AP Photo

THE delegation of the National Transitional Council, Libya’s ruling authority, was all smiles as it flew back to Tripoli, the capital, after a day in Kufra, a trading post deep in the Sahara desert some 1,700km (1,056 miles) to the south. There tribal feuding in the past two months has left scores dead. The councillors were congratulating themselves for persuading tribal leaders to accept a ceasefire, to recognise the authority of the council in Tripoli, and to promise to uphold Libya’s unity. But no sooner had the jet that once belonged to the late Colonel Muammar Qaddafi taken off than fighting flared there again.