Silimane Albaka fought as a mercenary on Muammar Al Qadaffy's...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland...
side against the gunnies who eventually managed to oust the runaway leader from the high position he enjoyed for 42 years as he ruled over Libya. But the Tuareg Albaka from Niger returned home, injured an penniless.
Albaka must have had high hopes that his life could become much better after his time in Libya. He was one of hundreds of Tuaregs like him who were recruited by the Libyan regime to fight for the deposed Libyan leader against the rebels.
Albaka, is not new to war. He is a veteran of the Tuareg rebellions in 1990 and 2009. He battled the anti-regime forces in Libya for four months before fleeing back to Niger three weeks ago."I fought for Al Qadaffy and I came back injured and without a penny," he told AFP
The 56-year-old father of seven was contacted in April by Agaly Alambo, a key player in the second Tuareg revolt who settled in Tripoli. But returned to the northern city of Agadez with a chest wound from the battle for Misrata and is scarcely able to feed his family.
Thousands of Tuaregs took refuge in Libya following the rebellions which shook Mali and Niger over the past two decades.
"There were 229 of us ex-fighters who left. They promised each of us an advance of 3.2 million CFA francs (about 5,000 euros), but I haven't seen a penny," said Albaka.
Albaka, who claims to be a heavy weapons expert added: "They said that after the victory, Al Qadaffy was going to shower us with gifts but all I saw was the hail of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
aircraft fire."
He went on to say that since the end of July, about 200 Tuareg mercenaries had decamped Libya for Agadez, and about 500 are still in Sirte, but believes tat all the others are dead.
Sources told AFP that about 1,500 ex-rebels from Niger fought for Al Qadaffy. Most of them were living in Libya after laying down arms in 2009. The same sources added that members of the Al Qadaffy regime went to Agadez in April with briefcases stuffed with cash and recruited "hundreds" of young people.
A Tuareg intermediary in Agadez who did not want to be named said: "We handed two million CFA francs (3,000 euros) to each recruit and took them on a short training session in the Libyan desert."
Almoudene Moha, another Tuareg ex-rebel who said he was "enrolled by force" by Al Qadaffy loyalists, returned two weeks ago. He said the intense NATO bombardments and heavy killings panicked the fighters.
Another former Tuareg fighter Lamine Souleymane, 39, said he and three comrades ran more than 80 kilometres after deserting a Tripoli garrison. "We pretended to hold prayers far away from the camp one time and we stole a vehicle which we had sold in Agadez," who is now back home.
Abdoulaye Ahmadou, 36, was unemployed when recruited by pro-Al Qadaffy forces in April. "Al Qadaffy's soldiers came into our apartments and recruited 110 of us. They dangled about one million CFA francs (1,500 euros) in front of us, a house and Libyan nationality,"
"It was hellish. One evening I hid in a supply truck. Once in town, I rejoined the immigrants who were returning home," he said, adding that many weapons were abandoned in the desert.
The "Mourtazak" (Arabic for mercenaries) are currently returning home unarmed but their return is causing concern in Niger where about 211,000 people have decamped from the violence in Libya since February.
After first fleeing to Libya following rebellions in Mali and Niger, many Tuareg ex-fighters were recruited by the Al Qadaffy regime, but have since decamped to Agadez, sometimes maimed, and sometimes without any of the money they were promised