Assassinated Martyr Commander-in-chief of the Free Libya
Armed Forces General Abdul Fattah Younis al-Obeidi Photo source (facebook.com/Abd.AlFatah.Younis)
Part One: Why New Libya Does Not Have An Army?
(1)
The Free Libya Army was commanded by General Abdul Fattah
Younis. He was a member of the 1969 staged-coup and former
Interior Minister of the ousted regime. He defected on the
22nd of February 2011 to the rebel forces in Benghazi with
a formidable force of 9,000 soldiers including 3,000 special
forces. Such a strong force would have provided the nucleus
for a formidable army, had the self-appointed leaders were
more careful in their planning, and less reckless not to swallow
the bait.
The "Free Libya Armed Forces" were formed
from armed rebels (or revolutionaries), defected military
members of the ousted regime, armed civilians, and some foreign
fighters. The army was trained by foreign advisors and generals,
and funded and armed by a number of foreign countries including
some from dictatorial states; allegedly to coordinate the
fight against "tyranny" and liberate Libya from
Gaddafi's grip – starting by destroying the Libyan Army to
smithereens – the army Libya badly needs right now.
The name of the Free Libya Armed Forces was changed later to
"The Libyan National Army", abbreviated to LNA. Benghazi's LANA and
Cyrenaica's HoR seem to prefer the name with the word "Arab" added
to it, thus: "The Libyan National Arab Army" (LNAA).
As the general commander of the newly-created liberation
army, Abdulfattah's forces made a number of advances along
the Brega highway, but seemingly they were stuck "back
and forth" between Brega and Benghazi. Apparently the
rebel convoys were twice bombed by the UN-authorised forces,
killing 10 rebels in the first attack, and 13 more in the
second attack.
The deputy commander of the UN-authorised
forces reportedly refused to apologise for the deadly attacks
because, according to Aljazeera, his forces did not know
the rebel forces were using tanks; even though General Abdulfattah
Younis, according to the same source, said his rebels
had 400 tanks, and that they had "informed NATO
that they were moving T55 and T72 heavy tanks from Benghazi
to Brega" (aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/04/20114885835208982.html).
Many Libyans, felt protected by the no-fly-zone, genuinely
believed they could have gone all the way to Tripoli for
the "checkmate", but instead the news of "stalemate" were
circulated across the world, with the occasional firing in
the sky before the [fake] media.
In a number of advances the forces
of the Free Libyan Army continued their attempts to break
the 'Brega Barrier', to eventually succeed in capturing Brega,
Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad; but when they eventually reached
Sirte, they were reported by Aljazeera to have been 'ordered'
by the UN-authorised forces to pull back – maybe because
Sirte's destiny was scheduled for last, or maybe because
it was not safe for them to die.
Ever since, the Libyan forces never managed to break through the imposed
Brega barrier. Sensing sure
dead end along the Brega Highway, the
Libyan Commander of the revolutionaries was reported by the
transitional Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril to have proposed
taking his army to Nafusa Mountain to attempt reaching the
capital from there. If the general reaches the Berber stronghold of Nafusa then he would be out of reach, and so the General Abdulfattah Younis was murdered on the 28th of July 2011.
The events then catapulted with lightning speed, and suddenly the oil terminal fell, just under two weeks before Tripoli itself fell, and just two weeks after the grotesque murder of General Abdulfattah Younis. Reportedly he was recalled to Benghazi (from the frontline along the Brega barrier) for questioning by the NTC, but instead he was brutally murdered in cold blood by who knows who.
Published sources at Wikipedia initially implicated a couple
of (radical) brigades in the detention and the later assassination
of the general, but later reports revealed a deeper conspiracy
to drag Libya into chaos; clarifying the Brega encounters. His body was said to have been
found with bullet holes, burnt, one of his eyes removed,
and beyond recognition; even though initially his body was
reported "missing". According to the New
York Times:
"Mr. Abdul Jalil announced the death in a carefully
worded speech that left many scratching their heads.
Mr. Abdul Jalil confirmed that General Younes had been
summoned for questioning by the judges, though he declined
to say why . . . Mr. Abdul Jalil said that an armed gang
had killed General Younes and the other two officers,
and that at least one of the gang members had been captured.
He declined to name the killer, or to say whether the
gang had been working for Colonel Qaddafi, rebels who
did not trust General Younes or some other tribal group
or faction. Mr. Abdul Jalil then added that the rebel
security forces were still searching for the bodies of
the three dead officers, raising questions about how
he had confirmed their deaths."
Contradicting explanations and justifications came out of
Benghazi, angering Abdulfattah's family and tribe, who took
to the streets demanding official statement from the NTC,
and even threatened to take the law into their hands. Some
Libyans say he was a double agent working for Gaddafi and
that his assassination was instrumental in keeping the unity
of the rebel movement, but there is no evidence to support
these claims. For example, the newly formed "Democratic
Party Libya" wrote in its website
(thedemocraticpartylibya.org/fatwah/4553318510):
"What is not in any doubt is that the execution
of General Yunis by the Libyan revolutionaries was a
direct result of the discovery of his treason . . . Gaddafi
leaked to the revolutionaries recorded messages of his
personal direct communications with Yunis that proved
the latter's treason. The revolutionaries found him guilty
and executed him, and subsequently broadcasted his confession
online."
