SUMMARY
Zuwaya (alternatively Zawia, Zwai, Zway, or Zwaya) is an Arab Bedouin tribe residing primarily in Libya’s eastern Cyrenaica region, for example around Ajdabiya and the Kufra oasis. While no accurate figure regarding the total number of Zuwaya residing in Libya is available, the group is described as neither the largest nor the smallest among Libya’s 30 major tribes.
Historically, the Zuwaya have been considered as part of the “Murabtin”, one of two major branches among the Bedouin population inhabiting western Egypt and eastern Libya; the other branch is the “aristocratic” Sa’ada, which traditionally has been socially and politically superior to the Muranbtin. Reflecting this Bedouin social order, the Zuwaya was long considered a “client tribe” of the Magharba, a Sa’ada-branch tribe also residing in Cyrenaica. Spreading from its original area of residence around Ajdabiya, the Zuwaya tribe captured the strategically important Kufra oasis from local Toubou tribes in 1840. Traditional Zuwaya livelihoods were centered on desert trade, desert pastoralism, and to some extent oasis agriculture; the arrival of Italian troops in Kufra in 1931 put an end to the Zuwaya’s profitable slave trade and arms smuggling. During the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, many Zuwaya fighters fought as part of the NTC rebel coalition.
In post-Gaddafi Libya, the Zuwaya has been one of the most influential tribal groups, mainly because it managed to seize control over vital oil infrastructure in the Kufra region. Most of the natural aquifers supplying water to Libya’s “Great Man Made River” are also located on Zuwaya territory, further bolstering the group’s relatively influential position. Regional power dynamics and competition for the oil infrastructure has led to fighting between the Zuwaya and the Toubou, for example in 2012. Tensions between the Zuwaya and Toubou has been aggravated by the long-standing practice among Libyan authorities – particularly during Gaddafi’s rule – to favor Libya’s “Arab” population (such as the Zuwaya) over the “black” or “African” population (such as the Toubou).
