Tuareg want to have a say in the production of oil and natural gas

Libya's Tuareg population is calling for an end to discrimination against them and demanding rights of co-determination concerning the production of oil and natural gas on their land. "Not only the ethnic groups in the eastern part of the country but also the Tuareg who live in the far south of Libya have joined the uprising against Qaddafi," reported the head of the Africa section at the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), Ulrich Delius, on Monday in Göttingen. "Since the beginning of last week, many Tuareg have taken part in several demonstrations in the cities of Ubari and Ghat calling for Qaddafi's resignation." Roughly one-third of Libya's oil and gas production is in Tuareg regions.

The Tuareg are demanding not only the overthrow of the Qaddafi clan, but also the recognition of their culture and traditions. They are tired of being treated as second-class citizens and are calling for an end to the policy of Arabization. Qaddafi systematically denied the existence of this indigenous people of Libya. They expect a new democratic leadership in the country to acknowledge them as the indigenous population of Libya and to respect their rights.

First of all, however, the Tuareg want to have a say in the production of oil and natural gas. Natural gas is produced within sight of Tuareg settlements with no consideration for the inhabitants. The indigenous people complain that although they suffer from the ecological consequences of oil production, they have no share in the profits – even though the crude oil lies beneath their land. For years the Tuareg have been lamenting their miserable living conditions and demanding a share in the profits from oil production to increase development in the region. "But instead of seeking dialog with the Tuareg, Qaddafi sends secret service agents to intimidate and threaten the indigenous people," criticized Delius.

Since 1997 natural gas has been produced in the Murzuk basin, 800 kilometers south of the capital Tripoli, and pumped through a pipeline to a point of export near Tripoli. While most of Libya's gas production sites up to now have been in the eastern part of the country, the Murzuk basin is said to be one of the main focal points of oil production in Libya in the coming decades. In addition to Libyan companies, other producers in the region include the Austrian firm ÖMV, Repsol of Spain, the French TOTAL, and the Italian companies ENI and AGIP. Libya is the third-largest supplier of natural gas to Germany.

In addition to the more than ten thousand Tuareg who have long been living in fixed settlements in southern Libya, there are also indigenous Tuareg in Ghadames, 350 kilometers southwest of Tripoli near the borders to Algeria and Tunisia. Ghadames is reputed to be the new center of natural gas production. Since 2004, AGIP has been piping natural gas directly from Ghadames to Sicily. Italy meets ten percent of its natural gas needs with this supply.