Mark Clouse- In 1976, Star Wars was being shot in the desert of Tunisia at a time when tensions were high between Tunisia and its neighbor Libya. The Libyans, seeing the filming from a distance, mistook the vehicles of Star Wars for military vehicles and almost attacked Tunisia over it.
How Star Wars nearly sparked a real-life war between Tunisia and Libya
From winteriscoming.net
2021-08-23 12:30:00
Excerpt:
With its blazing sun and unspoiled sand dunes, the Tunisian desert was perfect, and principal photography began on March 22, 1976….
Libya was ruled by dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Relations between Gaddafi’s Libya and almost everyone else in the world were tense. The colonel was undoubtedly nervous following a failed coup against him just the year before. Libyan relations with Tunisia were particularly poor, with Libya expelling thousands of Tunisian workers the same month that principal photography on Star Wars began in the desert. The situation only worsened when Tunisia claimed to have uncovered a plot targeting high-ranking officials, and that Libya was involved. They even alleged that Gaddafi was plotting to assassinate then-Prime Minister Hadi Nouira.
And now we go back to Star Wars. You see, from a distance, Sandcrawlers can look quite like military vehicles…
