African
Perspectives
REPORTS
Operation Serval and France’s
Intent to Build a Military Base in South Libya
Dr. Khaled Abdel Azeem
Journalist in Ahram Hebdo Newspaper
Press reports have recently shown France’s intention to establish a
military base in South Libya. However, spokesman of the Libyan
Ministry of Defense declared that there are no French troops or
bases in South Libya. Moreover, Libya has rejected a French request on building a military base in South Libya. However, the
declaration of the spokesman does not necessarily mean that this
file has been closed as there will always be a question mark around
France’s request to officially seek, militarily and strategically, to
establish a military base in Libya. This report answers the question and justifies the backgrounds of the French strategic thinking
in Africa in light of the developments in Mali where the French
Army has implemented Operation Serval to restore North Mali
from the rebels.
First we would like to pinpoint the situation in South Libya as the south
has been declared as a military zone. In this respect, the land borders with
Chad, Niger, Sudan and Algeria had been temporarily closed and a military
government for the southern zone has been appointed due to the increasing
number of infiltrators. Moreover, Tabu tribes; from a Chadian origin, are
continuously crossing the Libyan-Chadian borders and attacking Kufra city
south east of Libya.
Thus, in light of the current Libyan condition, are the Tabu tribes trying to
gain ground in South Libya, especially that such tribes live in Tibesti Mountains in the far north of Chad along the Libyan-Chadian borders.
Strategic analysts are aware of the fact that strategy does not acknowledge
vacuum. Stemming from this point and in light of the collapse of the Libyan
forces upon the falling down of al-Gaddafi’s regime, one can consider that,
on the military and security levels, South Libya represents a huge vacuum
especially that it has low population rates.
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Putting South Libya in the French
Strategic Thought
Lying in an intermediary location
between Egypt and the Arab
Maghreb area, the world strategy
has divided Libya according to a
geopolitical ideology. In this vein,
Egypt and the Sudan were lying under British occupation while the
Arab Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco, Mauritania), in addition
to the Back Arab Maghreb (Chad,
Niger Mali, Senegal) were all lying
under French occupation.
In light of this geopolitical ideology, Britain worked hard on realizing full domination over the Libyan
coast and east Libya, being a navigational route and an entry to Egypt;
the second most important British
colony after India.
The French strategic ideology was
always based on defending its interests in Africa. This came in General
de Gaulle’s book “Memoires de
Guerre” or “Diary of a War”, where
he clarified that dominating Fezzan;
south Libya, is an asset for France
during World War II.
In this respect, on March1, 1941,
the second army of France had occupied Kufra area (it was called as
such because its inhabitants have for
long refused to embrace Islam). By
January 1943, the French army succeeded in the expulsion of Mussolini’s army and in occupying the
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whole area of South Libya.
By looking at the French military
deployment map in South Libya after its occupation in 1943, one will
notice that the French army deployed in three areas: Ghadames,
Ghat, Sabha. Such a deployment has
deep geopolitical significance. Ghadames lies on the north border line
between Libya and Algeria, while
Ghat lies on the south border line
between Libya and Algeria and
Sabha lies in south Libya facing Kufra and the Libyan-Chadian borderline. Consequently, the French military deployment has taken a triangular shape. What does this mean?
For those who read maps strategically, this means that according to
the French strategic thinking, south
Libya is the security military gate
for the two entries of the French emperor to Africa, i.e., the Arab
Maghreb area and the francophone
Africa south of the sub-saharan area
where Chad, the hidden jewel of the
French policy in Africa lies.
Why does France Seek to Establish a
Military Base in South Libya?
There are three geopolitical strategic considerations that govern the
establishment of this base:
First: Securing the stability of Chad
Second: Securing the stability of the
pro-France regimes in Africa south
of the desert.
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African
Third: Securing the uranium
fields, thus allowing further upgrading for the French nuclear arsenal.
For France, Chad is the center point
for its emperor in Africa south of
the desert as Chad is the political
state that connects the two pivots of
the French policy in Africa. The first
pivot is the francophone western
Africa that includes Niger, Mali,
Mauritania, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. The second pivot is the francophone equatorial Africa that includes the Republic of Central Africa, Cameroon,
Congo and Gabon.
Since 1986, France has a huge
military base in the Chadian capital
N'djamena. This base includes
Ground and Air forces and a sophisticated intelligence body, thus asserting the military and intelligence
existence of France in the center of
the francophone Africa.
The French overflies against rebels in north Mali that took place in
the framework of Operation Serval
had all been launched from the
French military base in N'djamena.
In fact, Operation Serval lies under the framework of the world
strategy. It supports the higher interests of the Western capitalist
camp. The direct strategic target
behind this operation is securing the
francophone African countries. i.e.,
Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania that
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might be affected by al-Qaeda attacks in the Arab Maghreb countries.
In this respect, the political preparation for Operation Serval started
in late December 2012 with the visit
of the French President Francois
Hollande to Algeria to gain its support; the matter which actually took
place. Such an operation started on
January 11, 2013 through a military
coordination between the French
Ground, Naval and Air Forces.
Despite the success of the Operation Serval, yet the main problem
that is currently facing the French
military is the secession of north
Mali, as this scenario of the secession
can be repeated in Chad.
There is a very close relation between the launching of Operation
Serval and France’s keenness to establish a French military base in
South Africa as, most probably, in
light of the regional repercussions,
France fears from the secession of
north Mali and from the possibility
of the secession or a coup in north
Chad, thus representing a huge strategic catastrophe for France as this
will mean the falling down of the
main piece in the French domino in
Africa. This means threatening the
French domination as a superpower,
especially in light of China’s presence in Africa.
Furthermore, north Chad includes
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Ozo Strip (appears on the map as a
dark colored strip). This place is one
of the richest places with Uranium
mines in Africa. It extends on an
area of 114000 m2 and a width of
100 km.
For all such considerations, the
existence of a French military base
in the capital, N'djamena, that lies
in the south is not enough for securing the stability of Chad from the
north and the south. Thus, it is expected that a French base in south
Libya, i.e., in Ozo Strip, will ensure
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securing the Chadian North Sahara.
Furthermore, a French base in south
Libya will provide a special security
for the Niger from the north. In this
respect, it is important to point that
the Niger has the second largest
Uranium mine worldwide, thus giving France the chance to renew and
upgrade its nuclear arsenal and giving the French Areva Company the
opportunity to remain the first strategic uranium producer in the world
market for manufacturing nuclear
reactors.
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