It is difficult to understand how Gaddafi would sell his
presumed infiltrator, not to say anything of revolutionaries
becoming judges of their own (executing suspects on the spot).
Other Libyans however say he was among the very few revolutionaries
in the group who had a genuine desire and the skill to build
an army for post-Gaddafi Libya. But again how can one be
sure of anything with lack of documentation and when transparency
is invisible and contradictions are rife?
According to Mahmoud Jibril (dai.ly/HCZqT6), General Abdulfattah
Younis told Abdurrahman Shalgam four days before the assassination
that he (the general) would take his troops to Nafusa Mountain
and continue to Tripoli to liberate the capital from there.
Mahmoud Jibril also said that Abdulfattah Younis was very
popular and liked by his people, and he even started to form
an army while he was in Benghazi; adding that if the general
is still alive today, Libya would not be without an army
as it is today.
The fact that the NTC had, to this day, failed to build
an army among other essential apparatuses required to run
a country, and the fact that the ensued GNC had also failed
to create an army or even a police force, Jibril's statements
become more intriguing and bring some questions to mind.
Who was really commanding the war at the time? If it was
him, the General, then it is doubtful that he had the need
to seek permission to take his forces all the way to Nafusa,
after having lost hope doing his job along the Brega Highway!
Mahmoud Jibril later stated how the Qatari chief of the
army was coordinating their final moves via strange 'requests' (dailymotion.com/swf/video/xq31xh).
In this interview, he says he was asked twice by Qatar's
chief of the army to postpone the rebels' attack on the capital,
because the forces implementing the zone did not want to
bomb the targets due to fear of inflicting heavy civilian
casualties. But Jibril was puzzled to discover that 25 of
the 28 scheduled targets were already bombed when the rebel
forces arrived in the capital. He says it is "strange" that
the UN-authorised forces asked for the Tripoli Operation
to be postponed, twice, only for them to bomb the targets
later.
Mahmoud Jibril also said that originally the storming of
Tripoli was scheduled for July 2011 [(when the general was
still alive)], but after the shipment of weapons (that was
sent by Qatar) had disappeared somewhere in Libya, the operation
was postponed. These strange decisions, he says, may indicate
that the forces implementing the no-fly zone may had
favoured "other groups" to take Tripoli
(presumably other than the rebel forces assigned by the NTC);
or maybe for "other reasons", he added.
Press
Release 15: NTC's early statement regarding the assassination
of Abdelfattah Younis.
Updates
Update: November 2011
However, on the 28th of November 2011 the NTC had finally announced that
the chief suspect named by NTC's chief military prosecutor
Yussef Al-Aseifr was Ali Abdulaziz Saad
El-Essawi (then NTC's interim Deputy Prime Minister),
and that only three of these suspects were (then) arrested.
At the time of the assassination, according to the above-linked
interview, the Prime Minister was in Sudan – whose president
is wanted by the ICC for war crimes against humanity, just
as Gaddafi was then. Essawi denied involvement in the assassination
of General Abdul Fattah Younis, and told Libya Awalen he
never signed any decision relating to Abdul Fattah Younis.
Update: June 2012
With the wars and the chaos that followed the presumed liberation,
Younis's file appeared to have been resided to the shelves
of history. But then on the 12 of June 2012 Libya Herald
reported that:
"Jumaa Obaidi Al-Jazawi, the former military
prosecutor who ordered the arrest of assassinated former
Chief of Staff, Major-General Abdel-Fattah Younis, was
himself assassinated in Benghazi this evening . . . He
was shot in the heart and died instantly . . . There
were at least two previous attempts to kill him . . .
At the time of the March attack, his oldest
son, Ali, said Jazawi had survived two earlier assassination
attempts. Jazawi’s brother, Rajab, also reportedly survived
an assassination attempt after his name was listed amongst
suspects accused of killing Younis. Jazawi worked under
Ali Essawi, who served as interim deputy prime minister
until he and a number of other ministers were sacked
last August. Al-Jawzi was allegedly ordered by Essawi
to arrest general Younis. Essawi denied any involvement."
The 'motives' for such a brutal crime seem to have been
obscured in the background by the intermittent debate over
who could the executioner be? With the suspect executioner
being executed himself, the enquiry is brought to its 'sure
dead end'. Typical of any similar operation, the people 'may'
or 'ought' never know.
Transitional Prime Minister reveals a "power
that is higher than the Government" of Libya, but refuses
to name it.
Speaking to the newly-elected members of the GNC regarding
defence matters, the PM said there is "a higher authority" that
had prevented his government from implementing some of their "decisions".
When he attempted to continue, the Acting President of Libya,
Dr. Magarief , asked him: "who
is this power?" The PM pushed the microphone
away, then turned towards the microphone and said: "a
power that is higher than the government". From
the principle of "transparency" Dr. Magarief politely
requested from him, again, to name this "authority": "please
name this power". But the PM dismissed the President's
request by repeating: "it is the power that is higher
than the government". The President kindly replied: "thayeb" ('Okay').
Dr. Magarief was later forced to resign after the GNC was
reportedly forced to approve the controversial Law 13 (the
isolation law). Some political parties said the law was passed
by the gun (see GNC for more on this).
