As Gaddafi fights to recover the eastern enclaves ruled by the protesters, uprisings have been registered in the western cities, where oil workers are planning to go on a massive strike that will threaten to paralyse the economy of the country.
In the last days the Libyan government has ceded some enclaves in both the eastern and the western regions of the country to the protesters who demand democratic reforms and the end of the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, in power since 1969. Reports say that the ruling Libyan government has ordered to open fire against the protesters in the capital Tripoli, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch claim that there are more than 300 killed.
Protests in the main cities of the country have been repressed with brutality by the regime. Gaddafi has warned that he won't flee the country, and has threatened to start an open civil war if protests don't end immediately. In the meantime thousands of foreigners have fled the country as the protests increase.
Despite the turbulent situation of the country, Col Gaddafi's son, Said al-islam Gaddafi stated that the everything was "normal" in the main cities, where "ports, schools and airports are all open", he said.
font: CIA factbook
The current unrest in Libya has been a matter of discussion everywhere in the last days. John Griffiths, from the Socialist Worker Party in Wales, said that these uprisings in the Arab World have common features: "All of these countries have repressive regimes, but for decades they could offer bread to the population. Now they can't anymore. There is great luxury and wealth next to poverty, huge numbers of graduates leaving universities and a high unemployment rate. These are increasingly unpopular regimes with high levels of repression", stated.
Libya has many bonds with European countries. Gaddafi has an excellent relation with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, and other European economies maintained a good relation with the Libyan regime until the first clashes took place. United Kingdom also had trade agreements with Gaddafi, according to Griffiths: "Three months ago we were selling weapons to colonel Gaddafi to repress his people", said.
Currently Wales has tight bonds with Libya. There is a Libya-Wales Exchange association, which seeks to tighten collaboration between both countries in different areas such as culture, business and education. On the other hand, Cardiff University hosts a Libyan students society, and Cardiffians find the situation in Libya very worrying.
"The situation there is very bad. The problem is that these countries have been ruled by dictators and now they have to fight to get freedom", said Alen Gordon, from Cardiff.
The arab minorities in Cardiff also have their voice about the matter. Raed Baconi, from Lebanon, argued that "it is time for people to speak. The government has to work for the people, not for them, and now we are seeing that people are fighting to have the chance to speak". Ahmed Boulaz, an Algerian emigré, expressed his hope for a democratic future in the region: "What is happening in the arab countries reminds me of what happened in eastern Europe twenty years ago. The problem is that this dictators might be replaced by other dictators, that's why this is a very delicate moment for these countries. People have to make sure that they get a real democracy now", stated.
The unrest in Libya, one of the main oil exporters in the world, has also had a major impact in the price of crude oil. It has hit the $110 per barrel for the first time in the last three years, and it is likely that the prices will rise even further in the next days.
font: article.wn.com
Oil prices
As the situation worsens in the positions held by the rebels, a fear of an open civil war has hit the whole country. The situation seemed to be controlled by the rebel forces, who were firmly advancing to the capital Tripoli from their main base in Benghazi, in the east of the country. However in the last days a counter-offensive carried out by forces loyal to Col.Gaddafi has undermined the tenacity of the rebels.
An offensive with tanks and air raids have hit the rebels, stopping their march towards the capital. The main fear now is that the conflict will be stuck for months and the situation will worsen.
The latest armed struggles in Libya also have had a direct impact on the price of the oil, rising almost $7 since last Monday and reaching $115 per barrel, the highest price since September 2008, where the price rose triggered by the economic crisis.
The clashes between the rebel forces and the Libyan army have hit the oil terminal at Ras Lanuf, damaging the factory. Experts fear now that the price of the oil will reach another historical maximum, as Col.Gaddafi prepares to bomb oil factories in the rebel territories in order to undermine the economic income they generate and retake the control of the region.
The main consequence is the instability of the stock markets around the world. Investors fear that the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and, above all Libya will spread to other oil-producing Arab countries, stopping the oil exports and therefore hitting the world markets.
Experts warn that an open civil war in Libya would hit very badly the world's economy by stopping the oil exports and therefore rising the crude oil prices.
In order to avoid nervousness among the investors, the US Government has admitted that is considering tapping its oil reserves to give more confidence to the stock markets and to try to stop the rising of the oil crude prices.
On the other hand both Britain and France are pushing to win support at the United Nations with the objective of setting a no-fly zone which won't allow Col.Gaddafi's forces to bomb the oil facilities in the eastern territories held by the rebels.
Libya is currently one of the main oil-producing countries, holding around 2% of the world's oil reserves. The production of crude oil has fallen since the start of the riots. Before the uprisings Libya produced 1.6 million barrels per day, and after almost one month of unrest the output has fallen to 1 million barrels per day.
0 comments:
Post a Comment