Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. LIV

No 12

21-Mar-2011

LIBYA

Libya Combatants Wield Oil Weapon

Oil is emerging as a potential weapon in the increasingly violent conflict raging through Libya, as forces loyal to leader Col Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi continue to make military gains. However, a UN Security Council resolution passed to impose a no-fly zone and all necessary measures to prevent loss of civilian life could see the regimes advances blunted and even reversed.

In the lead-up to the vote...