Jump to content

Gloves Off - Libya


unit731

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 206
  • Created
  • Last Reply

 

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links

 

 

 

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

 

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited "around 25" men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are "today are on the front lines in Adjabiya".

 

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

 

[color:red]His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".[/color]

 

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

 

US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996.

 

Even though the LIFG is not part of the al-Qaeda organisation, the United States military's West Point academy has said the two share an "increasingly co-operative relationship". In 2007, documents captured by allied forces from the town of Sinjar, showed LIFG emmbers made up the second-largest cohort of foreign fighters in Iraq, after Saudi Arabia.

 

Earlier this month, al-Qaeda issued a call for supporters to back the Libyan rebellion, which it said would lead to the imposition of "the stage of Islam" in the country.

 

British Islamists have also backed the rebellion, with the former head of the banned al-Muhajiroun proclaiming that the call for "Islam, the Shariah and jihad from Libya" had "shaken the enemies of Islam and the Muslims more than the tsunami that Allah sent against their friends, the Japanese".

 

 

 

Link

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing to do with oil of course.

 

I predicted U.S. boots on the ground several pages ago. However, with the above, are you being cynical? If so, how would getting rid of Ga-Daffy make oil more obtainable or cheaper? I was under the impression that Libya had withdrawn from it's terrorist adventures and was a good provider of oil. And the U.S. gets very little of it's oil from Libya. So no big deal for us Yanks. If backing of the rebels was because of "oil", it is a pretty stupid idea, as nobody seems to know who/what would pull the strings if Ga-Daffy is gone. Okay...Libya downed a Pan Am flight and bombed a disco in Germany. Japan also bombed Pearl Harbor.

 

HH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a humanitarian mission Hugh. :)

 

Most of Libya's oil goes to Spain, Germany and Italy. US companies were out since Lockerbie. They don't have much interest in it yet but BP started to get back in 2003 thanks to a deal negotiated by Tony Blair. Without going into a lot of detail Ghadaffi established the NOC which controls oil revenues.

 

There are people in Benghazi who think they should get a bigger share. If they can't get the whole country I expect them to establish the Republic of Cyrenaica and negotiate new contracts with Total and Shell. These contracts were negotiated (on behalf of Libya) by a man called Mustafa Jabril who is now a rebel leader. Look for US companies to get a cut. Adjdabiyah and Ras Lanuf are important access points to the Eastern fields. There are still some big fields in Western Libya which the Libyan government wants to hold on to.

 

I agree backing the rebels was not a very good idea but Sarkozy wanted to do it and Obama agreed. Now they are part of a civil war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links

 

Link

 

 

Well, I heard same same. And others have stated that there are all kinds/different "tribes". And I don't think many know how/much about tribes.

 

This all looks to me about switching one fruitcase nut for another dictatorship. I don't think these people have a clue what democracy or republics are nor do they want such. Are they planning on providing equal rights to women?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...