Libya: True Freedom?

"True freedom from fear consists of totally resigning one's life into the hands of the Lord."-David Wilkerson

For many years Libya has been a place of fear. Fear of a dictator and the amount of control he had over his people. Secret police who could take you away, never to be seen by your family again. Now that the people of Libya have thrown off their chains, a different fear is mounting in the international community. What will Libya do now with their freedom? It did not end well for Gaddafi; found alive by rebels, begging for his life, he some how winds up dead by a gun shot to the head at close range before reaching the hospital. Disturbing video footage emerged showing Gaddafi surrounded by the rebels, with one soldier holding a gun to his head. There are conflicting reports of how Gaddafi died, but few in the international community seem to care very much one way or the other how it happened. The question everyone is asking now is how will democracy shape the country? Who will come to power, and will it be the Islamic extremists? What role will Sharia law play in the future of the country? While we don't know what the future will bring for Libya, we do know that we have a God we can trust with the future. While we pray for Libya, we must also let them go into the hands of God and trust His plan for this nation and the Christians within it. Let's pray that this country which has found new freedom, will come to know the true freeing Spirit of Christ.
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Libya

Basic Info: Libya is located in Northern Africa, between Egypt and Tunisia, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is slightly larger than Alaska and is mostly barren, with flat land to undulating plains, plateaus, and depressions. More than 90% of the country is desert or semi desert and they have frequent dust storms and sandstorms. Of the 6,597,960 (July 2011 est.)
population, 166,510 includes non-nationals. Berber and Arab are 97%, and the other 3% includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians. Arabic is the official language, but Italian and English are widely understood in the major cities. About 78% of the total population is urban. Libya is a transit and destination country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Also, due to Libya’s internal unrest, many foreign workers were stranded in the country under harsh and unsafe conditions.

Government: Italy took over control of Libya from the Ottoman Turks in 1911 and retained control of it until 1943 when Italy was defeated in World War II. The UN then took over the administration of the country until Libya achieved independence in 1951. After a coup in 1969, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi started to advocate his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system was a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and was supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy." Qadhafi used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated Qadhafi politically following the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. During the 1990s, Qadhafi began to rebuild his relationships with Europe. UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in September 2003 after Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and to renounce terrorism. Qadhafi then made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations. The US rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in June 2006. In August 2008, the US and Libya signed a bilateral comprehensive claims settlement agreement to compensate claimants in both countries who allege injury or death at the hands of the other country, including the Lockerbie bombing, the LaBelle disco bombing, and the UTA 772 bombing. In October 2008, the US Government received $1.5 billion pursuant to the agreement to distribute to US national claimants, and as a result effectively normalized its bilateral relationship with Libya. The two countries then exchanged ambassadors for the first time since 1973 in January 2009. Libya in May 2010 was elected to its first three-year seat on the UN Human Rights Council, prompting protests from international non-governmental organizations and human rights campaigners. Unrest that began in several Near Eastern and North African countries in late December 2010 spread to several Libyan cities in early 2011. In March 2011, a Transitional National Council (TNC) was formed in Benghazi with the stated aim of overthrowing the Qadhafi regime and guiding the country to democracy. In response to Qadhafi's harsh military crackdown on protesters, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1973, which demanded an immediate ceasefire and authorized the international community to establish a no-fly zone over Libya. After several months of see-saw fighting, anti-Qadhafi forces in August 2011 captured the capital, Tripoli. In mid-September, the UN General Assembly voted to recognize the TNC as the legitimate interim governing body of Libya (the United States recognized the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) as the legitimate governing authority for Libya in July). The TNC on October 23rd officially declared the country liberated following the defeat of the last remaining pro-Qadhafi stronghold and Qadhafi's death, and plans to begin a transition toward elections, the formation of a constitution, and a new government. The TNC Chairman al-Jalil in August 2011 announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in April 2012. The court system is currently a mixture of civil and Islamic law.

Economy: The Libyan economy is heavily dependent on oil. Oil contributes about 95% of export earnings, 25% of GDP, and 80% of government revenue. Despite having a small population and substantial revenues from the energy sector, little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. In the past five years officials have made progress on economic reforms as they try to join the larger international stage. This effort really took off after UN sanctions were lifted in 2003 and when Libya announced that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. The process of lifting US unilateral sanctions began in the spring of 2004 and all sanctions were removed by June 2006, helping Libya attract greater foreign direct investment, especially in the energy sector. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for more than 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Manmade River Project, but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing water demands. In 2004, about 30% of the population was unemployed and about one-third live at or below the national poverty line. The telecommunications system is state-owned and service is poor. The state retains monopoly in fixed-line services, and the state controls the broadcast media, but a single, non-state-owned TV station launched in 2007.

Religion: Sunni Muslim (official) 97%, other 3%
The Libyan government endorsed a moderate form of Islam under Qadhafi, and the growth of militant Islamic groups was a concern for him so he broadened Islamic law to appease these groups. While Qadhafi was alive, he maintained strict control of the country making evangelism difficult and any Christian literature had to be smuggled into the country. There are few Libyan believers; almost all Christians (2.6 percent of the population) are foreign workers, and their meetings are strictly monitored by the government. Christian converts keep their beliefs secret because of the government and social persecution.


Information compiled from CIAWorldFactBook "Libya"; VOMC "Libya" www.persecution.net
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