Tuaregs in Mali and Niger have founded an ad hoc human rights group, Defense of Foreigners in Libya, accusing anti-Qaddafi forces of detaining and abusing some 300 foreign nationals, mostly Tuaregs. "What is happening in Libya is very serious," said the group's Ousmane ag-Ahmed. "Foreigners, essentially Tuaregs from Mali and Niger, are being jailed and tortured." He said Tuarges in Libya are being "hunted in the streets," citing the case of six reported missing and rumored to have been killed and buried in a mass grave. The group is coordinated from Kidal, Mali, and Agadez, Niger. It has called upon the governments of both countries to help secure the release of their nationals.

Partisans of either side in the Libyan conflict are touting various claims that foreign fighters were on the other side. The pretty clear political agendas behind these claims makes it difficult to arrive at an objective reading of the situation. A sensationalist but rather confused Sept. 7 account in the DC-area Afro features quotes from former congressman Walter Fauntroy, recently returned from a "self-sanctioned peace mission" to Libya, during which his month-long disappearance sparked rumors of his death. Fauntroy claims much of the fighting attributed to the rebels was actually carried out by NATO special forces troops—who also brutalized the populace:

World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, in the second Internet edition of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, discusses the emerging struggle for post-Qaddafi Libya and the potential for ethnic war as Arabs are pitted against Tuaregs and Berbers. He also looks at Western Sahara—North Africa's forgotten conflict—where the struggle of the Sahrawi people against the Moroccan occupation presaged the Arab Spring.

Despite speculation that Moammar Qaddafi is onboard the convoy that arrived across the desert from Libya to Niger yesterday, an NTC source said Sept. 7 that the fugitive strongman has been determined to be at an unnamed desert location within Libyan territory. The claim comes from Anis Sharif, spokesman for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, who is the chairman of the Tripoli Military Committee and the leader of one of the biggest NTC-aligned militias. "We are waiting for the right moment to move in and in the meantime we are tracking his movements," Sharif said. "He doesn’t have a very strong protection with him, not as much protection as we had expected. He only moves at night to avoid NATO air strikes." He said that NTC forces had advanced to within 40 miles of the location and had surrounded the area. (NYT, Sept. 7) Meanwhile, conflicted reports are emerging from the oasis town of Bani Walid, one of the last Qaddafi strongholds, now ringed by NTC forces. Local tribal elders said to be representing the occupying Qaddafi-loyalists in talks reportedly agreed to a peaceful transfer of the town to NTC forces—but were also reported to be fired on by the Qaddafi forces during the talks outside the town. (AFP, Sept. 8)

A large convoy of about 250 armored vehicles believed to be carrying loyalists of Moammar Qaddafi has crossed into neighboring Niger, according to widespread reports. The convoy included officers from Qaddafi's army and Tuareg fighters, raising speculation that Qaddafi himself could be among them. Reuters, citing anonymous military sources from France and Niger, claims the convoy may represent a "dramatic, secretly negotiated bid" by Qaddafi" and his son Saif al-Islam to seek refuge in Burkina Faso, which has offered the ousted dictator asylum while also recognizing the National Transitional Council as Libya's new government. (AlJazeera, Atlantic Wire, Sept. 6)

From Human Rights Watch, Sept. 4:

The de facto authorities in Tripoli, the National Transitional Council (NTC), should stop the arbitrary arrests and abuse of African migrant workers and black Libyans assumed to be mercenaries, Human Rights Watch said today. They should release those detained as mercenaries solely due to their dark skin color, Human Rights Watch said, and provide prompt judicial review to any for whom there is evidence of criminal activity.

More information emerges on the notorious Abdel Hakim Belhaj—recently an "al-Qaeda-linked terrorist" and now a military commander of Libya's NATO-backed rebels. A Sept. 3 account in The Guardian informs us that he was actually "renditioned" by the CIA from Malaysia to Libya back in 2004, when he was going by the alias Abdullah al-Sadiq:

Libya's provisional authority says five international oil firms are resuming operations in the country, VOA reported Sept. 2. National Transitional Council (NTC) member Aref Ali Nayed said the companies include Italian energy giant ENI. We noted yesterday that BP, at least, is waiting for stability to be restored—as members of the Tuareg minority were apparently just met with harsh reprisals by anti-Qaddafi fighters at the desert town of Ghadames, where BP hopes to drill. But The Guardian reported Sept. 1 that BP is already in talks with the NTC to expand operations in Libya. The Guardian also cites a report Sept. 1 in the Paris daily Libération of a secret deal with the TNC under which French companies would control more than a third of Libya's oil production.