Capitalist rivalries in Mideast fuel expanding war in Libya

Vol. 83/No. 48 - December 30, 2019
Oil driller escorted by Turkish naval frigate in eastern Mediterranean Aug. 6. Rebel forces led by Khalifa Haftar, backed by Cairo, Paris and now Moscow, have besieged the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, armed by Turkey and Qatar, escalating oil-fueled civil war in Libya.

The escalating battle for control of Libya — and especially its vast oil and gas wealth — intensified Dec. 12. The yearslong conflict between rival forces in the east and the west of this north African country is being transformed…