 
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 (10)
(First published in Arabic on 27th October 2006)
[2] Announcing the Establishment of the
Libyan Constitutional Union
Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr
The good name and reputation of the Saif Al-Nasr family in Libya make any
introduction to this family and its members redundant. The first generation of
this family bravely performed the honourable duty of defending the homeland
against foreign occupation and repeatedly sacrificed their lives and
possessions. They fought along with their other brothers under the banner of
the Senussi movement.
Following independence, the Libyan state acknowledged the loyalty and
steadfastness of this family of freedom fighters by conferring on its second
generation high honorary and political positions. Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr was
among the members of this family who assumed these high positions. He was
appointed as the Wali of the province of Fezzan and later as its governor
after the abolition of the federal system of government in 1963. Further, Haj
Ghaith had been appointed as the Libyan ambassador to Chad and remained in
this position until the usurping of power by the military in their coup d’etat
of 1st September 1969.
Another member of the family, Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abdul-Jalil Saif Al-Nasr
was appointed a minister of defence in various successive governments.
*****
I spent most of the month of July and the last days of June 1982 in the
Moroccan capital, Rabat. This period coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.
I spent most of the fasting month and Eid El-Fitr in one of the historical
city’s hotels with the exception of a few days when I made a quick visit back
to Britain during which I met Mr Abdulhamid Albakoush who visited me at my
home in Manchester. [1]
The star of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) at that
time was rising very fast and Rabat was one of the main centres of this
organisation’s growing activities. No other group or organisation could attain
this level of activity.
It was not difficult to notice the presence of the numerous leaders and
members of NFSL in the Moroccan capital. Moreover, it was equally easy for the
organisers of the NFSL to obtain personal information about Libyans in that
country, be they residents or visitors.
*****
One day I received a phone call from Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr whom I had
neither met nor known beforehand. He expressed his desire to meet me in the
hotel where I was staying [2]. As well as being one of the notable members of
the Saif Al-Nasr family, Haj Ghaith was also one of the founders and the
prominent leaders of the NFSL, and its deputy general secretary.
Haj Ghaith arrived at the hotel at the set time, soon after Asr Prayers. I
received him in the entrance hall and we moved to an empty and quiet corner in
the hotel foyer to discuss the subject for which my guest took the trouble of
infoing to visit me on that memorable day.
I immediately noticed the pragmatic manner that my honourable guest was
observing in dealing with me. He did not waste his time in the customary
Libyan protocols of courtesies, civilities or the lengthy conviviality. Haj
Ghaith went straight to the subject that he came to address without any delay
or hesitation.
Haj Ghaith told me in an apparent temper and disquiet [3] that he could
neither understand nor appreciate the reasoning behind my adopting a diverse
approach to the one agreed upon by everybody else. For, he continued, my
founding of the Libyan Constitutional Union was, in his opinion, disbanding
the efforts and dispersing the potential power to change.
Furthermore, he continued, I should join this mass movement as represented
by the NFSL which was supported by the big powers and enjoyed the help of the
influential countries in the Arab World. Moreover, he added, the NFSL was not
only supported by most of the Libyan people but also by rich and politically
influential Libyan personalities. Therefore, my insistence on being outside
this social accord, cohesiveness and collaboration, which had been achieved by
the NFSL through its structure as an opposition organisation, would make me
out of step with everybody else.
In reference to the call of the LCU for unity around the person of the
King and the renewal of allegiance to him, Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr said, that
they, the members of the Saif Al-Nasr family, were Senussis by nature and that
the Senussi ethos ran in their blood and if it had happened that a vein under
the skin of any of them was found without this type of blood then it would be
cut off. He continued, that they did not accept, under any circumstances,
anybody to lecture them on their family’s loyalty to the Senussi movement in
general and to King Idris in particular.
Haj Ghaith continued by saying that, in this regard, there was a firm
intention to honour King Idris after the liberation of Libya from the
oppressive Qaddafi regime. Therefore, there was no need to unite around him,
for this would not make any difference.
