Gabon supported the council's resolution on Libya authorizing the no-fly zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. The vote comes as a surprise as Gabon President, Ali Bongo, is considered a good friend of Gaddafi, and Libya has invested hugely in Gabon. Ali Bongo succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, as President of Gabon. Omar Bongo, who stayed in power for 42 years, converted to Islam under Gaddafi's influence. Gabon's vote should therefore be understood in light of its internal political crisis. Bongo is accused of supporting dictators and of being one himself. Massive protests have been waged against Bongo, but were soon repressed by the use of force.
Gabon, however, after voting in favour of the UN Security Council resolution on Libya, had an afterthought and called for the immediate ceasefire by the western coalition forces.
There is no clear information on mercenaries from Gabon.
Equatorial Guinea
African Union (AU) Chairperson and Equatorial Guinea dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema twice has called Colonel Gaddafi to secure AU support[9]. But some African countries are opposing the AU Chairperson's call to help Gaddafi.
Afrol news agency reports that following a phone call between Gaddafi and President Obiang -- who rose to power in Equatorial Guinea in 1979 -- the AU expressed support for the Libyan regime, praising its "readiness" for "political reforms." In a strong statement, the AU said it was firm in "its rejection of any form of foreign military intervention," including a no-fly zone[10].
However, the UN Security Council with the support of African member countries, South Africa, Nigeria and Gabon, approved of military action against the Libya. President Obiang again spoke over the telephone with the Libyan leader to discuss means to demonstrate Libyan cooperation with the international community by preparing for an AU "panel of five heads of state" to "investigate" the peace and security situation in Libya and "help negotiate a peace agreement between the Libyan government and the rebels."[11]
In a statement, the government of Equatorial Guinea said that the phone calls between the two leaders were misinterpreted, and that President Obiang would not show unilateral support to any of the parties in Libya.[12] According to news items, however, President Obiang sent troops to help Gaddafi[13]. The estimated number is of 650 Guinean soldiers[14]. Another news item reported that the government of Equatorial Guinea had prepared a group of 120 policemen and gendarmes to send to fight in Libya. The Guinean government told them that in Libya they would have received a 60-day training course as "border police." However while the 120 men were waiting to fly to Libya, they were apparently told that there was no safe way or possibility of landing in any Libyan airport[15].
Rwanda
No reports of mercenaries heading to Libya.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in power since the year 2000, backed the international coalition action in Libya, saying lessons had been learned from the genocide in his country. The South African newspaper, Times Live, reports Kagame words: "No country knows better than my own the costs of the international community failing to intervene to prevent a state killing its own people. In the course of 100 days in 1994, a million Rwandans were killed by government-backed 'genocidaires' and the world did nothing to stop them".[16]
Sao Tome
No reports of mercenaries heading to Libya.
North Africa
Morocco
No reports of mercenaries heading to Libya.
The Polisario
The Moroccan Press Agency reports members of the Polisario, Western Sahara Separatist Group, left Mali's capital Bamako on board a Libyan aircraft heading to Algiers, intending to enter Libya by land to support Gaddafi's forces against rebels[17].
The Polisario is a politico-military organization fighting Morocco in order to take control of the former Western Sahara, currently under Morocco's sovereignty, and win independence for that region. The Polisario's headquarters are now based in Algeria, in the town of Tindouf. According to news items, Gaddafi spoke directly to Muhammad Abdelaziz, leader of the Polisario Front, to ask for help. Gaddafi has supported the Polisario against Morocco financially and logistically, since the mid-1970s by providing equipment for an entire army.
According to sources, over two hundred well trained Polisario's fighters trained in the techniques of guerrilla warfare have been selected and armed with Kalashnikovs, grenades and rocket launchers, and sent on their way on board 4X4 at the end of last week, and headed for Libya. The mercenaries took the path leading to the Libyan border town of Atchane Al, where they had to be escorted by the Libyan military to Tripoli, passing by the city of Sabha[18].
The Moroccan American Center for Policy, reported that Libya's former Minister of State for Immigration & Expatriates, Ali Errishi, condemned members of the Polisario for their "hypocrisy" in claiming to fight for freedom and progressive ideals, but joining the Gaddafi's mercenary army.[19] Errishi confirmed that well-armed members of the Polisario are among Gaddafi's mercenaries.
Algeria
The African Press Agency claimed that the Algerian government is supporting Gaddafi in recruiting mercenaries, especially from the Polisario, as Algeria is supporting this separatist group against Morocco. "The Algerian government spares no effort to facilitate the arrival of new reinforcements for Gaddafi to shield his regime from falling and avoid the repercussions on Algeria's stability that may arise from such a collapse".[20]
The Algerian government denied being involved in fighting the uprising against Gaddafi. The foreign ministry said in a statement, that these "false lies" which were reported by internet websites and TV satellite channels are "baseless," and Algeria was committed to non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, said the statement[21].