The First Anniversary of the assassination of General Abdul Fattah Younis
On Saturday the 28th of July 2012, protesters burnt the
Qatari flag outside Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi. The Libyan
Observatory for Human Rights (المرصد الليبى لحقوق الإنسان
- mrsdlibya.ly/) has called for a 'special court' to investigate
the assassination of General Abdul Fattah Younis and his
two colleagues, and to bring to justice everyone involved
in the 'operation'. The Observatory also said Younis'
assassination is a big 'conspiracy' against Libya and a service
to the enemies of the revolution (مؤامرة على الوطن،
وخدمة لأعداء الثورة); and that the NTC is largely to blame
for their lack of immediate response to resolve the issue
and for their apparent delay in dealing with resolving the
issue. The assassination of al-Jazawi may signal a new wave
in which 'assassination' may become the new dominant culture
and justice in the absence of the law, the Observatory said
(qurynanew.com/39259).
Update: 07 November 2012
According to Reuters,
"A Libyan court on Wednesday ordered Mustafa
Abdel Jalil . . . to be questioned by military prosecutors
over the killing of the insurgents' top field commander
. . . Eleven men, including a former deputy premier in
the National Transition Council . . . have been charged
in connection with Younes's murder but only one has been
arrested. "The court demands the referral of Mustafa
Abdel Jalil, former head of the NTC, to military prosecution
for investigation in the case of Abdel Fattah Younes," Judge
Abdullah al-Saidi said at a hearing for the accused.
Jubilation broke out in the courtroom and about 100 people
celebrated outside . . ." Source: reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/libya-court-idUSL5E8M7BAV20121107
Update: 17 December 2012
On the 16th of December 2012 Libya Herald reported that
they were informed by a "military prosecutor in
Benghazi" that Mustafa Abdul Jalil will stand trial
in connection with the assassination of Abdulfattah Younis;
and that "Jalil had been charged with two separate
offences, Misuse of Powers and Committing Acts that Would
Harm Libyan Unity" (Libya Herald, article: /2012/12/16/abdul-jalil-will-stand-trial-very-soon-in-connection-with-younis-murder/).
Apparently, the misuse of power is a reference to defector
Abduljalil's creation of the committee that had ordered the
arrest of Abdulfattah Younis; and the latter charge is based
on the fact that the decision to arrest Abdulfattah Younis
could have created a "tribal war".
Update: 19 December 2012
Coming just three days after the above update, the Libyan
News Agency (lana-news.ly/ar/art.php?a=31240) reported that
the Military Court of Benghazi had announced that it will
no longer investigate the murder of Abdulfattah Younis, and
that the case will be passed to the "High Commission
for Military Justice (الهيئة العامة للقضاء العسكري)".
It is not known if the decision is related to the recent
protests in support of Abduljalil or not, but according to
Libya Herald the Justice Minister is planning to amend
the old law that allows "civilians to be tried in
military courts", and that the minister had said
that “Abdul Jalil is a civilian and the new law will
apply to him.” When Libya Herald asked the Prime Minister
Ali Zidan, his reply was that the law is still a proposal
at this stage
(Libya Herald, article: /2012/12/19/no-more-trials-for-civilians-in-military-court-jalil-included-says-justice-minister/).
Update: 24 December 2012
Mr. Abduljalil confirms the above two charges he was faced
with, and gives his views about the early transitional period,
about Gaddafi's proposal to divide Libya, and about the assassination
of Abdulfattah Younis. Regarding the date of his next appearance
before the court, namely the 20th of February 2013, he said
that the decision must be approved by the judicial authority
before it becomes legally bound, and that once the law is
issued by the judicial authority he has no objection to abiding
by. In relation to the poor performance of prime minister
el-Keib's cabinet, and the present government too, Mr.
Abduljalil revealed that there were difficulties faced
by these governments, and that power was, as it is today,
with those who carry guns.
Update: 20 February 2013
Benghazi: the "military judge" Suleiman Arramli,
head of the authority responsible for investigating the assassination
of Abdulfattah Younis, has decided on the 20th of February
to postpone the session until the 14th of March 2013
(lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/14782/ [تأجيل النظر في قضية مقتل اللواء
عبد الفتاح يونس إلى الرابع عشر من شهر مارس القادم]).
Update: 14 March 2013
on the 14th of March 2013, the permanent military court
in Benghazi has ruled it had no jurisdiction in the case
of Abdulfattah Younis, and that it had referred the case
to the Attorney General; thereby bringing the case back to
square one - just like Libya itself.
The session was chaired by judge Suleiman Arramli. The court
announced its decision before the presence of one defendant,
Mr. Salem Mohammed Miftah, and in absentia against the following
defendants:
Ali Abdul Aziz Saleh al-Issawi
Muhammad Faraj Awad
Akil Rashid Rakha
Abdul Hakim key Mhammed
Faraj Milad Ahmed Almqsbi
Muhammad Faraj Mahmoud Bin Hamid
Abdel Fattah Ali Absekri Almsheeti
Mustafa Mohammed Suleiman Arroba
Yousef Mohiuddin Ramadan Almjberi
Mohi Mohammad Kamal Almjberi
Jumaa Hasen Fdeil Aljazwi
Rajab Hasen Fdeil Aljazwi
Sources:
lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/16743/ (المحكمة العسكرية الدائمة ببنغازي
تصدر حكمها بعدم الاختصاص في قضية اغتيال الفريق عبد الفتاح يونس)
qurynanew.com/50068
Alnadouri implicates Qatar in the assassination of Abdulfattah Younis
Update: 13 June 2017
A few days after Saudi Arabia and Egypt accused Qatar of sponsoring
terror in the region, the
Chief of Staff of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Colonel Abdul Razzaq
Alnadouri, revealed to Sky News that Qatar is implicated in the assassination
of Abdulfattah Younis (- الناظوري: قطر متورطة في اغتيال رئيس الأركان
السابق عبد الفتاح يونس عام 2011). He said that in 2011 they thought
their Arab friends stood with them to topple Gaddafi, but three months
later they discovered acts of betrayal and that they did not realise
Qatar was the main sponsor of these events only later. The first act
of betrayal, he added, was the assassination of Abdulfattah Younis.
