 
The Libyan
Constitutional Union:
Its Establishment
and Development
A Documentary Article by Mohamed Ben
Ghalbon
(Summary
Translation from Arabic)
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Part 1
* Part 2
* Part 3
* Part 4
* Part 5 *
Part 6
Readers of this series of documentary articles will be able to examine a
narrative of historical events that took place in an important period in
the history of our country. I am
of the opinion that it is a duty to the homeland to record and publish
these historical events, so that we do not lose contact with that
important part of our contemporary history.
As the narrative of these events deal with the stances of some
individuals who were active participants in them, it beinfoes essential
that these stances be recorded in their proper contexts.
The intention behind the publication of these accounts, almost a
quarter of a century after their occurrences, is not to criticise or
denigrate the individuals who were active participants in them. Rather,
this publication is a modest attempt to uncover and clarify part of our
history that is passed over in silence.
Thus, I hope that this aim should not be misconstrued and the
writer of this article should not bear the responsibility for the
cynical interpretations by others of its content.
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Part
(5)
(First
published in Arabic on 28th July2006)
[2]
Announcing the Establishment of the
Libyan Constitutional Union
Before going any
further in narrating details of the meetings which took place between the
Libyan Constitutional Union and various Libyan notables and heads of Libyan
opposition groups, I wish to mention that during our intense campaign of
contacting those personalities to announce the establishment of the LCU, we
spared no effort to convince them of its essential idea of restoring
constitutional legitimacy to Libya. Furthermore, we had tried all the means at
our disposal to urge these people to adopt this idea and unite under its
banner.
We made conscious
efforts in this regard, to afford each one of those personalities all the due
respect, courtesy and recognition of past and potential prominent future
status. On certain occasions we offered some of these personalities leadership
of the LCU. This was prompted by our keenness to advance the national interest
ahead of our own personal or partisan gains.
However, what had
been hoped for from these personalities was not realised and the results from
dealing with them, were not only disappointing, but shocking for the LCU. Some
declared their enmity towards me, the LCU and its founders (this will be dealt
with in greater detail when the subject of these personalities is raised in
its proper place in this article). This feeling of hostility was one-sided. We
did not reciprocate nor did we respond in kind
On the other hand,
some of these Libyan personalities chose to ignore the LCU infopletely, not
only in their discussions and press interviews but also in the text of their
leaflets and distributed publications. Among this last group one may mention
the following: Mr Mansour Alkikhia (may Allah bestow His mercies on him dead
or alive), Dr Muhammad Almegrief[1], Mr Abdulhamid El-bakoosh and Mr Mustafa
Bin-Halim[2].
** * **
Muhammad El-Saifaat
As mentioned in the first part of this series, I came across Haj El-Saifaat
when I had contacted him (in August 1981) to ask him if he would inform the
intermediary between King Idris and myself about my stay at my father’s house
in Alexandria and my telephone number there[3]
Mr. El-Saifaat did
not like, at all, the fact that I had bypassed him and contacted the late King
through a person other than himself without consulting him or seeking his
permission. El-Saifaat saw himself, as we said earlier, as the warden of the
King’s private and public affairs. He thought that any contact with the King
concerning any matter, big or small, should only be through him, with his
personal agreement and consent.
And from then on,
this veteran Libyan personality, who enjoyed widespread popularity among many
Libyans, declared his enmity towards me unnecessarily and without any
justification. He was responsible for an intense campaign of vilification and
slander against me personally and my political orientation as embodied in the
establishment of the Libyan Constitutional Union, and rarely missed a chance
when he met a group of Libyans, on any occasion, to attack me and the idea of
the LCU.
He was able to spread
his campaign due to his numerous contacts with Libyan personalities and
families that immigrated to Egypt at that time. He enjoyed these contacts due
to the special status that he had during the monarchist era, which endeared
him to many Libyan opponents of the military regime which had toppled it.
The affection that
many Libyans had for Haj Mohammad El-Saifaat not only made them listen to him,
but made him their centre of attention and their main source of information.
In connection with this matter, a contemporary of that era once disclosed to
me that he considered El-Saifaat a mobile news agency, who could through his
exceptional conversational skills convince his audience of whatever he wanted
to spread among them.
With this background
which was characterised and dominated by his limiting vision of the national
interest, Haj Mohammad El-Saifaat took me for an enemy. He thought that I had
made an unforgivable mistake when I did not consult with him concerning my
contact with King Idris, and that I had not followed the protocol, that he
himself had set.