Tunisia
The Algerian paper Echorouk reports that after the Tunisian revolution, militias loyal to former Tunisian President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali escaped from Tunisia and found refuge in Libya[22]. According to news items, these militias are now fighting to protect Gaddafi's regime.
Mauritania
Mauritanians mercenaries are reported to be fighting for Gaddafi in Libya. A Libyan political opponent living in Washington DC, Mahmoud Chemam, stated that popular committees linked to Gaddafi in Mauritania are trying to recruit mercenaries to send to Libya[23]. Pro-Gaddafi's parties and movements in Mauritania are part of the fundamentalist Islamic Front Action. Mauritanian leader of the opposition, Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, called for investigation of Mauritanian mercenaries in Libya[24]. Since Gaddafi came to power, Libya has intervened in Mauritania's internal affairs. Gaddafi is even accused of having plotted several coups in Mauritania.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2000/gaddafi-mercenaries-in-libya
“France and Libya sign arms deal”, August 2007
1st, 2nd Paragraphs
Libya has signed contracts with France to buy anti-tank missiles and radio communications equipment worth $405m (£199m), Libyan officials have said.
The arms agreement is Libya's first with a Western country since a European Union embargo was lifted in 2004.
10th Paragraph
France's opposition Socialist leader Francois Hollande has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the negotiations between France and Libya.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6928880.stm
“Libya Seals Peace Deal for Chad”, October 2007
1st , 2nd , 3rd, 4th Paragraphs
Four Chadian rebel groups have sealed a peace agreement with the government, three weeks after negotiating the preliminary deal.
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi hosted the talks alongside the presidents of Chad and Sudan.
The insurgent groups have waged an on-off rebellion against Chadian President Idriss Deby for years.
The fighting was linked to the conflict plaguing the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7063093.stm
“Chad: Gaddafi's Best Ally”, July 2011
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Paragraphs
Gaddafi has a long and complicated history with the neighboring Chad. The colonel brought the Chadian President Idriss Déby to power in 1990, by supporting him financially and militarily. In 1973, Libya's hegemonic ambitions brought the invasion of Chad, occupying and annexing the Aozou Strip, a region considered to be rich in uranium, some 44,00 square miles in the north of Chad bordering the whole 500-mile frontier with Libya. In 1987, Chad, under the leadership of President Hissène Habré, tried to take back the Aozou Strip from Libya. In order to contain Libya's regional aspirations, the United States and France gave military help to Habré. Chad, hence, managed to provide Libya with several setbacks, destroying also an airbase 100 kilometers inside Libya.
Ιn October 1988, Libya and Chad restored diplomatic relations, even though the climate of tension between the two countries continued to exist. In retaliation of the United States and France's support to Habré, the Libyan leader sponsored the bombing of a U.S. Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. In 1990, the dispute over the Aouzou Strip between Chad and Libya was submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On February 3, 1994 the ICJ ruled that the Strip should remain under Chad's sovereignty. On May 30,1994, Gaddafi accepted the ICJ's decision and Libyan troops were pulled from the Aozou Strip.
Habré's government did not last long, however. In November 1990, a rebel offensive against the Chadian ruler was led by Idriss Déby, former army commander under Habré's regime belonging to the Zaghawa ethnic group, supported by Gaddafi. After three months of provisional government, Déby was declared president of Chad.
Déby owes Gaddafi his rise to power, but not only that. On February 2008, in the capital N'Djamena, Chadian rebels tried to topple Déby's regime, but he managed to stop the revolt thanks to Gaddafi's support. The Libyan opposition is now accusing the Chadian president of sending soldiers in order to pay back the debt he owes Gaddafi.
In February 2011, Libyan revolutionaries accused the Chadian government of having played a vital role in providing "mercenaries" to Gaddafi to prevent his fall, through the overland route to Libyan town of Sabha, just across Chad's border. Ali Zeidan, spokesman for the exiled Libyan Human Rights League (LHRL), claimed that two Chadian generals were commanding the mercenaries, under the orders of the Chad's ambassador to Libya, Daoussa Déby, brother of the Chadian president.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2237/chad-gaddafi-ally
“Why France Was So Keen to Attack Libya”, March 2011
1st , 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Paragraphs
Even before allied forces unleashed a "shock and awe" barrage of cruise missile attacks against Libya on March 19, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was quick to take the credit, saying France had "decided to assume its role, its role before history" in stopping strongman Muammar Gaddafi's "killing spree" against people whose only crime was to seek to "liberate themselves from servitude."
