Libya assesses clash damage

Libya is now said to have a million African immigrants

By Caroline Hawley in Cairo

Serious confrontations between Libyans and Africans over the past two weeks now appear to have died down.

A diplomat in Tripoli said there were only "isolated reports" of Africans being beaten up.

Libyans are Africans and Africans Libyans

Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi

But thousands of African immigrants are still thought to be in military camps, largely - it is believed - for their own protection.

Nigeria has said it planning to repatriate thousands of its nationals, and thousands more Africans are now believed to want to leave Libya.

Both Sudan and Niger have sent senior envoys to Tripoli, in the wake of the clashes.

Embarrassment

Although the exact casualty toll may never be known, for Colonel Gaddafi, who wants to create a 'United States of Africa', the violence has been a major embarrassment.

So what went wrong?

Gaddafi has been trying to play the role of senior African statesman

Diplomats say African immigrants, who have poured into Libya over the past few years in search of work, have become the focus of growing resentment.

They say many Libyans oppose Colonel Gaddafi's Africa policy and, in particular, the money that is being spent on it at time when many schools work double shifts, and many government employees find their wages paid late.

Africa policy

The eruption of violence comes as Libya's Africa policy, according to one diplomat, "keeps moving up the agenda."

During a speech on 1 September to mark the anniversary of his rule Colonel Gaddafi declared that Libyans were Africans and Africans Libyans.

We don't have racism. Libyans living in the south of the country are all black

Libyan journalist

But not all Libyans agree.

Diplomats speak of a build-up of tensions.

Many of the immigrants have come without any official papers - the Libyan leader is, after all, championing a continent without borders - and found only menial jobs such as car-washing or farm labour.

Sometimes they have encountered problems with receiving their wages.

A dispute over rent is believed to have led to one deadly confrontation early in September.

Scape-goats

Libyans also blame African immigrants for a perceived rise in crime and drug-dealing, although one diplomat said there was clearly an element of scape-goating.

Some Libyan analysts have argued that cultural differences are the major cause of the tension.

A local journalist - echoing statements by Libyan officials - said the violence had stemmed from Nigerians flirting with local girls.

"We don't have racism," he said.

"Libyans living in the south of the country are all black."

The Libyan authorities, which have publicly played down the scale of the unrest, appear to be trying to contain the confrontations.

Measures

On Saturday, Libya's General People's Congress agreed that "immigrant workers whether legal or illegal, should not be subjected to any attack or indignant treatment."

It said measures would now be taken to limit their employment to public institutions and to regulate their entry and exit at border posts.

But the Secretary of the People's Congress, Zannati Muhammad al-Zannati, made clear that no change of Colonel Gaddafi¿s Africa policy was likely.

He said Africa had sacrificed for Libya when it was under UN sanctions, and that Colonel Gaddafi and Africa had "met in symbiosis."

Whether the immigrants will be re-assured is another question.