Tribal System Still Important in Libya
Libya is one of the most tribal nations in the Arab world - a country where clans and alliances shape the political landscape. Tribal structure has played a crucial role in the country's history. Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari takes a look at the country's tribal system

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Libya Crisis: What Role Do Tribal Loyalties Play?
BBC: During his speech on Libyan TV on Sunday, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, raised the spectre of civil war in Libya in the event of the anti-regime demonstrations continuing, with members of different tribes "killing each other in the streets".

But how much of this is real and how much is scaremongering? What role do Libyan tribes play in society and how much influence do tribal chiefs carry?

During Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, Libya has made great strides socially and economically thanks to its vast oil income, but tribes and clans continue to be part of the demographic landscape.

Women in Libya are free to work and to dress as they like, subject to family constraints. Life expectancy is in the seventies. And per capita income - while not as high as could be expected given Libya's oil wealth and relatively small population of 6.5m - is estimated at $12,000 (£9,000), according to the World Bank.

Illiteracy has been almost wiped out, as has homelessness - a chronic problem in the pre-Gaddafi era, where corrugated iron shacks dotted many urban centres around the country.

Tribal identity

However, the tribalism which dogged Libyan society during the monarchy is still very much a reality.

While many see the continued existence of tribalism as an obstacle to social mobility, equal opportunity and the development of civil society, its significance politically is less clear-cut.

Many Libyans continue to identify themselves as belonging to a tribe.

However, in reality tribal kinship has been on the wane due to the growth in education and urbanisation, which separated people from their traditional tribal areas and contributed to weakening their tribal affinity. >>> Mohamed Hussein, BBC Monitoring | Monday, February 21, 2011

Yemen Tribal Leaders Will Not Hand Over Al-Qaeda Operatives
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tribal leaders in Yemen are refusing to lend support to their government's efforts to root out terrorism, saying that handing over local al-Qaeda operatives and their spiritual leader, Anwar al-Awlaki, would be an offence to their customs.

The government claims that leaders of the Awalik tribe of Shabwa province have agreed to hand over militants there, including Anwar al-Awlaki. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
In a severe blow to international demands for Yemen to do more to curb terrorism, sheikhs from the al-Qaeda heartlands in the country's central provinces have told The Daily Telegraph that they would not turn in members of their tribes. The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, they said, had not done enough to bring development to their impoverished regions, making them fertile breeding grounds for disaffected radicals.

"There's no discussion with the government, nothing," said Sheikh Ahmed Shuraif, leader of the Bani Dhabyan, one of Yemen's most important tribes. He holds sway in parts of Marib, to the east of the capital Sana'a, a hotbed of al-Qaeda-led unrest. "What al-Qaeda are doing is very bad and against Islam. If we had someone from al-Qaeda we would not accept him but we would not give him to the government either."

Mr Saleh has been promising to get tough since a new branch, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was founded last year by local militants and Saudi former inmates of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.

The West is relying on Mr Saleh to take firm action in return for aid. Washington officials have confirmed spy planes are being used as part of a Yemeni-led to hunt down al-Qaeda leaders. Read on and comment >>> Richard Spencer in Sana'a | Friday, November 12, 2010

This shouldn't surprise us. It's all a question of loyalty. A Muslim's loyalty rests with the Muslim community, or Ummah. It certainly doesn't rest with the infidel, or kafir (كافر). We need to bear this in mind at all times. Westerners seem to have a big problem getting their heads around this concept of loyalty to their Muslim brothers and sisters. Then, on top of that, you have to factor in tribal loyalties too. – Mark

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