Libyan Oil Buys Allies for Qaddafi

Like many pro-Qaddafi groups that have emerged in response to the Libya rebellion, Elhadj Maiga from Mali recruits young men to go and fight for Qaddafi. There is a lack of money for guns or transport for Maiga's group of only couple hundred men but they are encouraged to commit their loyalty to Qaddafi - "We're all ready to die for him" said Maiga. Apparently Qaddafi built a mosque in Bamako (where Maiga prays), set up a national network for television in the 80's, and he even is paying the Malian government $100 million. A reciprocity effect has occured as a result of Qaddafi's support in Mali. He continues to use billions of dollars from the Libya's oil reserves to "invest in governments, rebel groups, luxry hotels, Islamic organizations, rubber factories, rice paddies, diamond mines, supermarkets and the countless OiLibya gas stations" around sub-Saharan Africa fueling his vehicle of reciprocity effect. These efforts have won over the influence of the poorest region in the world, and in return they fight for him as "African mercenaries".

Ana Foster