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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
As Europe prepared for war, Libyan nationalists at home and in
exile perceived that the best chance for liberation from colonial
domination lay in Italy's defeat in a larger conflict. Such an
opportunity seemed to arise when Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935,
but Mussolini's defiance of the League of Nations and the feeble
reaction of Britain and France dashed Libyan hopes for the time
being. Planning for liberation resumed, however, with the outbreak
of war in Europe in September 1939. Libyan political leaders met in
Alexandria, Egypt, in October to resolve past differences in the
interest of future unity. Idris was accepted as leader of the
nationalist cause by Tripolitanians as well as Cyrenaicans, with
the proviso that he designate an advisory committee with
representatives from both regions to assist him. Differences
between the two groups were too deep and long held, however, for
the committee to work well.
When Italy entered the war on the side of Germany on June 10,
1940, the Cyrenaican leaders, who for some months had been in
contact with British military officers in Egypt, immediately
declared their support for the Allies. In Tripolitania, where
Italian control was strongest, some opinion initially opposed
cooperation with Britain on the ground that if the Allies lost--
which seemed highly possible in 1940--retribution would be severe.
But the Cyrenaicans, with their long history of resistance to the
Italians, were anxious to resume the conflict and reminded the
timid Tripolitanians that conditions in the country could be no
worse than they already were. Idris pointed out that it would be of
little use to expect the British to support Libyan independence
after the war if Libyans had not cooperated actively with them
during the war.
Idris presided over a meeting of Libyan leaders hastily
summoned to Cairo in August 1940, at which formal arrangements for
cooperation with British military authorities were initiated.
Delegates to the conference expressed full confidence in Idris in
a resolution and granted him extensive powers to negotiate with the
British for Libya's independence. The resolution stated further
that Libyan participation with British forces should be "under the
banner of the Sanusi Amirate" and that a "provisional Sanusi
government" should be established.
Although a number of Tripolitanian representatives agreed to
participate, the resolution was essentially a Cyrenaican measure
adopted over the objections of the Tripolitanian nationalists. The
Tripolitanians, suspicious of the ties between Idris and the
British, held that a definite statement endorsing Libyan
independence should have been obtained from Britain before Idris
committed Libya to full-scale military cooperation. Also, although
the Tripolitanians were reluctantly willing to accept Idris as
their political chief, they rejected any religious connection with
the Sanusi order. Hence they objected to the use of the term
Sanusi throughout the resolution in place of Libya or
even Cyrenaica. These two areas of objection--the extent of
the commitment to Britain and the role of the Sanusi order in an
independent, united Libya--constituted the main elements of
internal political dissension during the war and early postwar
years.
British officials maintained that major postwar agreements or
guarantees could not be undertaken while the war was still in
progress. Although he endeavored from time to time to secure a more
favorable British commitment, Idris generally accepted this
position and counseled his followers to have patience. Clearly,
many of them were not enthusiastic about Libyan unity and would
have been satisfied with the promise of a Sanusi government in
Cyrenaica. After the August 1940 resolution, five Libyan battalions
were organized by the British, recruited largely from Cyrenaican
veterans of the Italo-Sanusi wars. The Libyan Arab Force, better
known as the Sanusi Army, served with distinction under British
command through the campaigns of the desert war that ended in the
liberation of Cyrenaica.
In a speech in the House of Commons in January 1942, British
Foreign Minister Anthony Eden acknowledged and welcomed "the
contribution which Sayid Idris as Sanusi and his followers have
made and are making" to the Allied war effort. He added that the
British government was determined that the Sanusis in Cyrenaica
should "in no circumstances again fall under Italian domination."
No further commitment was made, and this statement, which made no
mention of an independent Libya, remained the official British
position during the war.
Data as of 1987
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