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From Our Own Correspondent: Libya and Qatar

Libya and Qatar

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Libya and Qatar

Tony Grant introduces despatches from Justin Marozzi in Libya and Katy Watson in Qatar.

Tony Grant introduces personal stories, wit and analysis from correspondents around the world. Today: Justin Marozzi on Libya's restive Tuaregs and Katy Watson on Qatar's new diplomatic initiatives.

Tony Grant presents personal stories and insights from correspondents around the world. In this edition, Justin Marozzi finds heightened tensions between those backing Libya's revolution and the country's Tuareg groups, while Katy Watson finds Qatar wielding new diplomatic weight.

Banditry, resentment and reprisals 

Television images from Libya recently have shown apparently ecstatic crowds in the cities welcoming in the new regime. But among the Touareg, the nomadic desert people of southern Libya, the picture looks very different. Many of them had been staunchly loyal to Colonel Gaddafi, even during the last few months of his rule. Some have been accused of acting as brutal enforcers for the former dictator.  

Justin Marozzi's been to the desert oasis of Ghadames where the local people have been settling scores - and was himself caught up in the delicate balance of power.

Qatar's new diplomatic heft

Qatar, on the shores of the Gulf, was once known (vaguely) as just another prosperous resource-rich state, and perhaps more specifically as the home of the al-Jazeera media network. But this year it also became the first Arab state to commit military assets to the NATO operation in Libya, when its Mirage aircraft were made available to patrol the no-fly zone put in place around the country. 

Katy Watson, in Doha, says the ruler of Qatar had already made clear his support for the rebels by setting up, in his emirate, an anti-Gaddafi television station; and that there's a wider reach for a bigger international role.

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