Libya: after the Gaddafi era, a “fractured” country, according to senior reporter Martine Laroche-Joubert

Martine Laroche-Joubert, senior reporter, is the co-author of an investigation into Saif al-Islam Gaddafione of the sons of Muammar Gaddafi. According to her, understanding the story of this man helps in part to understand the history of the country. “The life of Saif Gaddafiwith its ups and downs, embodies the history of Libya. (…) we can almost do it reminder between Libya, once rich, under dictatorship, now in chaos, and the life of Saif al-Islam, who was a pampered heir-turned-survivor who ran for president in 2021 and is now gone“, she explains.

Libya, a country with six borders, three times the size of France, has only 7 million inhabitants. It is also the richest country in Africa thanks to gas and oil. It is made up of hundreds of tribes, the religion is Sunni Islam. “The country is fractured in two. There is a government in the west which is recognized by the international community, and a parallel government in theEast, [avec] strongman Khalifa Haftar“continues the journalist, who emphasizes that the inhabitants “hate political elites”particularly due to corruption and the high cost of living.

Saif Gaddafihe has the support of the tribes. “The international community did not know, or did not want to know, that Libya was not a state, and where the day the clan Gaddafi would collapse, Libya would implode. And that’s exactly what happened.”also analyzes Martine Laroche-Joubert.