Sheikh Ahmed Zubeir Senussi, head of the Barqa, or Cyrenaica, region of Libya, declared the area to be a self-governing federal territory on Saturday 1 June within the framework of the Libyan state. Thousands of Libyans had gathered in the city of Marj to commemorate the 64th anniversary of Cyrenaica's declaration of independence following World War II, and Senussi took advantage of the occasion to declare the region's autonomy, adding that “the people of Cyrenaica will not wait for the hostilities in Tripoli and Fezzan to end.” Senussi vowed to reinstate the country's 1951 constitution in its original form, some articles of which could be amended by popular referendum. He called for the creation of a senate and a popular congress that would represent all political parties and segments of the population until parliamentary elections could be held and for the formation of a regional government in which all political factions would participate. Citing laws issued on 10 and 14 May, Senussi urged the creation of a Cyrenaican defence force that would “perform its duties in support of the army and the security forces”. Referring to Libya's so-called political isolation law that was passed last month by the General National Council (GNC) in Tripoli, he said that “Cyrenaica refuses to abide by any decision or law adopted under the threat of arms.” His speech also included reassurances to the international community, with Senussi saying that Cyrenaica was committed to the fight against terrorism and corruption, and that there would be a focus on collecting weapons still at large in the region. The region was committed to respecting the rights of women, he said, including their right to participate in the administration and government affairs. Cyrenaica would work with its neighbours to ensure security, fight illegal immigration, and combat drug trafficking and other activities detrimental to the public welfare, Senussi added, saying that it would also honour all treaties and conventions concluded with the outside world. Sheikh Senussi went on to ask the GNC to transfer funding for Cyrenaica to the Benghazi branch of the Libyan Central Bank and to prioritise the development of the region and the creation of job opportunities for young people. Cyrenaica was an Italian colony after World War I, and in the 1930s it was incorporated, along with Fezzan and Tripolitania, into the Italian colony of Libya. During the fierce fighting in North Africa in World War II, Italy lost the colony to the British, who administered it until 1951, before granting independence to the newly formed Emirate of Cyrenaica in 1949 with Idriss Senussi named as its first emir. The emirate then became part of the independent kingdom of Libya when the latter was established in 1951 and Emir Senussi became King Idriss I of the united country. Shortly before Senussi made his declaration of Cyrenaican autonomy last weekend, Mohamed Youssef Megaryef tendered his resignation as head of the GNC, the highest authority in post-revolutionary Libya. As one of the people likely to be affected by the country's political isolation law passed on 5 May, Megaryef seems to have been determined to tender his Megaryef before this controversial law goes into effect on 5 June. The law bans those who held government posts under the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from holding public office, including individuals like Megaryef who have been playing a significant role in post-revolutionary Libya. GNC members have announced that it will issue a call for nominations to Megaryef's vacated post, as well as to the posts of first and second vice chairman of the GNC, within the next few days. Various political forces in Libya and blocs in the GNC have been engaged in intensive talks over possible candidates. GNC member Abdel-Wahab Al-Qaid has emerged as a possible candidate to succeed Megaryef, rivalled by a candidate from the Justice and Construction Party, the political wing of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood. However, the coalition of liberal forces in the GNC, the group's largest political bloc, has yet to announce its candidate. Al-Qaid is a former jihadist who fought in the ranks of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. A senior member of the Libyan Islamic Fighters Group, he was arrested and jailed in the Abu Salim prison and then released in 2010 following the ideological revisions his group promised to the former Gaddafi regime. He is also a member of the independent Allegiance to the Martyrs bloc in the GNC. The political isolation law, if it goes into effect as scheduled this week, will strengthen the hand of the Islamists in the GNC since liberal leaders are likely to be the most affected. However, Cyrenaica's recent declaration of autonomy and its rejection of the law, passed under duress when armed militias laid siege to a number of government buildings, may work to put the implementation of the law on hold until an understanding can be reached with the federalists in the east. These believe that they can only stand to gain from autonomy in view of the current weakness of the central government in Tripoli, which is grappling with enormous challenges, not least the reign of armed militias in the country of diverse loyalties and outlooks. The government of Libyan leader Ali Zeidan has made little progress in reasserting government control as the security situation in the country deteriorates further, much to the alarm of Libyans and neighbouring countries. Thus far, the militias, among which those loyal to the jihadist factions predominate, have remained deaf to all appeals and inducements to lay down their arms and join the army or police forces. Libyans interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly said that the militias were benefiting from the current situation in the country, and that the government was willing to pay millions in order to win them over, or at least to neutralise them, since it feared engaging them in combat as they were better armed and trained and would likely win any military confrontation with government forces. The sources cited the government's helplessness in the face of the siege that the militias had laid to a number of government buildings in order to pressure the GNC into passing the political isolation law, which the Islamists were intent on passing regardless of its impact on national reconciliation and transitional justice. Many Libyans had pinned high hopes on the latter process, and GNC official spokesman Omar Ehmidan announced recently that a draft transitional justice law had been completed and was ready to be submitted to the GNC for approval. However, the country's attention was then diverted by the controversy over the political isolation law, and Mahmoud Jibril, speaker for the Coalition of National Liberal Forces, warned that the committee charged with drafting the political isolation law had failed to take into account the repercussions it could have on national reconciliation and the processes of transitional justice. Sadly, it seems that such laws and processes may now be overtaken by events, which are succeeding each other at unprecedented and confusing speed, even as the country's new authorities appear to lack a vision for how to address the country's many pressing problems.
