What next for North Africa/Middle East?

Kohoutek

evosy1978 wrote: »

Hy all

Can someone explain what a "tribe" is? Heard this mentioned on the news just with regards to one tribe defecting from the Libyian government??

The same as the dictionary definition of "tribe"...

1984ReturnsForReal_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Libya verging on civil war

Wait for the power grab in the next 48hrs. Then it will kick right off.

B_Blank

I commend the people in the middle east and in north africa for rising up against the dictators. Well done, lets hope they can put some lasting democracies in place and not fall to another military or islamic extremist dictatorship.

I fear there will be blood shed though, throughout history major revolutions have always resulted in prolonged peroids of wars. I hope this isnt the case, and the young people in north africa and the middle east have my full support.

On a side note: I wish we could get rid of our royal family. In 2011 the queen still acts like she is some sort of demi god....oo you cant turn your back on her....oo you have to wait in line to shake hands with her like she is some sort of god....oo you have to give her your full attention...WHAT A JOKE.

The queen aint no better than me, she is just some old lady nobody should care about. All people are created equal imo, and the queen clearly doesnt realise this...she is a disgrace as she thinks she is above the ordinary people. iF She didnt then she wouldnt insist on all this BS that has to go on when she is around, and all the crappy ettiquette you have to observe when talking to her.

What is worse is that world leaders meet the royals and so they obviously still have some influence. One of the princes is a trade envoy for the uk, now why the fck shud he have that job? Bet he hasnt got a clue, bet there are 1 million better negotiators than some royal freak.

We need to get rid of our royal family and sieze their land off them. As a family they owe about £1 billion in taxes that they never paid for about 500 years. I say we take it out of their estate now and sieze all their assetts and make them get a job like normal people - would love to see prince charles working in tesco!#

Our head of state should be an elected person because they are a representation of us. If I was the PM I would refuse to go to the queen to ask permision to form a new government. Instead I would just say - I am forming why should I have to ask you?

vivatifosi

Gaddafi speech expected imminently (the nutty dad one with all the plastic surgery this time).

Bullfighter

Thanks Hamish, very interesting stuff.

gagahouse

vivatifosi wrote: »

Gaddafi speech expected imminently (the nutty dad one with all the plastic surgery this time).

The !!!!!!! is going to take a lot of Libyans down with him as his regime crumbles. Sickening to see the reports of aerial and tank bombardment of demonstrators, as well as at the relative silence of the US.

vivatifosi

gagahouse wrote: »

The !!!!!!! is going to take a lot of Libyans down with him as his regime crumbles. Sickening to see the reports of aerial and tank bombardment of demonstrators, as well as at the relative silence of the US.

I know, he's an absolute evil !!!!er. I hope he falls soon. Still, if he does, that will give greater hope to Syria and Iran, both of which can expect a serious backlash if they choose to try and tread the path to democracy - or a different future of any kind for that matter.

I am disgusted that we've helped arm him of late. Shame on us and Shame on the DTI for allowing the arms to be exported.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

vivatifosi wrote: »

Gaddafi speech expected imminently (the nutty dad one with all the plastic surgery this time).

Libya is in chaos.

BP and Shell hit the emergency shutdown procedures on all their installations, and are pulling all their people but a skeleton staff out through any means possible. Rumour has it some security companies have been contacted about the possibility of armed incursions to extract the remaining personnel if it gets any more pear shaped.

Old tribal alliances are disintegrating, the Warfallah (a key tribe) have joined the revolution, but Gadaffi's tribe are fighting hard with some of the military, some mercenaries and the air force. (well those that don't fly their Mirages to Malta) It's a big tribe, and if he goes down, they go down.

The breakdown is very much by tribal lines, and east versus west. Benghazi and Tobruk have fallen to the revolutionaries, with some military defections helping, including the General in charge of the area.

Tripoli still very much up in the air, rumours that mercenaries fighting there alongside the Revolutionary Guard now include some well trained South Africans and possibly Europeans. They're white, at any rate, and stand out as they're the ones that can shoot straight and don't retreat when outnumbered, they just resort to live ammunition and automatic weapons. The ultimate form of crowd control. Death toll is rising commensurately.

The embassy defections are interesting, some of it is tribal, some of it is the young educated class being horrified at what's happening.

I'd say Gaddafi is finished. Or Libya as we know it is finished. One of the two.

Within the week, either Libya will be under new rule (although God only knows who) or Libya will be split in two and engaged in a full blown civil war.

The Mediterranean European states are getting nervous though, as the last thing they need on their doorstep is an Islamic Republic of Libya.....

Interesting times for sure.....

gagahouse

[QUOTE

The Mediterranean European states are getting nervous though, as the last thing they need on their doorstep is an Islamic Republic of Libya.....

Interesting times for sure.....[/QUOTE]

funny you should mention that, just been watching Italian TV, foreign minister Frattini worries about an Islamic Caliphate around Benghazi, and now on Rai 1 there's a talk show and their main worry is "2 million refugees" coming through to Europe via them.

Kohoutek

gagahouse wrote: »

funny you should mention that, just been watching Italian TV, foreign minister Frattini worries about an Islamic Caliphate around Benghazi, and now on Rai 1 there's a talk show and their main worry is "2 million refugees" coming through to Europe via them.

If you think that's bad, think how many refugees there will be when these counties run out of oil :eek: