SUMMARY
The Zintan are an Arab tribe that draws from the Awlad Bu al-Hul and Awlad Dwaib groups. Traditionally, they are semi-nomadic pastoralists, who move around the wider southeastern area of the Nafusa Mountains in Libya. However, many have also settled in several places within this area including: Zintan al-Watan, Mizdah, Dirj and Wadi al-Shati’. Zintan al-Watan is considered the main base for the tribe and has a population of 50 000. It is located within the Al-Zintan municipality, which is 105,088 square kilometers wide and consists predominantly of desert.
Since the 19th and 20th century, tribes in the Nafusa Mountains have been forming alliances to pursue their struggles over land and political dominance against other groups in the area. The Zintan have been a dominant tribe in this area; historically, they controlled areas of pasture land and were politically influential with some members also entering the army and security services. Additionally, the Zintan were known to maintain the strongest tradition of oral poetry on historic battles against their enemies out of all the tribes in the Nafusa Mountains. Nonetheless, tribal leaders from Zintan also served as important figures in intercommunal and internal conflict management systems within the Nafusa Mountains; they even served as mediators during land disputes throughout the period of Gaddafi rule in the Government of Libya. This is despite the Government of Libya, under the political regime of Muammar Gaddafi, exploiting intercommunal rivalries to build itself a greater support base by favoring tribes with limited land rights to the detriment of others.
Fighters from Zintan were also known for being amongst the fiercest anti-Gaddafi government supporters during the Libyan popular uprising and they formed the renowned Zintan Brigades.
However, following the fall of Gaddafi, the Zintan tribe was distinct amongst the anti-Gaddafi groups for dictating their subsequent behavior towards other communal groups according to its traditional tribal alliances rather than revolutionary partisanship. For example, the Zintan did not loot the town of its historic allies, the Warfalla, who had been pro-Gaddafi government supporters during the popular uprising, after it was captured by rebel groups.
Gontrar, also spelled Guntrar or Qantrar, is a tribe residing in the town of Mizdah, located in the Nafusa Mountains, within the district of Jabal al Gharbi in Libya. In 2012, the town had a population of approximately 23 000, which was dominated by the Gontrar tribe, who live in the southern and western neighbourhoods, whilst the Mashashia inhabit neighborhoods in the north and east.
The Gontrar tribe claim to have been early settlers in the Nafusa mountain area. Since the 19th and 20th century, tribes in the Nafusa Mountains have been forming alliances to pursue their struggles over land and political dominance against other groups in the area. Under the political regime of Muammar Gaddafi, the Gontrar tribe experienced decades of marginalization as the Government of Libya exploited this intercommunal rivalry to build a greater support base for itself by favoring tribes with limited land rights.
