The Libyan internal divisions are increasingly reflected on the main power centres. As expected, the political and commercial interests follow routes laid down by ethnic, religious and tribal fragmentation fueling persistent struggles for the hoarding of resources and the division of power. Today Libya is basically divided into two major blocs, one of which (the islamist bloc) is composed of the forces engaged in the Opertion Dawn, The General National Congress (GNC) and other militias from the city of Misurata, in the north-west of country.
On Saturday 17, French President François Hollande hosted a high level summit in Paris, welcoming his political counterpart from Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad[1] in order to address the Boko Haram issue, the Islamic fundamentalist group that has attracted world attention on itself kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls in north-eastern Nigeria last month.
French troops and African Union peacekeepers are currently failing in stemming violence episodes in Central African Republic (CAR), and that’s why, during 19-20 December European Council, Paris called the European Union to intervene, by force of arms and/or by budgetary support. The core of the French proposal is the creation of a multinational military force deployable within the African continent at the first signs of a crisis. Relying on such a political and military tool, if rightly planned, the EU will be able to skip the huge political and diplomatic procedure that usually foreruns a military operation. But being such a delicate matter, the whole debate has been postponed to the first 2014 European Council.
Signs of serious deterioration in the security environment in the Libyan capital have strongly emerged in the first week of November when on November 5, two people, including a militia commander al-Nassour, were killed in a gun battle between the militia Nassour and the militia of al-Souq al Juma district of Tripoli where the clashes took place.
At about eleven months away from air attacks French in Mali that have forced the Islamists to scatter throughout the territory of the Sahara, they are now slowly beginning to return. For the new president of Mali, Ibrahim Keita Boubcar their return will lead to a further difficulty to the stabilization of the desert in the north.
POLITICAL OUTLOOK The National Salvation Front, a Tunisian coalition of opposition, announced a national mobilization for October 23, to support the appointment of a new government. The date is the second anniversary of the birth of the coalition, which in the meantime has failed to draw up a new constitution, difficulties due to conflicts between the ruling party and the opposition.
On August 2, the U.S. State Department has launched a worldwide alert about the possibility of terrorist attacks from al Qaeda against U.S. personnel in the Middle East and North Africa. The "serious and credible threats" reached U.S. intelligence have led to the announcement of the closure on 4 August of diplomatic offices in 18 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Jordan , Qatar, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sudan and Yemen. Great Britain will similarly with the closure of the embassy in Yemen, as well as Germany and France.