Sarkozy's newfound concern for Libyan democracy contrasts sharply from only three years ago, when Sarkozy welcomed Gaddafi with open arms during an extravagant five-day state visit to France. On that occasion in December 2007, Gaddafi breezed into Paris in his Bedouin robes, accompanied by an entourage of 400 servants, five airplanes, a camel and 30 female virgin bodyguards, and then proceeded to pitch his heated tent on the grounds of the palatial Hôtel de Marigny, just across the street from the Elysée Palace.
At the time, Sarkozy ridiculed critics of Gaddafi's visit by saying: "It is rather beautiful the principle that consists in not getting yourself wet, not taking risks, being so certain of everything you think while you're having your latte on the Boulevard Saint-Germain." He also asked: "If we don't welcome countries that are starting to take the path of respectability, what can we say to those that leave that path?" Meanwhile, Sarkozy's chief diplomatic advisor, Jean-David Levitte, insisted that Libya had a "right to redemption."
Nor did Sarkozy express much support for the recent uprisings in the Arab world, which deposed long-time friends of Paris, including Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
In the case of Tunisia, Sarkozy reluctantly fired his loyal foreign minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, after it emerged that she borrowed a private jet from a Tunisian businessman linked to Ben Ali in order to work on her suntan in the Tunisian seaside town of Tabarka during the height of the political upheaval in Tunisia. According to the French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, Alliot-Marie also offered Ben Ali the "know how" of France's security forces to help him quash the fighting in Tunisia just three days before he was removed from office.
In Egypt, it emerged that French Prime Minister François Fillon and his family had accepted a free holiday from Mubarak, complete with a private plane and Nile River boat, just weeks before the Egyptian president was removed from office. Facing accusations that France cozies up to dictators, Sarkozy said that in the future, his government ministers should take their holidays in France.
So what explains Sarkozy's about-face vis-à-vis Libya? His sudden support for the anti-Gaddafi rebels can be attributed to two main factors: opinion polls and the closely related issue of Muslim immigration.
Sarkozy's sudden zeal for the cause of democracy in Libya comes as his popularity is at record lows just thirteen months before the first round of the 2012 presidential election. With polls showing that Sarkozy is the least popular president since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958, he is betting that French voters will appreciate his efforts in Libya to place France at the center of the world stage and reinforce what Charles de Gaulle once famously called "a certain idea of France" as a nation of exceptional destiny.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1983/france-libya-attack
“Libya no-flyresolution reveals global split in UN”, March 2011
2nd , 3rd Paragraphs
Russia and China abstained rather than use their veto, due largely to the influence of the Arab League. It would have been hard to reject the official voice of the region. However, the Arab League's role on this occasion arose from a particular set of circumstances, largely revolving around the unpopularity of Muammar Gaddafi and his regime.
In the long term, Washington, London and Paris might worry about the decision of Brazil, India and Germany to abstain. The German vote was a reminder that western solidarity cannot be taken for granted after Iraq. More importantly, Brazil and India – two rapidly growing powers widely backed for permanent seats in a reformed security council – showed that their geopolitical instincts lie with Russia and China. For them issues of sovereignty and non-interference trumped human rights concerns.
7th , 8th Paragraphs
United States A late but decisive member of the no-fly zone lobby, Barack Obama's White House was torn for weeks between interventionists in the state department and its own ranks, and the pragmatism of the defence secretary, Robert Gates, and his generals. The sudden promotion of an aggressively worded resolution came after the rapid advances of Gaddafi's troops brought home the possibility of a bloodbath in Benghazi, and Arab League support for a no-fly zone defused some fears of alienating the Arab and Islamic world.
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar Both Gulf states have their reasons for wanting to see the back of Gaddafi. They see him as a destabilising influence in the Arab world, and feel deceived by Libyan promises of reform. Gaddafi outraged the UAE by backing Iran over disputed islands in the Gulf. Qatar was furious over Tripoli's treatment of al-Jazeera, including the shooting dead of one of its television journalists.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/18/libya-no-fly-resolution-split
“Al Jazeera staffer killed in Libya”, March 2011
1st, 2nd Paragraphs
An Al Jazeera cameraman has been killed in what appears to have been an ambush near the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya.
Ali Hassan Al Jaber was returning to Benghazi from a nearby town after filing a report from an opposition protest when unknown fighters opened fire on a car he and his colleagues were travelling in.
6th, 7th Paragraphs
Wadah Khanfar, the director-general of Al Jazeera, said the network "will not remain silent" and will pursue those behind the ambush through legal channels.
He said that the killing came after "an unprecedented campaign" against the network by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.