Apparently the Qatari chief of staff (رئيس الأركان القطري حمد
بن علي العطية) was visiting Libya during the UN bombing campaign and
made contacts with members of the Muslim Brotherhood without visiting
the office of the commander of the Libyan army (Abdulfattah Younis),
and that when Abdulfattah Younis asked the Qatari chief about the reason
visiting Libya without his permission he was murdered a month later.
He adds that after the murder of Qaddafi Qatar
began sponsoring all the terror organisations in Libya and that after
2014 began sponsoring terror directly and in the open, with their planes landing
in Metiga and Mesratha airports
[ https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AyAJZppHHJI
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/_G_uP5w78ok ].
Update: March 2018:
Mustafa Abdul Jalil reveals the killers of Abdulfattah Younis.
For details and full interview please see the Conclusion
tab.
Chief of Staff No. 2
(2)
Chief of Staff Major-General Khalifa Belgasim
Haftar
November 2011:
In November 2011 Major General Khalifa Belgasim Haftar was
nominated chief of staff, with some opposition from some
brigades. He was reported to have had some kind of disagreement
with Abdul Fattah Younis early on during the war. Major General
Haftar defected from Gaddafi's government in the 1990s, after
the Chad War, before he fled to the United States and settled
in Virginia. He returned early on to take part in the uprising.
Some sources speak of his relation with the CIA, but no official
sources can be found to validate the claims.
General Heftir (Haftar) has survived an assassination attempt, Aljazeera
reported on the 11th of December 2011
(aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/12/20111210181815984513.html):
"Heftir's vehicle was shot at while on the way
to airport in the capital Tripoli on Saturday morning.
Two vehicles had been waiting for the top military officer's
convoy under a bridge, and opened fire as it passed.
Sergeant Abdul-Razil al-Shibahy, a military spokesman,
said that no one in the convoy was harmed and that soldiers
arrested the two gunmen, who are in military custody
for questioning. It was unclear who the two men were
affiliated with."
In a separate incident on the same day, a gunfight took
place near Tripoli's international airport between a group
of former rebels from the Zintan brigade (the guardians of
the airport) and soldiers who claimed to be from the Libyan
national army, when the latter attempted to take control
of the airport. The fight took place at a checkpoint close
to the airport, with no serious consequences reported, except
perhaps the discovery of the stolen Berber archaeological
treasure, found in a sack in one of the vehicles belonging
to the defeated unit that attempted to head for the airport.
Soon afterwards, the general was replaced by commander-in-chief
number 3. It is not known why he was replaced so soon. As
noted earlier, the assassination of Abdulfattah Younis may
have been related to those who opposed the formation of the "Free
Libya Army" for post-Gaddafi Libya. In an interview
with Alwatan, General Khalifa Haftar did confirm
such relation, by stating that after the victory of the revolutionaries
the Libyan leadership was not oriented towards building a "Libyan
army", but to the contrary the leadership was distancing
all the qualified military leadership from the revolutionary,
and instead substituting them with those revolutionaries
and civilians who had no military experience. [This would
appear to add a third charge to the above stated two charges.]
He then continues to say that this is a "fatal error",
if not a "trick" (خدعة), created
by some political leaders who could have had other "agendas" to
serve "some foreign countries". The following
section from the interview details the General's answer regarding
this matter:
Question:
سيادة اللواء/ في رأيك لماذا تأخر قيام الجيش (القوات المسلحة)
إلى حد الآن رغم أهميته في تأسيس وبناء الدولة؟
Why in your opinion the formation of the Libyan army was
delayed to this day despite its importance to building the
country?