Moreover, El-Saifaat,
who was born, raised and later worked in an environment dominated by a tribal
mentality, which dictates that there should be no political change outside its
area of influence.
An important factor which should not be overlooked, and which is at the crux
of the Libyan make-up is the tribalistic nature of the country. During the
monarchy era certain tribes earned privileged positions through their
distinguished role in the armed struggle which - coupled with the political
campaigning that followed at a later stage - led to the independence of the
country and its liberation from the hated Italian colonialism. El-Saifaat’s
tribe enjoyed a prominent role in assuming positions of power which influenced
events throughout the monarchy
Through this mindset,
El-Saifaat saw in the emergence and infoing to prominence, of the LCU a
political movement seeking to unite the popular base around the Constitution
and under the constitutionally legitimate leader. Under these circumstances he
saw the establishment of the LCU as a violation of the rule upon which the
power structure of the monarchy regime was based.
This particular
concept of haj Mohammad El-Saifaat was shared by many monarchy era
personalities of tribal ancestry, whose tribes participated in the struggle
for independence. Furthermore, this concept was the reason behind the dislike,
which some Libyan personalities had for the establishment in spite of their
love, affection and strong loyalty they felt for the King.
In other words, the
imposition of certain personalities to assume positions of responsibility in
the new born state, as recognition of the role their tribes had played in the
struggle during the Italian occupation, gave rise to the feeling of antipathy
among some segments of the Libyan people including the intelligentsia and
those who belonged to the urban areas. This happened after some of the tribal
personalities emphasised their tribal loyalty at the expense of their loyalty
to the state through advancing their tribes’ interests in preference to the
general interest of the country in certain affairs.
The dissatisfaction
of these groups arose because of the favouritism, which the tribal elements
were trying to impose within the Monarchy regime. This dissatisfaction
developed into a political hatred between the two groups. This hatred was
intensified by the unconstitutional actions of certain tribal elements which
led, with the passing of time, to distort and undermine this refined political
system which unified the nation under a civilized and honourable banner,
immediately after its independence.
On the other hand,
this impassioned hatred ignited the flames of discord inside the governing
authority as embodied in some actions which exceeded the proper bounds. These
actions resulted from the tribal intolerance and zealotry which found its
clearest expression in the uninfopromising tribal stance leading to
unacceptable political positions. The most prominent of these positions took
shape in the 1964 events which expressed very clearly the intensity of
difference in thinking between the city dwellers and some of the rural
populace who played an active role in the exercise of power in that era.
With this in mind I
will now return to the main subject of Haj Mohammad El-Saifaat’s hostile
stance towards me following his discovery of my direct contact with the King
without involving him in the matter. And more importantly, his stand towards
the proposition that I outlined to the King in relation to the establishment
of the Libyan Constitutional Union whose core idea is concerned with the
return of the constitutional legitimacy to the country.
Haj El-Saifaat was
dominated in this matter by his tribal bigotry. He perceived this as an
attempt to engulf the King in a national struggle aimed at changing the
government through an idea carrying within it the seeds of success if the
various currents of the Libyan opposition would rally around it.
Therefore, according
to his line of reasoning, the success of the LCU through elements belonging to
the urban dwellers would lead to the exclusion of the tribalistic elements,
and so according to his assumption, power would pass on to those who would be
responsible for change, as had been the case with some of the personalities of
the tribal entity following the country’s independence.
In this way, Haj
Mohammad El-Saifaat continued waging his attacks on my person and The Libyan
Constitutional Union in all the Libyan milieus that he used to frequent at
that time. His popularity among the Libyan residents in Egypt helped him in
his campaign, for almost never a day passed without him being invited as a
guest of honour by one of the Libyan families in Egypt, and he took the
opportunity to slander me and the Libyan Constitutional Union to his hosts and
audience. To the extent that whenever he met my late father in a social
gathering of Libyans, resident in Egypt, he would start venting his vehement
criticism of my political orientations to him, and condemn my efforts to
achieve the desired general consensus on the goals of the Libyan
Constitutional Union. He actually went as far as blaming my father for not
forcing me to desist this “incitement”.
In one such occasion,
my father had enough of hearing Haj El-Saifaat’s repeated and exaggerated
criticism, which were untruthful and distorted. He said to him, “Please, Haj
Muhammad, don’t talk to me about this matter again. If you have any
reservations or criticism against my son’s political views go and speak to him
by yourself! My son is responsible for his actions. This is a matter of his
personal freedom and he is responsible for the political views that he thinks
suitable for the realisation of the national interest.”