I listened to my visitor’s speech throughout, which was saturated with
severe criticism of my stance and perspective that was different to that of
the NFSL system of ideas and organisational approach. This lasted all the time
between his arrival just after Asr prayers till just before Maghrib (sunset).
*****
After he had finished all he had to say and was about to leave I said to
Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr, that I had , in summary, four points I wanted to tell
him very quickly as a reply to his previous address:
• Firstly, honouring the King, in essence, should not take place after the
liberation of Libya with ceremonial speeches and a memorial medal. True
honouring, for those who understand its meaning, should take place during his
harsh exile and bitter isolation, alone and away from home through restoring
the esteem which is due to him and showing respect and appreciation by
rallying around his person.
• Secondly, in the absence of undertaking such a step, his reference to
the non-acceptance of the Saif Al-Nasr family of anybody to discuss their
loyalty to the Senussi movement in general and King Idris in particular by
describing this loyalty with the blood running in their veins, remains mere
rhetoric. The extent of somebody’s loyalty could only be measured according to
their actions during the period of history in which they live. And that is
what is consequential in this regard. However, one could not depend on stances
of the forebears in previous history to absolve the individuals of their
current duties and present responsibilities in proving and showing the extent
of loyalty which they claimed they had proved and were consequently proud of.
What is meant here is that the judgement and the evaluation of individuals
vis-à-vis their moral and ethical stances during successive historical periods
could only be made within the context of their contemporary events and
political circumstances.
The previous historical periods to these events and circumstances have no
bearing on these judgements and evaluations.
Therefore, for the description that he mentioned- concerning the flow of
the Senussi blood in the veins of the members of the Saif Al-Nasr family to be
credible he would have to go to King Idris and renew his allegiance to him.
This renewal of allegiance was due to King Idris for he was the representative
of the constitutional legitimacy as the entire Libyan nation honoured him to
be.
Furthermore, the above mentioned metaphor had been adopted from a saying
by his uncle Mohammad Saif Al-Nasr, who said when he was oppressively and
wrongly incarcerated by the dictatorial regime, “If I had a vein not pulsating
with Senussi ethos I would slash it.” He meant every word he said. Moreover,
he restricted what he said to himself and did not include any other member of
the Saif Al-Nasr family. He - may Allah bestow His mercy on him and make
paradise his abode- never retracted from this belief in spite of the pressures
and the bargaining of his jailers to set him free. He preferred death in
prison to renouncing his principles. He was true to his principles because of
his determination, his strong faith, his courage, his fortitude and firmness
in what is right.
• Thirdly, I added that he might not agree with me on this at this moment
in time due to our diverging points of view; in spite of all the huge
resources and the immense support that the NFSL has received to liberate the
country from Gaddafi’s rule, the whole enterprise is doomed to inevitable
failure. The dream of toppling Gaddafi’s regime would not be realised through
this specific means.
I told him not to be fooled by the support from the great powers for the
NFSL at that present time and bear in mind, with certainty, that these
countries had their own plans, aims and interests without any consideration
for the interests of the Libyan people and their bitter suffering under the
rule of this corrupt regime. I added that time would show how true and
accurate this analysis would be.
I continued to say if this proves to be true – as I was sure it was – he
was more than welinfoe to join the Libyan Constitutional Union. For the LCU is
suited for members of the illustrious Saif Al-Nasr family to be at the
forefront of it. The bright history they attained by way of their fighting
alongside the Senussi movement and their loyalty to it made them most eligible
to assume leadership positions in the Libyan Constitutional Union [4].
• The final point can be deduced from a simple question of two parts: Why
do some of you go to so much trouble in your attempts to criticise my
political orientation and to persuade me to abandon it? Is it really the case
that the major obstacle to your efforts for the national cause lies in my
political orientation?
The answer to this question is in what they said and in their criticism of
me. For these critics said on more than one occasion that their approach to
the struggle would not face failure and its success would be certain. The
elements of the certainty of this success infoe from the absolute support their
idea gets from the international, Arab and regional powers. Add to this,
success according to these critics, could also be attributed to the power of
money, men and equipment that their ideas, methods and orientation of the
struggle attracted from the beginning.
