The Libyan reconciliation effort seems to have been dealt a serious blow with the outbreak of clashes in Tripoli over a week ago. The fighting is basically between Misrata-Islamist Fajr Alliance and the Parliament-backed army led by Marshal Hifter. The Fajr alliance has tried to underplay the clashes by saying that those clashes were with criminals and smugglers. Regardless of the description, the event can only widen the gulf between the 0main warring factions in Libya, for months or years to come, with flare ups now and then. A truce, where every armed formation is restricted to its own barracks, may be the only fruitful approach as it will permit life to return to normal, while adjourning political arrangements to more appropriate circumstances.
This pragmatic approach is feasible since the fighting groups constitute less than one per cent of the population, while most Libyans are against the violence, and look forward to the resumption of normal life. Inflation, shortages of food, cooking gas and petrol, as well as electricity and water cuts, closure of airport, banks and schools and deterioration of medical services, are but the tip of the iceberg of the daily unnecessary suffering and incessant trauma that prevail in Libya today.
On the other hand, war can be contained if and when the International community resolves to:
1. control the traffic of weapons across borders mainly the sea shores
2. convince and coerce the fighting parties
3. find a workable formula for power sharing
4. find the right and effective interlocutor
The current UN sponsored mediation in Libya is stumbling, mainly because it is not addressing political groups that control militias. Seeking a political solution before a ceasefire is like putting the cart before the horse. The approach may in fact reflect cultural colour-blindness rather than diplomatic ineptitude. Unfortunately, such oversights in international circles are never admitted until it is too late.
Of course, history does tell of more decisive approaches. Perhaps the reader will recall the formidable US diplomat Richard Holbrooke (died 2010) who negotiated an end to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As President Clinton's representative to Kosovo, where atrocities had been committed, he opted for air strikes on Serbia, which were carried out by NATO (March-June 1999) and led to Serbia signing a viable peace agreement.
Invisible threads
It is probably self-evident that geography makes history. And Malta being so close to the North African coast, has had a lot to do with the history of that region. Malta is located in the passageway between Africa and Europe, and not surprisingly a cultural landmark in this region throughout history.
Furthermore, it is also safe to say that recorded events are transcended by human contact and rapport. Here, I like to introduce a story that combines child innocence and thought-provoking connotation. It's about a game that little Benghazi girls used to play before the era of mobiles and iPad. One girl places her hand, palm down, on a surface. The other punches around that hand with tip of the index finger, and recites:
Kammadi Kammadi,
yargha es-sema wi ynaady, (climbing the sky and calling)
Igoul wein awladi, (saying: where are my children),
Awladi Fi Tarhouna (my children are in Tarhuna)
The song ends with a question; "which would you like? Filfla or Cammuna?" referring to the smallest islets of the Maltese Archipelago - Filfla and Comino. The line on Tarhouna, a city in north west Libya, is presumably a reminder of the melancholic memories of the forced deportation, in 1551, of several hundred Gozitans to that area. There is also a play on double meanings here, filfil for pepper and Cammuna for the spice cumin.
A children play song? Yes, but to me, it probably records that distant cultural incident and sense of loss and yearning, the details of which have been lost in the cerebral folds of both cultures. But like all memes such encryptions get mislaid in the social subconscious, but never wiped out. On a wider scale, one can even claim that the Mediterranean temperament and history have woven invisible threads between Malta and Libya.
The bond
The psycho-historical bond has been reinforced over decades by the settlement of thousands of Maltese in various parts of Libya. In Tripoli, merchants set up shops and workshops in the Amrous suburb. At one time the suburb of Dhahra was inhabited by Maltese families.
Hundreds of Maltese seamen roamed the Libyan shores for fish and harvesting of sponge. I remember as a child, the seamen, Greek and Maltese, repairing their nets on the beach in the Benghazi sunshine.
Some Maltese in Libya acquired fame in addition to wealth. Xwerib in Benghazi owned the brewery producing Birra Cirene, while Gharghur in Tripoli gave his name to a whole suburb of the Libyan Capital.
In short, with a drop of psychological insight, it is my opinion that Libyans quickly identify with Maltese. The same applies to Maltese who worked in Libya at one time.
The secret "chemistry" here is language. Linguists and historians may argue over the exact relationship between the two cultures, but it's a fact that Maltese and the Libyan vernacular overlap a great deal. So much so, that a Maltese delegation that includes names such as Cassar, Zammit, Bezzina and Bugeja etc, stands a good chance of opening warm discussions free of suspicions.
Why Malta
On a more serious level, Malta is qualified to play a mediating role between Libyans, for many other reasons.
- Malta is a small country with no military aspirations
- Malta, as a member of the European Union, has access to the inner circles of the decision-making process.
- Malta has supplied a large percentage of the oil labour force in Libya's oil fields who can resume oil production in no time. Surely an important leverage.
- Substantial Libyan Sovereign funds are invested in Malta. As a result, many Libyans have worked for several years in Malta,, and are now in key positions at home.
- The Libyan civil war, unlike many other wars, is about power and oil, i.e. about things that can be shared by many, under some scheme or another.
- The wealth of the country will take care of the costs of peace.
However, the opening move to a political solution in Libya is through some initial catalyst. It is worth remembering that the Sino-American rapprochement in 1971 started with a game of table-tennis, hence the name ping-pong diplomacy!
So, back to the question. Does Malta have a role in the Libyan crisis? The answer is YES, definitely. Malta stands a good chance of sorting out much of the Libyan chaos, including helping to rebuild the country. Of course Malta has to be empowered by the European Union and gain approval from world and regional powers that need to be reassured that their interests will be safeguarded.
The real question is: will Malta take up the challenge? If it does, it will write a new chapter in the history of the Mediterranean. All else will be mere footnotes.