Answer: (summarised above):
نرجع ونقول الذي حدث بعد
انتصار الثورة وإعلان التحرير للأسف كان غير موجه نحو التفكير
في بناء جيش وطني بل كان على عكس ذلك فقد استبعدت كل القيادات
العسكرية المؤهلة والمحترفة والقادرة من الثوار ليتولوا غيرهم
من المدنيين أو الثوار الغير مؤهلين هذه المهمة وهذا خطأ
فادح وخدعة من السياسيين الذين قد تكون
لديهم اجندات تنفذ لصالح بعض الدول الأجنبية التي لها أطماع
خاصة في ليبيا، ولا أنكر بأن بعض الثوار انساقوا وراء
تلك الخدعة المضللة وساهموا بشكل أو آخر في عدم إعادة بناء
القوات المسلحة النظامية بتكوين الكتائب والمليشيات المسلحة
والسيطرة على السلاح وعدم ارجاعه. إذاّ الحاجة أمست ضرورية
لإعادة بناء القوات المسلحة بشكل سريع ليضمن أهداف الثورة
وللقيام بمهامه الرئيسية. الذي يطمئن في الفترة الأخيرة أن
هناك مطالبة شعبية كبيرة بإعادة بناء الجيش وهذا يدل على
ارتفاع حالة الوعي لدى المواطن باعتبار الجيش يمثل الضامن
الوحيد للاستقرار وهيبة الدولة. وبهذه المناسبة ندعو كل الضباط
والجنود بالرجوع إلى معسكراتهم والقيام بواجبهم الوطني ومساعدة
قيادة الأركان على القيام بمهامها في التسرع بعملية بناء
الجيش فهم إلى جانب وطنيتهم أصحاب خبرة في التنظيم والإدارة
وعلى المسئولين في الحكومة القادمة تخصيص الإمكانيات اللازمة
لذلك
Source: read the full interview with General Haftar at:
alwatan-libya.com/more-23069-31-حفتر للوطن الليبية : مسؤولين
يتعمدون عرقلة بناء الجيش الليبي خدمةً لأجندة تنفذ لصالح
بعض الدول الأجنبية
The General had also stated the same view in another interview
at: qurynanew.com/39348
On the 29th of July 2012, Major General
Khalifa Haftar has survived a second assassination attempt
in Benghazi. General Younis was assassinated on the 28th
of July 2011! According to (alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/30/229190.html),
the General's car was shot at as he was driving home. Alarabiya
also said that the General had denied that the attempt
on his life had anything to do with the assassination of
General Younis, and that he blames Gaddafi's loyalists instead.
Chief of Staff No. 3
(3)
Chief of Staff Major-General Yousef
al-Manqoush
03/01/2012:
The NTC named Yousef al-Manqoush (Mangoush) as the new commander-in-chief
of the Libyan National Army. The third commander in less
than six months. He was appointed the Chief of the Libyan
Army on the 3rd of January 2012. His tough job, presumably,
is to create this army from scratch.
Overall, the chief of the Libyan army says progress is
being made and the issue will be eventually resolved in the
coming months. Six months later and still there is no sign
of the army, and still there is no sign of the militias being
disarmed.
However, the Libyan army and intelligence chiefs have
another job to scratch, and that is the emergence of 'mystery
cells', seemingly responsible for most of the terror
attacks, and the assassination waves currently plighting
Eastern Libya.
The odyssey continues to unfold with yet more events to
prevent; and going by mythology, brave Odysseus must visit "hell"
itself, and the Berber Amazons too, before he would eventually
recover the occupied throne.
It was widely reported by Libyans during the first few months
of 2012 that the NTC is issuing "licenses" to
registered militias – the armed groups that have registered
with the Ministry of Defence to operate under the approval
of the NTC; apparently with the aim of integrating these
registered units into either the national army or the police
force. Additionally, militia members were offered the option
to study, if they do not wish to join the army or the police.
One NTC member said that even the option of "buying
back" the weapons for "good sums of money" is
available (see february17.htm for
more).
The Chief of the Libyan Army, Yousef al-Manqoush, was reported
to have said that nearly 12,000
"NTC fighters" (also known as "rebels" or "revolutionaries"
or even "unarmed civilians" before the
war) will join the Libyan army; 5,000 of whom were already
part of the Libyan army at the time. Now, that is one brick
in the wall.
Manqoush Resigns:
On the 4th of June 2013, Libyan media reported the rumours
that the GNC is to replace Yousef al-Manqoush. However, on
the 9th of June LANA has confirmed that the GNC has "accepted" the
resignation of chief of staff Major-General Yousef al-Manqoush.
The resignation came after 31 Libyans were killed and 127
were injured on the previous day (08/06/2013) in Benghazi
in clashes between "protesters" and government
forces loyal to Libya Shield. The protesters were demonstrating
outside the headquarters of the First Brigade of the Libya
Shield Forces (Dera' 1), demanding the force be dismantled.
However, Libya Herald revealed that Mr. Manqoush had announced
that four Shield Brigades, still operating in Benghazi, "would
become army units"
[*]. One of these four brigades, apparently (according to
the same source), was under the direct command of chief Yousef
al-Manqoush, and that this brigade: "is locally
viewed as pro-Islamist and anti-federalist", and
that its presence in Kufra has,
"contributed to the violence there and it was withdrawn
following demands by Tebus" [*].
The names of these four militias (that ought to have been
integrated into the army long time ago) are (as given by
Libya Herald):
Chief of Staff Number 4: Major-General Abdulsalam
Jadallah al-Salheen al-Obeidi
(رئيس الأركان العامة للجيش الليبي اللواء ركن عبدالسلام العبيدي)
29/07/2013:
According to the website of the Ministry of Defence [6],
Colonel Abdulsalam Jadallah al-Obeidi was appointed Chief
of Staff of the Libyan National Army on the 29th of July 2013. On
the previous day, many Libyans commemorated the death of
chief of staff number one on the 28th of July 2013 –
the second anniversary of Abdul-Fattah al-Obeidi's death.
An inauguration ceremony was held on Tuesday, the 30th of
July 2013, at the GNC's presidency office; where the President
of the GNC, Mr. Nuri Abusahmain, congratulated the new chief
and wished him the best of luck for building "the
military institution" [1].
Colonel Obeidi was born in 1960 in Qubba (مدينة القبة).