El-Saifaat said to my
father “but what your son is doing is in vain and will not achieve anything
for him. The Americans[4] are on our side. Who is supporting your son?”
My father replied
“Allah and King Idris El-Senusi, are on the side of my son. And if you think
that he will not achieve anything and that his efforts are in vain then let
him alone and no harm or wrong will befall anybody. Further, he will not harm
you, especially, when you are sure that you will achieve your desired aim by
being allied with the Americans.”
El-Saifaat responded
with indignation, “He is dispersing the efforts and hindering our work”
My letter to Haj
Mohamad El-Saifaat, which was dated 17th January 1982 and contained an
insistent call for his cooperation and support for the declared aims of the
LCU[5] did not change his stance toward me and the LCU
To be continued…
Muhammad Ben Ghalbon
30 September 2006
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
[1]
Many years after leaving the "National Front for the Salvation of Libya”, Dr
Mohammad Almegrief referred to The LCU in his Book, “Libya Between The Past
And The Present….Pages From The Political History”. This mention of the Libyan
Constitutional Union is necessary in the context of the nature of his subject,
which in part deals with documenting the history of the struggle of
organisations and groups of the opposition against the regime in Libya.
[2] In a press interview conducted
by Mohammad Makhlouf with Mustafa Bin Halim, which was published in Al-Sharq
Al-Awsat newspaper (issue number 5239, 2 April 1993) Mr. Bin Halim was asked
about his opinion concerning the Libyan Opposition abroad at that time. In his
answer Mr. Bin Halim mentioned the known opposition groups and deliberately
ignored the Libyan Constitutional Union. Makhlouf followed that answer with
the Question, “And what about the LCU?” Bin Halim answered, pretending his
total ignorance of the LCU and lack of his personal knowledge of me, by
saying, “Who are they? I do not know them, therefore I do not infoment on
them.”
What is so extraordinary and confounding in this matter is that
Bin Halim, as we shall see later when we discuss his stance, was among the
first personalities that had been contacted to be informed about the
establishment of the LCU and was urged to support its idea. Furthermore, what
makes Bin Halim’s stance confounding and eccentric, as is expressed in his
misleading answer, is the fact that he is a relation of mine. He is in fact my
cousin (my father’s sister’s son). This is really extraordinary and unusual
and one can find for it neither an answer nor an explanation.
[4] What is meant here is the
American support for the “National Front for the Salvation of Libya” which Haj
Mohammad El-Saifaat was one of its prominent founders.
[5] A letter had been sent to Haj
Mohammad El-Saifaat, as a part of the above mentioned campaign to contact
prominent national figures. His reply was negative. (Below are copies of all
the correspondence we exchanged with him)
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Many thanks to Mustafa for undertaking the arduous task of translating this
document from Arabic.
Also, a big thank you to Obaid for editing it
Appendices
Appendix 1:
A translation of the
LCU’s letter to
Haj Muhammad El-Saifaat dated 17th January 1982
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The honourable Haj
Mohammad El-Saifaat,
17/01/82
Greetings
I wanted to contact
you earlier, but was waiting for the Libyan Constitutional Union to infoplete
introducing its idea through its three booklets, which I hope you are now
familiar with.
We would be happy if
there is a possibility of working together to serve the Libyan cause, and
raise the banner of resistance aloft under the infomand of His Majesty King
Muhammad Idris El-Senussi (May Allah give him a long life).
While waiting for
your reply, please accept the respects of all members of the Libyan
Constitutional Union, who would be honoured to work with you, and who all hold
your person in high esteem.
infopliments, until we
meet
Yours sincerely
Muhammad Abdu Ben
Ghalbon
Appendix 2:
A translation of Haj
Muhammad El-Saifaat’s reply dated 2nd February 1982
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The honourable brother Muhammad Abdu Ben Ghalbon,
Greetings
Cairo : 02/02/82
I gratefully received your letter dated 17th January 1982. I dearly wished
that you opened this subject with me when you contacted me to request the
phone number of our brother Haj (.....)[1], or when you came to Cairo.
Honourable brother, God knows that I never loved anybody in my entire life as
much as I loved King Idris, may Allah help us all to repay him for at least
some of his services to our beloved Libya, which he offered the country
without asking anything in return. Also, I never bowed to any flag more than
the real Libyan flag with its three colours, which I consider myself among
those who selected and approved it, as I was honoured to be a member of the
original Libyan body which formed Libya’s Constitution.