Therefore, no impediment existed for their achieving the success that they
were aspiring to under any consideration and my political orientation would
not change this fact at all. So I requested they leave me alone as there would
be no fear that I or my orientation would have any detrimental effect on the
realisation of their goals.
*****
And so ended my encounter with Haj Ghaith Saif Al-Nasr, who did not like
my reply as evidenced by the angry expression on his face. Maghrib was about
to arrive so I insisted that he accepted my invitation to break our fast
together in the restaurant at the hotel where I was staying.
However, he refused my invitation and muttered as he turned away towards
the door of the hotel waving his hand that his Iftar (breaking of his fast)
was awaiting him at his house.
As I said earlier, I spent most of the month of Ramadan and Eid El-fitr in
the Moroccan capital where many of the members of the NFSL had their homes or
were staying in its hotels. I knew some of these members personally; however,
I did not see any of them.
My only contact with any of the Libyans in that country at that time was
with Mr Mohammad Othman Essaid who from time to time would invite me to break
the fast with him at his home.
*****
Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abduljalil Saif Al-Nasr
It was only natural that Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abduljalil Saif Al-Nasr be among
the list of Libyan dignitaries (of the wise and influential category) whom the
LCU approached to try to attain support of its patriotic mission. He was of a
distinguished status in the Libyan society both politically and socially.
I had a warm and cordial relationship with Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abduljalil
which dated back a few years. This made it easy to initially contact him and
thereafter set up a meeting in the winter of 1982. He welinfoed me very warmly
in his flat in Cairo where he lived permanently. As we entered the sitting
room I was attracted by a very impressive portrait of His Majesty King Idris
which was hung on the wall. It was a very beautiful photograph mounted on a
magnificent frame, which showed King Idris in his full glory.
*****
After chatting briefly about past memories and the present ordeal and
tribulations of the homeland under the repressive and corrupt regime, we began
discussing the idea of the LCU. I was anxious to assess Saif Al-Nasr’s view
and stand on the establishment of the LCU and its proposed direction.
Saif Al-Nasr’s full knowledge of the details of the LCU’s Idea, motives and
aims spared me the exertion of explaining and elaborating, for he had had a
good look at all the publications by the LCU prior to that meeting [5].
I asked Saif Al-Nasr about his view and standpoint on the LCU’s idea,
which called for the consolidation around the King as a first step towards
restoring to Libya the usurped constitutional legitimacy. With King Idris as
the focal point of this constitutional legitimacy, as he was the undisputed
choice of the entire nation which elected him as its leader and national
symbol of this constitutional legitimacy in accordance with the nation’s
constitution which it formulated on the eve of independence.
I further clarified by expressing my sincere wish that he would take the
lead in realizing the objective of rallying around the king, which would go a
long way to supporting the effort along the road of the task of restoring the
country’s lost constitutional legitimacy.
At that point Saif Al-Nasr objected to my appeal to him to rally around
the King. He saw that as an insult to him and to members of his family who
never ceased to be loyal and were whole heartedly devoted to the Senussi
movement since its emergence in the late 18th century.
He added that loyalty to King Idris was a duty and an obligation on every
single member of the Saif Al-Nasr family and that they do not need anybody to
persuade them to illustrate or prove it.
He passionately went on, in a show of his devotion and loyalty to King
Idris, by saying that the necks of the Saif Al-Nasr’s family never obeyed or
yielded to anybody but this man, placing the edge of his palm on the back of
his neck while pointing to the photo of King Idris with his other hand.
I immediately conceded to his objection which was consistent with my own
firm knowledge of his family’s long and honourable history in serving the
Senussi movement and devotion to its masters. I further said to him that we
were both in agreement in this regard and therefore there should be no problem
which would prevent him from using his considerable prestige and influence to
gather a group of likewise Libyan notables from émigrés in Egypt and other
countries, and lead them to the King to offer their support to him and renew
their allegiance to his Majesty.