He graduated from Tripoli's military college with a master's
degree in military science. Colonel Obeidi was a "field
commander" of the rebel forces of the Eastern Region
during the liberation war. General Obeidi said the time has
come to build a "unified national army" to
protect the country and defend its legitimacy. [One would
presume the time had arrived long time ago.] The General
also said that he is confident in the capabilities of his
military colleagues to build "this new army" with
a new
"mentality based on allegiance to God and loyalty
to the Homeland". According to Solidarity Press [2],
a number of army officers had objected to the new appointment, stating
that although the chief is loyal and patriotic, he lacks "leadership";
adding that the GNC's decision to substitute a Major-General
with a Colonel was "disappointing" – in
reference to the fact that Mr. Abdulsalam al-Obeidi is a "colonel". However,
this no longer appears to be the case because the Ministry
of Defence also said (in the same announcement [1]) that
Colonel al-Obeidi has been "exceptionally" promoted
to the rank of Major-General by Law (70/2013), issued
by the General National Congress (the GNC)! On the 27th of June 2013,
the defence minister, Mr. Mohammed Barghathi, was dismissed by the
prime minister [3] – seemingly for not doing enough to prevent the
latest wave of violence that hit several cities including Benghazi
and the capital Tripoli. On the following day, the 28th of June 2013,
the Acting Chief of Staff Salem Gnaidi contradicted the statement
made by the prime minister Zidan (in that the army had received
sufficient cash to enable it to do its job – to intervene
in the violent clashes taking place between militias in the
streets of the capital). Prime Minister Zidan was reported
to have said the army had received "some LD2.5 billion" in
2013, and that nearly "LD7 billion" had
been given "between 2012 and now" [4].
One week later, Mr. Gnaidi had survived an assassination
attempt when the vehicle in which he was travelling came
under a barrage of fire from "unknown" gunmen [8]. On the
other hand, Solidarity Press reported [7] that Zidan's request for
300 million dinars from the GNC for the "Border
Guards" was met with
"opposition" from many GNC members, despite the
GNC's attempt to pass the request. The objection may appear "strange",
given the current chaos by the borders, but some GNC members
said there was no apparent mechanism for how such large sum
would be spent, and more important, it is not known
which government institution the administration of the "Border
Guards" belongs to [7]!
Libya Herald also said that Mr. Gnaidi said that "it
was the General National Congress and not the Council
of Ministers that had the responsibility of appointing
the new army chief of staff"; while two weeks
later the same source added that, “The government
of Ali Zeidan does not want a national army,” said Gnaidi,
speaking yesterday on Libya Awalan TV station. He said
that instead it was trying to build up a new body parallel
to the army, called the National Guard" [5].
Major-General Obeidi Sacked By The
HoR:
Major-General Abdulsalam al-Obeidi was sacked by the newly
elected House of Representatives on the 23rd of August 2014,
reportedly after he was found responsible for arming and funding
Islamist militias and brigades during his reign. The Deputy
Minister of Defence, Mr. Khaled Alsharif (خالد الشريف), reportedly
a member of the Islamic LIFG fighting group (still listed as
a terrorist organisation by the British Home Office) was also
sacked by the caretaker prime minister Mr. Althni. Mr. Alsharif reportedly
was implicated in the so-called "Libya Dawn Operation",
which the new House of Representatives declared as a terrorist
organisation currently shelling targets in Tripoli - strangely
enough they began their shelling campaign just a few days before
announcing the HoR election results. The decision came 13 days after
the Chief of Staff was recalled by the HoR to Tobruk to brief the new
parliament on the latest developments regarding the armed clashes in
Tripoli and Benghazi. According to the HoR's social media page, General
Obeidi revealed that the Libyan army is about to collapse (الجيش
الليبي على وشك الانهيار), and that he has no control over
the run-away militias involved in the clashes in Tripoli
and Benghazi. He said those militias do not belong to his
army and therefore he is incapable of issuing orders to ceasefire
in Tripoli and Benghazi (عاجز عن إصدار أوامره بوقف إطلاق
النار بطرابلس وبنغازي، وأن القوات المهاجمة لا تتبعه).
lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/28263/ (نجاة رئيس الأركان السابق المكلف
بالجيش الليبي اللواء سالم القنيدي من عملية إطلاق نار تعرض لها)
Chief of Staff No. 5
(5) (Tobruk)
Photo source: http://www.hor.ly/
Chief of Staff Number 5: Colonel Abdul
Razzaq Alnadouri
(رئيس الأركان العامة اللواء عبدالرازق الناظوري)
23/08/2014:
The House of Representatives has elected Colonel Abdul Razzaq
Alnadouri Chief of Staff number 5. He was promoted to the
rank of "Major-General" (اللواء)
after he was voted by 88 representatives (out of 124 present
representatives) (www.hor.ly/index.php/ct-menu-item-12/ct-menu-item-14/184-2014-08-24-17-51-34).
Colonel Alnadouri is from the town of Merj in Cyrenaica.
He was the commander of Benghazi's Alawfiya Militia
(أمر كتيبة الأوفياء). Alawfiya was accused by the
SSC (the Supreme Security Committee - اللجنة الأمنية
العليا) in 2012 of being loyal to Gaddafi - an accusation
strongly denied by Alnadouri in his interview with Libya.tv
(https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uzKUvMsfIW0). It was later
reported that the accusation was part of the conspiracy to
prevent Libya from having an army. The SSC itself was reported
to have been involved in a number of controversial operations
in which they had the authority to arrest, detain and interrogate
suspects just like Gaddafi's "Revolutionary Committees" were;
ultimately leading to the SSC being disbanded by the transitional
government.
