia participated in the campaign against Col. Qaddafi’s regime, and in early 2012 the transitional government selected him and his militia to be in charge of protecting the country’s oil infrastructure. Militias from west Libya, jealous of his power, tried to limit his militia’s influence in post-Qaddafi’s Libya, leading him to turn against the government and join the Eastern Regionalist, or “Federalist,” cause – a coalition of different militias based in east Libya who want to ensure that their region, and their tribes, receive more of the oil revenue and also more autonomy within a federated Libya.

Shortly after midnight Tuesday, Jathran, gave a televised statement on the deck of the oil tanker, defying the U.S. State Department, which described the oil sale by the militia as a “theft” from the Libyan people.

“Some parties might interpret your statement as an incitement to war,” he said, referring to the statement earlier in the day by U.S. ambassador, Deborah Jones. He said he was speaking on behalf of what he called “the politburo of Cyrenaica,” as the Libya’s eastern province is called. He also said he would welcome international oversight of the disposition of the proceeds from the sale as well as any “constructive role” the United States might play in “achieving the aspirations for justice and equality of the people of Cyrenaica.”

The prime minister ordered the military to prevent the tanker from leaving port, but the army ignored him. Zeidan then turned to militias loyal to him, and they moved to the port over the weekend, putting it under siege.

On Monday we wrote that “the likely outcome would be for the nominally pro-government militias to reach an arrangement with the militias from east Libya over the distribution of oil revenues before allowing the exportation of oil from al-Sidra to resume” (“Stand-off at Libyan port over militia’s attempt to export oil,” HSNW, 10 March 2014).

This is exactly what happened: the two militia coalitions – the one from the east, which has been in control of Libya’s oil fields since last summer, and the nominally pro-government militias – reached an agreement on how to distribute the oil revenues, and as of yesterday, Libyan oil is on the market again, although the proceeds from oil sales are pocketed by the militias.

The no-confidence motion was approved by 124 of the 194 members of the parliament, four more than the majority required. The resolution noted the government’s failure to stop eastern rebels from independently exporting oil.

The Libyan parliament is not a legislative body in the Western sense. It is a body to which tribal elders and commanders of armed militias appoint their candidates, and these candidates are there to secure the interests of the tribe or the militia they represent. The parliamentary vote is thus less an expression of anger over the violation of Libyan sovereignty and more an expression of frustration by tribal groups and militias for not sharing in the oil revenues.

The New York Times writes that:

The ouster of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan underscored the explosive danger of loss of control over Libya’s petroleum, the lifeblood of its economy. With negligible military or police forces, oil revenue has been the last bargaining chip for the weak transitional government in its struggle to subdue the fractious local militia and tribes that took up arms during the rebellion that overthrew Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Perhaps the verbs “bribe” or “buy off” would be more appropriate than “subdue” in the passage above, but the Times is right to note that once Zeidan was no longer handling the disbursement of oil revenues to the tribes and militias, they no longer had use for him.

Zeidan was elected in 2012 as the first prime minister after the November 2011 overthrow and killing of Col. Qaddafi.

He has had the backing of the liberal-leaning National Forces Alliance, but was opposed led by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist militias. This initial secular-religious divide was less important than the disintegration of Libya, which left the country without functioning governmental or security authorities, and completely at the mercy of the dozens armed militias which now control different parts of the country.

Zeidan himself, and his cabinet, had no authority over anything in Libya, and last October he was abducted for a few hours by an angry rival militia leader.

It is not clear where the tanker is now, or what happened to it, and the disarray characterizing what passes for government in Libya makes it difficult to ascertain the facts.

Al Jazeera reports that the Libyan navy said it opened fire on the tanker after it left port, and that Italian ships were helping to secure the now-stationary vessel. Walid al-Tarhouni, spokesman for Libya’s oil security force, told al-Nabaa television that the ship had sailed further east from al-Sidra port before being attacked.

Bloomberg, however, reports that Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for the National Oil Corp., said the tanker was taken from al Sidra to a port under government control.

The destination is Qasr Ahmed port in Misrata in western Libya, the official Lana news agency said.