Libya Ex-Islamic terrorist leader heads Tripoli Military Council

Middle East • August 2011 • Views: 1,296

The leader of the newly established Tripoli Military Council is Abdelhakim Belhadj, the former head of the terrorist Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which was banned internationally as a terrorist organization after the 9/11 attacks.

The Arab newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat which ran an article about him yesterday under the headline “From Holy warrior to hero of a revolution,” says Belhadj took over command of LIFG from Abu Laith al-Libi, a top Al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan. Known within Islamist circles by his alias “Abu Abdullah Assadaq,” Belhadj has a reputation as a very experienced mujaheddin commander, who fought alongside Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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10 comments

Killgore Trout Sun, Aug 28, 2011 2:01:57pm

Damn, I was really hoping the Libyans weren't going to fuck this up.

BishopX Sun, Aug 28, 2011 2:43:56pm

re: #1 Killgore Trout

Eastern Libya has been a prime recruiting ground for mujaheddin since the days of the soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Lots of these guys came home after doing a stint fighting "colonial oppressors". When the revolution came they were the ones with military experience. What remains to be seen is whether their loyalty to their cause is greater than their loyalty to their people or their country.

Randall Gross Sun, Aug 28, 2011 4:57:07pm

re: #1 Killgore Trout

There are a lot of people who ally with AQ who have entirely different motives than Zawahiri. Some just want to be free from tyranny, some want to become the local tyrant (Mehsuds, Bugtis, etc.) some are tribal nationalists, (like several areas in Pakistan, ) and some are just mercenary. The actual true believers aren't that many in any given country.

Timmeh Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:20:29pm

This is concerning. Especially that he fought alongside Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

What is the Tripoli Military Council anyway? Is it part of the new government? How much power does it have and who does it answer to?

laZardo Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:21:32pm

re: #1 Killgore Trout

Damn, I was really hoping the Libyans weren't going to fuck this up.

NATO sponsoring Mujaheddin? Really, it doesn't make sense for it not to fuck up.

ProMayaLiberal Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:22:09pm

re: #1 Killgore Trout

I don't think they will screw up too much. For one, all these little dissparate groups had to hold together for 6+ months to try and bring down Qaddafi (unlike Egypt, which was about 3 weeks).

In addition, much of what was happening with radicalism in Eastern Libya may be more explainable as a result of frustration against an extremely brutal dictatorship. And under Qaddafi, the East suffered disproportionately

One much worse than Egypt or Tunisia.

ProMayaLiberal Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:24:19pm

re: #5 laZardo

Your one-track thought process on this is getting old.

We get it: To you, Genocide and Mass Murder are preferable to intervention.

Also, things get more complicated when you look at details. Not all situations are alike.

laZardo Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:30:05pm

re: #7 ProLifeLiberal

We get it: To you, Genocide and Mass Murder are preferable to intervention.

Wow. Really, I make an observation and you pull this card out of reflex?

We essentially put our trust in a loosely-federated coalition of tribes to take advantage of the opportunity to get rid of a dictator we didn't particularly liked. We could've aided the Bahrainis, but we let Our Friends The Saudis stomp their revolution out.

Really, this reeks of double standards. The alternative wasn't pretty, but compared to this and the eventual discontent that followed our sponsorship in Afghanistan and Iraq, well...

ProMayaLiberal Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:38:25pm

re: #8 laZardo

I'm willing to take the risk of something going wrong.

Things don't always go right. The French Revolution is a good example.

laZardo Sun, Aug 28, 2011 8:39:55pm

re: #9 ProLifeLiberal