Alawfiya militia was formed in Benghazi from fighters from
various Cyrenaican towns. The militia was involved in fighting
Gaddafi's units in Misrata, Tarhouna and Bani Walid. After
the premature liberation of Libya, they were the first militia
in Libya authorised by the NTC to guard Tripoli Airport;
but after they arrived they discovered Zintani brigades were
already in place to secure the airport. After establishing
their barracks in Tarhouna, apparently guarding a government
weapons storage facility, Alawfiya changed their name to
Militia 124 Battalion.
He was reported to have been the first to join Haftar's
Dignity Battle against Islamists and terror groups in Cyrenaica,
where he became the First Deputy Major-General for Khalifa
Haftar (المساعد الاول للواء الركن خليفه حفتر ). It was also
reported that Alnadouri's son was among the first to die
in the war declared by the leaders of Dignity Operation.
However, according to LANA, military leaders loyal to the
Libyan army in Tripoli (and to the defunct GNC) have rejected
the decision of the House of Representatives amd instead
they declared their support for their chief of staff number
4, Major-General Abdulsalam al-Obeidi. They have also rejected
all decisions coming from the elected government in Tobruk
(lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/58525/ (قيادات الجيش الليبي التابعة لرئاسة الأركان العامة تجدد رفضها جر المؤسسة العسكرية للدخول في التجاذبات السياسية)
With the GNC deciding to continue its sessions in Tripoli,
the stage on Libya is set for a grand confrontation between
two governments: the elected House of Representatives
(operating from Tobruk for security and safety reasons) and defunct GNC
(operating from Tripoli).
مقابلة خاصة مع رئيس الأركان العامة اللواء عبدالرازق الناظوري تحاوره فاتن اللامي
Libya's Channel's interview with Chief of Staff Major-General Abdul Razzaq Alnadouri - 26 December 2016
(5) (Tripoli)
Tripoli's Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army: Mhemmed Alhaddad
رئيس أركان الجيش الليبي الفريق أول ركن محمد الحداد
General Commander of the Libyan Army (Tobruk)
Photo
source: official Twitter page: https://twitter.com/kalifahaftar
General Commander of The Libyan National Army:
Khalifa Belgasim Haftar
March 2015
On
March 2015 Major General Khalifa Belgasim Haftar was appointed
by the elected House of Representative the General Commander of the
Libyan National Army. On the 29th of March 2015 he was sworn
the commander in chief of the Libyan Army before the members of the
House of Representatives in Tobruk's naval base. In order to take the
job General Haftar had been promoted to "lieutenant general" (الفريق
أول). Previously, in November 2011, he was appointed
Chief of Staff (see above) by the NTC, but his assignment did not last
long.
Before his appointment Haftar
declared war on the terrorist organisations and militia groups that
began terrorising Cyrenaica immediately after the UN's bombing campaign
came to an end. In a
statement to Libya Alrasmeya Lieutenant-General haftar said the UN
Security Council (and its influential members) still refusing to arm
the Libyan army in its war against terror (http://libya-alrasmeya.com/Articles/2015/05/18/حفتر-مجلس-الامن-رفض-تسليح-الجيش-بهدف-التدخل-في-شوون-ليبيا).
Khalifa Haftar was the commander of the Dignity Battle which
he declared on May 2014 to free Benghazi of radical terror and outlaw
militias. Reportedly 80% of the dignity army is made of regular soldiers
from the Libyan Special Forces, and a number of other brigades and militias
including Tanks 204 (كتيبة الدبابات 204),
Militia 21 (كتيبة 21), Militia 115 (كتيبة 115), Militia 165 (كتيبة
165), Militia 309 (كتيبة 309), Militia 122 (كتيبة 122), and other irregular
forces such as the force from Bersis Checkpoint. The
aim of the Dignity Battle is to put an end to the long wave of assassinations
and bombings plighting Benghazi ever since the UN's bombing campaign was ended
(allegedly) with success.
General Haftar said the Dignity Battle will
take between 4 months and one year to complete. On the 15th of October 2014
the Dignity army declared its second operation to liberate Benghazi in which
the army urged people to participate. General Haftar said he will resign
after liberating Benghazi and handover command of the operation to the Chief
of Staff; while the military commander of the Cyrenaican Military Area, Col.
Faraj Albarasi, said they will head for Derna after liberating Benghazi - a
city which he said was turned into a "big prison" by radical groups.
More than a year later there was no sign of the battle coming to an
end, while more Libyan areas fell to radicalism as time went by and as the
typhoon moved on towards its next target - seemingly Arabia & Iran. All
in all it looks like Haftar has likewise other regional leaders had swallowed
the same bait the NTC and the GNC had swallowed before him.
Any smart leadership, UN-authorised or otherwise, ought to realise that
violence of any kind can never be the answer.
General Haftar Promoted
ترقية القائد العام للقوات المسلحة الليبية الفريق ركن خليفة بلقاسم حفتر إلى
رتبة مشير
On the 14th of September 2016 the HoR has promoted
General Khalifa Haftar to the rank of "Field
Marshal" [http://www.libyan-parliament.org/القائد-الأعلى-للقوات-المسلحة-يرقي-الق/].
This took place after the victories achieved by the Libyan National Army against
the outlaw militias that were controlling the petroleum crescent for some years.
Commanders of the Libyan Armed Forces (Tobruk).
