When I covered Libya’s revolution in 2011, I had a driver named Mashallah. Mashallah was a decent and stoical man with an interesting propensity for malapropisms. He was regarded with fondness by us journalists — so when I decided to return to Libya recently, I sent him an email: did he want to work for me again?
Unfortunately, replied Mashallah, he was in Paris. This seemed strange. How would he have got a French visa? I emailed again suggesting another week and received another profound apology. That week he was going on to Ankara and Istanbul.
A quick look online solved the mystery. My former driver Mashallah Zwai is now oil minister in the new Islamist Libyan government (this makes him powerful, since oil is the only asset Libya possesses) and furthermore, the de facto national security adviser. Mashallah had even been offered and turned down the post of prime minister.
All the more reason to meet up with my old friend, which I did in his sizeable office in Tripoli. Mashallah dresses in a smart suit these days and his malapropisms have almost disappeared. He was particularly pleased to see me, he said, because he had a message for David Cameron: he must start dealing with the new Libyan government, the Islamist one, or else the migrant crisis will only get worse.
For those who haven’t followed the course of recent events in Libya, here’s a brief account: during post-Gaddafi elections, the Islamic parties — in coalition under the name Libya Dawn — dominated parliament, but they officially lost at the polls last year. They disputed the result and Libya Dawn set up a government in Tripoli. Meanwhile the coalition that claimed victory set up a rival government in the east, first in a car ferry off Tobruk and then a hotel near the city.
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