The last moment of martyr Omar Mukhtar [History repeat itself]
Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed by hanging [by Italians] in a public place. The fairness of his trial has been disputed by historians and scholars. When asked if he wished to say any last words, he replied with the Qur'anic clause:
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”
"From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return."
Italian Libya was formed from the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 to 1912. Both Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, along with Fezzan, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934.
The colony expanded after concessions were made from the British colony of Sudan and a territorial agreement with Egypt. The Kingdom of Italy at the 1919 Paris “Conference of Peace” did not receive anything of the German colonies, but as a compensation was given from Great Britain the Oltre Giuba and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to the Italian Libya. After many discussions during the 1920s, it was only until 1935 that the Mussolini-Laval agreement was reached and Italy received the Aouzou strip that was added to Libya, but this agreement was not ratified later by France.
Libya was lost as a colony in early 1943 when it was occupied by the Allied powers near the end of the North African Campaign.
Omar Mukhtar was born in eastern Cyrenaica, Al Butnan District, in the village of East Janzur east of Tobruk. He was orphaned early and was adopted by Sharif El Gariani.
A teacher of the Qur’an by profession, Mukhtar was also skilled in the strategies and tactics of desert warfare. He knew local geography well and used that knowledge to advantage in battles against the Italians, who were unaccustomed to desert warfare. Mukhtar repeatedly led his small, highly alert groups in successful attacks against the Italians, after which they would fade back into the desert terrain. Mukhtar’s men skillfully attacked outposts, ambushed troops, and cut lines of supply and communication. The Italian army was left astonished and embarrassed by his guerrilla tactics.
Omar Mukhtar led the rebellion against Italian occupation of Libya for 20 years until his capture and execution at the old age of 70.
The Sanusies previously fought with him against the French and British, did not come to his aid in time. Instead, many of them became loyal to the Italians by giving them Muslim lands in exchange for clemency, montly salaries, and free taxation from the latter.
Mukhtar’s struggle of nearly twenty years came to an end on September 11, 1931, when he was wounded in battle near Slonta, then captured by the Italian army.
Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed by hanging [by Italians] in a public place. The fairness of his trial has been disputed by historians and scholars. When asked if he wished to say any last words, he replied with the Qur'anic clause:
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”
"From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return."
On September 16, 1931, in the hope that the Libyan resistance movement would wither and die without him, Mukhtar was hanged in front of his followers in the concentration camp of Sollouq the orders of the Italian court. They forced the Libyans to watch their hero been hanged. There were no considerations of human rights in the Libya.
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