Libya
© AFP 2016/ ABDULLAH DOMA
Translated from French by Tom Winter

In a Libya, where fabulous private fortunes get hidden out of public view amidst the chaos, (the war is prosperity for some) the chief of the National Libyan Government (GNA), Fayez Al-Serraj, the guy who was brought to Tripoli on board a surface warship of a member state of NATO, effectuated his first visit to Syrte, where the last blocs of Daesh are learning to appreciate the fire from US Super Cobras and from the AV-8B Harrier IIs of the Italian Aeromarine. Back on May 12, forces faithful to the National Libyan Government launched an offensive to take the city of Sidra, which had fallen into the hands of Daesh-North Africa.

But actually, it's the US aviation that opens the way for local forces spinning their wheels despite the active support of US, British, Dutch, and Italian Special Forces.

The CAS (Close Air Support) came to its zenith in July 2016, as the US attack helicopters sprayed the former militias that participated in the war against Colonel Gaddafi along the famous Avenue of the Dollar, the main arterial of this coastal town which used to be a tourist haven.

So the center and the shore of Sidra are supposedly under the control of the GNA, and if you put your trust in the official communiqués, Daesh doesn't hold more than a few blocks of apartment buildings. But affairs trail on. The AV-8B Harrier IIs of the Italian Aeromarine, that the media gladly count among the government bombers (vive the PR!) are attempting to reduce what's left of the regions of Sidra without actually knowing where the last irreducible phalanges of the Islamic State are secreting themselves.

South of the main entryway into Sidra dozens of militias do not recognize the authority of the GNA, even though it has the distinction of being the sole Libyan authority recognized by what they call the International Community. The International Community, quite concerned with the petrol of Libya, has not skimped on the military means for affirming the power of Al-Sarraj (a moniker with reminiscences of Andalusia). Just one problem: There still exist two competing governments, plus another autonomous one in Libya, not to mention some thousands of armed militias sharing in a considerable plundering.

Libya is most like a melange of the Wild West and El Dorado. People make huge fortunes there. And that's saying the least: It is, on the contrary a post-modern fairy tale for the wartime profiteers.

The freeing of Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi and his departure for Moscow foreshadows the political return of the partisans of the old regime, who have never been more numerous nor better equipped. The Islamists and the pro-Atlantists look askance at this, but they hardly have any choice: Entire regions are in the hands of those who are nostalgic for Jamahirya. And while waiting for the cards to be dealt, everything is on course to make a fortune under the din of some combat planes of a NATO, that no longer even knows where to point its nose.

You want to make your fortune? Travel to Libya...!