According to ehistorylib, in 2005, Libya had a population of approximately 6 million people with a GDP of $39.1 billion. The economy was heavily reliant on the oil and gas sector, which accounted for 98% of export earnings and 75% of government revenues. Unemployment rates were high at around 20%, while poverty levels remained quite low with an estimated 8% of the population living below the poverty line.
Foreign relations in 2005 were generally positive with Libya being a member of various international organizations such as the African Union and United Nations (UN). In addition, it maintained diplomatic ties with many countries in Europe, Asia and North America. It was also an important ally to the United States and had close trade ties to other African countries.
Politically, Libya was a unitary semi-presidential republic during this time period with executive power vested both in the Prime Minister who could appoint ministers responsible for executing policy decisions as well as the President who had limited powers over government appointments and foreign affairs. Furthermore, there were two branches of government: Executive (Prime Minister) and Legislative (Parliament). These branches worked together to ensure that laws were properly enforced throughout the country.
Yearbook 2005
Libya. In May, Libya stopped the last agreed payment of damages to relatives of the dead in the Lockerbie attack in 1988. Since 2003 and 2004, Libya had paid a total of US $ 8 million for each of the 270 victims since the UN sanctions against the country. The last payment, of $ 2 million per victim, would have been made when the United States removed Libya from its list of states sponsoring terrorism, but that payment stopped Libya since the US Department of Foreign Affairs published in April a report in which Libya was accused of still supporting terror.
In November, Libya was ranked as least democratic by 20 countries surveyed in the Middle East. It was the Economist Intelligence Unit survey that had studied electoral systems, freedom of the press, religious freedom and a number of other factors.
According to countryaah, Tripoli is the capital and one of the major cities within the country of Libya. The country’s highest court abolished the death sentences on December 25 against the five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor convicted in 2004 of having infected 426 children with HIV. The Supreme Court ruled that the trial of the six should be reasserted.
- Also see abbreviationfinder.org for how the acronym LY stands for the country of Libya and other meanings of this two-letter abbreviation.
The Royal Dutch/Shell oil company announced in May that it had signed an agreement with the Libyan state oil company on natural gas extraction in Libya. The contract was valued at US $ 637 million, which made the deal the biggest since the sanctions against Libya were lifted.
Oil is god
In May 2006, the US Department of State announced that it would resume full diplomatic relations with Libya if it “ceased its weapons programs.” At the same time, the Foreign Ministry removed Libya from its list of “sponsoring terrorism” countries. Libya had been on this list for 27 years. The list is basically just a list of the countries the US does not like and is waging war on.
The shift in North American foreign policy was a consequence of the great North American oil companies’ pressure on Congress and the government. As the oil releases in other parts of the world, the United States is interested in getting a portion of the cake in Libya, and at the same time, the post-2001 superpower has shifted its oil focus from the Middle East to Africa.
In August 2008, proposal S 3370 was submitted to the United States Congress. The title of the proposal was the “Libyan Claims Resolution Act” and was intended to exempt Libya from section 1083 of the National Defense Authorization Act. The proposal was unanimously adopted in both chambers, and signed by President Bush the following day. The proposal would pay Libya the last part of the $ 1.8 billion US $ in compensation to victims from the United States. By then, Libyan families had received $ 300 million. US $ in damages from the United States for the damage the superpower inflicted during its air strikes in 1986. In November, Gene A. Cretz was named the first US ambassador to Libya for 35 years, and in January 2009 Ali Suleiman Aujali presented his credentials to President Bush as Libya’s ambassador to the United States.
In 2007, the government declared that 400,000 employees within the state and the army would be laid off within the following years. The state has approx. 1 million employees who are paid 3.5 million annually. US $ in wages. The trimming of the state apparatus should aim to reduce government spending on wages and instead channel funds into the development of the private sector. Those fired will each be paid 3 annual salaries.
Libya held a seat on the UN Security Council in 2008 and 09 as representative of Africa.
In August 2008, Gaddafi and Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed a historic cooperation agreement in Benghazi. Under the agreement, Italy will pay Libya 5 billion. US $ for its former illegal military occupation. On the other hand, Libya must take steps to combat the flow of refugees from Libya towards Europe, while increasing its investment in Italian companies. The agreement was ratified in Italy in February 2009 and in Libya the following month. In June, Gaddafi made his first visit to Rome, where he met with Berlusconi, President Giorgio Napolitano, Senate President Renato Schifani, and the Chamber of Deputies, fascist Gianfranco Fini. Several Italian parties and human rights organizations demonstrated against the visit. Gaddafi subsequently attended the G8 Summit in L ‘
Libya- Switzerland relations were particularly tense in 2009 after Switzerland arrested Hannibal Gadhafi for beating his servants in Geneva in 2008. The case was humiliating for the father, who withdrew Libya’s money from the Swiss banks and declared that the country should be dissolved.