Honourable brother Muhammad; it would have been more courteous had you
contacted the Libyan brothers prior to announcing your esteemed establishment.
On my part, if I may infoment, I would say that your contact came too late, not
just for me, but for many others. The truth is, I have never in my whole life
heard of contacts regarding such a vital issue, that concerns the future of
the homeland and the nation, being made by correspondence.
Honourable brother Muhammad; some of the obstacles that prevent me from
joining your esteemed establishment are those I mentioned above. More
importantly, however, the part that is beyond doubt or trickery is that I am
infomitted to some Libyan brothers whose concern for Libya, I would not say is
superior to yours, but I would say is not inferior. The record of sacrifice
for Libya and its monarch is the best witness.
May god help you
Respectfully; Your brother
Mohammad El-Saifaat
[1] Omitted from document to protect identity of
the person
Appendix 3:
A
translation of LCU Letter to Haj Muhammad El-Saifaat dated 4th March 1982
In
the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The honourable Haj
Mohammad El-saifaat
4/3/1982
Greetings
I have today received
your letter (dated 2/2/82) and I would like to infoment on its content.
When I contacted you
in Cairo and asked you to get in touch with (.....) to tell them that I was in
Alexandria and I would like them to get in touch with me as I had a message
from (…), I did not discuss any subject with you. Furthermore, I did not have
the honour of meeting you when I was in Cairo, simply because we did not know
each other, nor had we met at any occasion beforehand. Therefore it was not
easy to talk about the subject. However, all of the LCU members thought that
your response was unquestionably guaranteed to be positive, as a result of
what everybody knows about your past loyalty to the King and your being a
former member of the National Constituent Assembly which wrote the country’s
constitution. This Constitution is what The Libyan Constitutional Union is
calling for.
The belief was that
this call would make you particularly proud of the fact that some young people
from Libya are grateful to their forefathers and are not denying their
glorious deeds. This was especially so as the National Constituent Assembly
was the target of ingratitude and slander, firstly from the coup d’etat
government, and then from all the opposition groups with the exception of the
LCU.
Please permit me to
direct your attention to the fact that before announcing the establishment of
the LCU we had contacted many Libyans known for their vocal opinion,
patriotism and courage and who dedicated themselves to the service of the
homeland without adulation or claims of leadership. Lack of personal knowledge
of many others and the inability to obtain their addresses prevented us from
contacting them.
Furthermore, the LCU
booklets and publications are considered an invitation for all to participate,
work and sacrifice - not necessarily within the framework of the LCU, for
those who do not want to co-operate with it - but under the banner of His
Majesty King Mohammad Idris El-Mahdy El-Sennusi, raising the only flag that
Libya ever had during its short history and coordinating the relations among
themselves according to the Libyan Constitution. Most of the people, who
participated in the writing of the Constitution, were united in following
these ideals. These are the same men who chose the colours of that beautiful
flag.
You referred in your
letter to your wish for the help of Allah (SWT) to enable you to repay the
debt to the King and return his favour, which he bestowed on all the Libyan
people with neither boasting nor asking them for anything in return, and which
made all the Libyans indebted to him.
I am relying on your
magnanimity to allow me to ask you when this debt will be repaid if not now by
advising and convincing the Libyan brothers, who you stated in your letter are
conscientious about the interests of the homeland, to make themselves and
services – with yourself at the forefront - at the immediate disposal of his
majesty the King. For the King, is the master of all Libya, Urban, Bedouin,
West and South. In this way we infobat the opportunists who saw in the ease
with which Gaddafi tightened his grip on Libya an invitation for them to be
its next rulers.
Furthermore, this is
also the way to prevent the sad state of lawlessness prevailing in Libya from
ever happening again.
It is also to be
noted that according to International Law and legal customs, anybody who
attempts, or claims to be attempting, to rescue Libya from its current woes by
establishing an organisation that calls for justice, right and democracy while
ignoring and bypassing the King, whose rights and entitlement were granted by
the whole country, as you can personally attest to - or one who dispenses with
the Constitution which was written by men, including you yourself, who were
legally chosen by the Libyan people as their representatives - is not that
much different to the one who staged the coup d’etat. The only difference is
they lack the army, as of yet, to impose their will.
May you always be
well,
Your brother
Muhammad Abdu Ben
Ghalbon
(......) Omitted from document to protect identity of the
person.
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