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AL QAEDA INTEREST IN THE LIBIAN CRISIS

AL QAEDA INTEREST IN THE LIBIAN CRIsIS


 


 


 


An Al Qaeda commander Mohammad Hassan al-Liby (pic) who escaped from a USA prison has urged Libyans to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and establish Islamic rule, the second time the terrorist network has addressed the uprising.


 


Mohammad Hassan, also known as Yahia al-Liby escaped from a US Bagram prison in Afghanistan on 07/11/2005 (see – Bagram Escape).  In a video posted on a militant website, on Sunday 03/20/2011 , Yahia al-Liby said  that after the fall of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, it is now Gaddafi’s turn. He added that it would bring shame to the Libyan people if the strongman were allowed to die a peaceful death.


 


A transcript of the video was provided on Sunday by SITE Intelligence Group, a US organisation that monitors militant messages. The authenticity of his 31-minute video could not be verified, but it was produced by As-Sahab, the media wing of al-Qaeda, and posted late on Saturday on militant websites.


 


Gaddafi has accused Al Qaeda of being behind the movement seeking to end his more than 40-year rule, though the rebels have no known links to the terrorist organisation.


 


His message came days after a North African offshoot of MAGHREB al-Qaeda called on Muslims to support the uprising.  Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement posted on a militant website last month that it would do whatever it can to support the revolt against Gaddafi, calling him a “criminal tyrant”, but it gave no specifics.


 


The group, based in neighbouring Algeria, may be seeking to capitalise on the revolt to gain recruits or win support among Libyans. Muammar Gaddafi has in the past helped the U.S track Al Qaeda  and other terrorism suspects in the region.

 

* Indeed, Chad’s president Idriss Deby Itno said, on Friday 03/25/2011 that MAGHREB al-Qaeda has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there. Chad is bordering Libya from the south and the president did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen but said he is “100% sure”.

 


* Euphoric Libyan rebels have moved, on Sunday 08/21/2011 night, into the centre of the capital, Tripoli, as Muammar Gaddafi’s defenders melted away (see – Gaddafi’s Collapse).




 

* Related topics ;


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