Change of regime (2011)
In February 2011, a riot broke out with the goal of removing the regime. It was achieved in August, when Gaddafi was deposed, and then killed.
Rebellion
Several years of dissatisfaction with an undemocratic regime lay behind the uprising. The protests started in Benghazi. A multinational military action was allegedly initiated to protect civilians there – and in effect led to the regime change.
Insurgency erupted in town after city in Kyrenaika, and after a week the regime had lost control of Benghazi and most of eastern Libya. Gaddafi sought to fortify his position in the capital Tripoli, where the regime defended itself with the help of security forces loyal to the head of state. He also armed loyal tribes, especially his own: Gaddafa.
A National Transitional Council of Libya ( NTC) was established in Benghazi on February 27, 2011, led by Mustafa Abdul Jalil. It became a rallying point for the rebellion and a point of contact between the rebels and the outside world, and gradually recognized as the rightful representative of Libya.
The African Union (AU) tried to negotiate a ceasefire, which Gaddafi accepted. But the NTC rejected any plan that meant Gaddafi remained in Libya. In retrospect, it is pointed out that with a diplomatic channel into the Libyan regime through the AU, not all non-military attempts to resolve the conflict were attempted – before a coalition of Arab and Western countries attacked through Operation Odyssey Dawn (OOD) 19.-31. March 2011.
Initially, non-violent protests in eastern Libya quickly developed into a violent conflict between the regime and insurgents. When NATO intervened, the national uprising turned into a war of multinational participation.
The war went on for about half a year, with battles over several central cities. The regime held the capital Tripoli until August 20. Insurgent forces captured the last of Gaddafi’s controlled cities, Sirte, on October 20. Here, Gaddafi was killed after being on the run for two months. Following this, on October 23, 2011, the NTC declared that Libya had been freed and the rebellion was over.
Intervention
The rebellion, which with violence from both sides early assumed the character of a civil war, led to international military intervention. This was authorized by UN Security Council resolutions . First, these sanctions, including a weapons embargo from February 26, included a no- fly zone. Security Council Resolution No. 1973 of March 17, 2011 approved the use of all necessary means to enforce the embargo and the prohibition zone.
The international law justification for the intervention was to protect civilians from attacks by the government, in line with the principle of “Responsibility to protect” (R2P). It was brought to light when the regime threatened to attack the civilian population of Benghazi. The resolution laid the foundations for a no-fly zone, but did not allow military invasion or occupation of Libya. It also did not approve regime change.
The United Nations resolution was enforced by a group of countries launching the military air operation Operation Odyssey Dawn (OOD) from March 19, 2011.
Norway supported UN resolutions. The government decided on 22 March 2011 to make a Norwegian contribution to the multinational force. It consisted mainly of six F-16 fighter jets. These flew their first voyage on March 24.
On March 31, 2011, NATO assumed command of the multinational force within a new operation, Operation Unified Protector (OUP). Norway continued the participation.
NATO’s intervention was crucial to the outcome of the uprising. First to prevent the regime from succeeding in its counter-offensive against the rebels in the spring; then that the rebel forces managed to capture Tripoli 22-23. August, and finally for Gaddafi to be killed on October 20.
As was the case with the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the true intention behind NATO’s war in Libya was questioned. Oil resources have been pointed out as one motive for Western intervention. While the Security Council is not open to regime change, this is highlighted as a main purpose of the attack on Libya, especially from the French side.
A report by the British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in the fall of 2016 confirms that no violent assaults were carried out on civilians by the Libyan government forces. In October 2017, the Norwegian government appointed a committee to evaluate participation in the Libya operation. The report was presented in the fall of 2018, and debated in the Storting in the winter of 2019.
Consequences
From 2012, Libya has practically ceased to exist as a unified state. The country is controlled by various militia groups as much as elected authorities, and there are competing power structures in ancient Kyrenaika and Tripoli.
Several jihadist groups, including the Islamic State (IS), have established themselves in the country. IS has used Libyan areas to train soldiers deployed in Syria and Iraq. The presence of IS has led to several countries, Egypt, France and the United States, launching military attacks against the group in Libya.
