Libya: A Critical Review of Tripoli's Sub-Saharan African Policies

Libya, or the Great Socialist people’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, is a country with a unique governmental structure that, although functioning under the same leadership for almost four decades now, seems to have made drastic changes in its foreign policies and external relations. From an isolated country considered, not long ago, by many Western countries as a state sponsoring terrorism, it has once again become a country with which it is good to do business. This is the result of two factors. One is Tripoli handing over two of its nationals in 1999 for trial. The two were suspected of involvement in the crash of an American plane over the Scottish city of Lockerbie in 1989.2 The other factor is Libya’s renunciation to all its nuclear programmes in 2003. From a history of widespread suspicion and accusations of involvement in destabilising many African countries, Libya is now more and more playing a prominent role in Africa. This role is seen by some as constructive, while others still remain sceptical. A case in point here is the divergence of views in relation to Muammar Qaddafi’s appointment, in February 2009, as the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) for the year 2009.