April 8 (Reuters) - About 150 people have been killed in tribal disputes in Libya in the last month, drawing attention to ethnic faultlines that threaten the country's stability.
A ceasefire has halted clashes in the south between the Tibu and groups of Sabha fighters.
Here is a look at the Tibu:
* The Tibu have black skin and have ties to neighbouring Chad, while their opponents are lighter-skinned Arabs who see the Tibu as outsiders.
* The Tibu are a group of tribes found along the southern side of the Harouj mountain and to the east of the southern Fezzan region, all the way to Egypt, including the Kufra and Bezzima oases, as well as south of the Tibesti Massif and across the border in northern Chad.
* The principal region of the Tibu is Bilma, north of Lake Chad.
* The name Tibu was said to mean "Rock People", hence the name Tibesti Mountain ('Rocky Mountains').
* The "Tibu" or "Tbawi" language is a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family, spoken by about 380,000 people.
* The Tebo of the Kufra in Libya were invaded by the Sanusi (Senussi) clan of Arabs in the 1840s, and subsequently the Arabs took control of the oasis; some of the Tebu fled to the southern regions where they joined other Tibu tribes.
* Like the Berbers, the Tibu were persecuted by Muammar Gaddafi's government.
MODERN TIMES:
* The Tibu fighters are led by Isa Abdel Majid, who backed the rebel forces in the 2011 revolution. He was head of the Tibu Front for the Salvation of Libya (TFSL), founded in June 2007. The TFSL confronted Libyan security forces in a five-day battle at Kufra in 2008.
* Despite playing an important role in the Libyan revolution, the Tibu have experienced little change since the Gaddafi era, when they were stripped of their Libyan identity cards and denied access to health and education facilities.
* There are an estimated 12,000-15,000 Tibus living in Libya, mainly south of Sebha. There are significant numbers in the towns of Murzuq and Qatrun.
* There are far greater numbers of Tibu across the border in northern Chad and Niger.
Sources: Reuters/Jamestown Foundation/http://www.temehu.com/Libyan-People
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
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