I further clarified that what was consequential here was the level of
success achieved in serving the national cause, and that did not mean having a
monopoly on the means that lead to achieving it.
In other words, the LCU does not demand from others to infoe under its wing
in order to achieve the infomon national interest, but strongly promotes a
variety of channels that will eventually lead to realising the goals aspired
to by the Libyan people.
That is to say that Mr. Saif Al-Nasr did not need the LCU at all to
express his loyalty and support to the King. The field was open to him and to
others to rectify the inverted image of our country’s case, which would never
be rectified without rallying around the King and consolidating behind him as
a first step towards retrieving our country’s plundered constitutional
legitimacy.
I went a step further in my attempt to secure the goal of my visit by offering
to arrange a meeting for Mr. Saif Al-Nasr with the King where he could visit
his Majesty acinfopanied by a group of Libyan dignitaries. He thanked me
profusely and told me that he did not need my intercession, for his path to
visiting the King is wide open.
Hence, I parted infopany with Saif Al-Nasr fully content that I would soon
hear that he had paid His Majesty a visit acinfopanied by a number of prominent
Libyans to declare their loyalty and support. Instead, I heard not long
afterwards, that he had joined Mr. Abdulhamedd Al-Bakoosh’s organisation. The
rest is well known history. King Idris passed away without this visit ever
materialising.
To be continued
Mohamed Ben Ghalbon
17th November 2006
(Many thanks to Mustafa for translating this document from Arabic)
[1] Details of this meeting with Mr. Abdulhamedd Al-Bakoosh are in part
four of this series.
[2] When Mr. Gaith Saif Al-Nasr told me on the phone he wanted to see me I
thought that he wanted to invite me to have “Iftar” at his house.
[3] I thought that Haj. Gaith Saif Al-Nasr was talking to me in this
temper and rough pitch because he either was under the influence of the fast
in that hot summer day which often makes people tense and irritable; or that
he was a naturally bad tempered person and that was how he usually
infomunicated with people. I found out later that I was wrong on both accounts.
[4] All my expectations in this regard have unfortunately turned out to be
true.
[5] As I did with other Libyan notables, I sent by post copies of the
LCU’s publications to Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abduljalil Saif Al-Nasr followed by a
personal letter. In that letter (copy enclosed below) I asked him to forward
copies of the said publications to Haj. Ghaith whose address I couldn’t
attain. I was eager for him to be familiar with the call and aims of the LCU,
in the hope that we could gain his sympathy and support. I wrongly referred to
Haj Ghaith in that as Saif Al-Nasr’s brother. When I met the latter he
corrected me that Ghaith is in fact his nephew not his brother.
Copy of the LCU’s letter to Mr.Saif Al-Nasr Abdul-Jalil dated 5th February
1982
Translation of the LCU’s letter to Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abdul-Jalil dated 5th
February 1982
In the Name of Allah, the infopassionate, the Merciful
The esteemed Mr. Saif Al-Nasr Abdul-Jalil
Greetings
Following a long search and enquiries I managed to obtain your address to
write to you.
Dear Saif,
I hope that you received the LCU’s booklets, which detailed its aims and
political orientation. I also hope that there will be an opportunity of
cooperation between us, and convergence of our ideas to serve our country and
fly its flag amongst nations.
I would be delighted and honoured, and so would all members of the Libyan
Constitutional Union, if you would cooperate with it to raise the banner of
the national struggle together. For the deep-rooted Saif Al-Nasr family, which
is synonymous in Libyan history with defending the country and fighting for
the homeland, should be in the forefront every time Libya calls for giving and
sacrifice.
I hope that you would also pass a copy of this letter to your brother Mr.
Ghaith Abdul-Jalil, whose address I am still trying to obtain. And that there
would be a chance of cooperation with him too, as well as all of your noble
family.
Waiting for your reply, please accept the respect and appreciation of the
chairman and members of the Libyan Constitutional Union.
Sincerely
Mohamed Abdu Ben Ghalbon
5/2/1982
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