Libya’s tribes: Ready for battle?
Inside Story examines whether Libyan tribes will follow Gaddafi’s call to fight on.
They are armed and will not surrender. That was the warning from Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s embattled leader, as he spoke about the tribes loyal to him.
Rebel fighters extended their deadline for Gaddafi loyalists to lay down their arms by another week. But any hopes of a peaceful takeover of Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte came to an abrupt end as he urges his supporters to keep fighting.
But will Libya’s tribes heed Gaddafi’s call to fight on? How will tribes decide the country’s future? And why do tribes matter in Libya?
Inside Story, with presenter Jane Dutton, discusses with guests: Faraj Najem, a historian and the author of Tribes, Islam and State in Libya; Benjamin Barber, a distinguished fellow at the Policy Center DEMOS; and Oliver Miles, the former UK ambassador to Libya.