Update 14 January 2016:
The UN-imposed presidential council of the GNA was reported to have began
showing signs of disagreement over the fate of Khalifa Haftar. Some council
members say the general must stay the head of the army, while other members
say the political agreement stipulates that all the army positions must be
vacated. A few days later the GNA issued a statement
praising the Libyan army in its fight against terror. However the press
statement was ambiguous because it did not specifically mention the HoR
nor the name of Khalifa Haftar, and all it said is that "they recognise
the heroic role of the Libyan Armed Forces in challenging terror".
This could refer to any Libyan
army regardless of its leadership and regardless of whether it belongs
to the HoR, the GNC, the GNA or the UN. It could also indicate that Haftar may
well be excused of his duties in the forthcoming government. Many HoR members
have been for months calling for specific guarantees that the leadership of
the Libyan army remains as it is, but so far no specific response was made public.
Amazigh Council Calls Haftar's Army A Terrorist Militia
حديث المشير حفتر عن الأمازيغ و تسمية الجيش الليبي و علاقته بهم
Haftar defends the use of name "Arab" in the name "Libyan National
Arab
Army"
Interview aired on France 24 TV Channel, Paris,
27/7/2017.
In response to Haftar's statement in that the word "Arab"
was added to the name "Libyan National Army" (LNA) because the
majority of Libyans are Arabs, the SCAL called the LNA a terrorist
militia that does not represent all the Libyan people. In fact
General Haftar did not make sense when he said (in the above video)
he did not hear any opposition to such name. The name "Arab" was
added shortly after the elected HoR fled to Tobruk and the true agenda
of the so-called elected parliament began to surface. Hence, many institutions
worldwide still refer to the Libyan army by its usual name: Libyan National
Army (LNA).
The problem with Haftar's view is that there are many Berber and
Tebu officers, soldiers and militias serving in the Libyan army and therefore
to call it an Arab army is incorrect regardless of its racist or political
connotations. Imagine adding the word "Arab" to every other government
department and institution in Libya! For example: the Central Arab Bank of
Libya (CABL), instead of the current CBL.
Or the "Arab State of Libya", instead of "State of Libya", which previously was known as "Libya". Adding the word "State" (which was added by the GNC) indicates an Islamic State (IS).
The Supreme Commander Of The Libyan Army
The Joint Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army
(from left to right): Mr. Lemnefi, Mr. Allafi, and Mr. Alkouni.
Previously the post of the supreme commander of the Libyan army was contested by the HoR's president, Mr. Saleh, and the UN-imposed PC's president, Mr. Sarraj; both of whom claimed to be the supreme commander. From the 5th of February 2021, the sensitive post is held jointly by the three members of the restructured Presidency Council (PC), as stated by the results agreed on by the members of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Tunis. All decisions must be agreed by the three members of the PC, and no one has the right to take any decision, whatsoever, without agreeing with the other two members of the PC. The following interview with Mr. Allafi, a member of the new PC, clarifies the issue.
Mr. Abdulla Allafi clarifies the issue of the supreme commander of the Libyan army
5+5 JMC
5+5JMC
5+5 Joint Military Commission (5+5JMC):
the 5+5 is a joint military commission between Tripoli's government and Tobruk's. After a series of talks in Sirte the JMC agreed on a number of steps, the most important of which include:
To reopen the coastal road and remove foreign fighters.
Opening of flights throughout the country.
Full resumption of oil production.
Arrangements for the withdrawal of foreign forces.
Permanent ceasefire steps agreed at Ghadames meeting. The ceasefire agreement was signed in Geneva on the 23rd October 2020.
All foreign mercenaries and forces must leave Libya "immediately" (16/03/2021)
شددت اللجنة العسكرية المشتركة 5+5 على ضرورة استمرار الجهود لإخراج المرتزقة والمقاتلين الاجانب فورا . وطالبت اللجنة في بيانها الختامي عقب اجتماعاتها اليوم بسرت ، مجلس الامن والدول المتابعة لمخرجات مؤتمر برلين بالزام الدول التابعين لها المرتزقة والمقاتلين الاجانب بسحبهم فورا من الاراضي الليبية .
[https://lana-news.ly/art.php?id=194453]
فورا
Part Two: Militarisation?
Future Repercussions of Segregation And Militarisation of
Libya Without An Army
From the early days of the installed NTC and ever since
premature liberation was declared, Libyan officials mysteriously "found" themselves
locked against each other and against the people they came
to represent; openly contradicting the principles of the "February
Revolution"; and needlessly segregating (free)
Libyans into countless groups, such as true-revolutionaries,
pretend-revolutionaries, federalists, Berber separatists,
armed outlaws, persecuted Tebu, Gaddafi's loyalists, escaped
criminals, border traffickers, foreign radicals, imported
Salafists, NTC forces, shield revolutionaries, armed militias
and mercenaries, as well as the new "mystery cells" (the unknowns)
reportedly created by the "Arab Spring".
Dividing Libya into nearly 400
"political entities" (or parties) while
war was going on is a violation of common sense. Many of
these big parties that went on to win many seats in the hijacked
and deeply-divided con-gress (GNC) are now widely reported
to have contributed to the failure, leading to the largest
two blocks to freeze their activity at the GNC, as well as
to their offices being attacked and vandalised by mystery
protesters. Still worse, religious "coalition blocks" were
formed inside the GNC itself, dividing the national congress
at heart (where it hurts). According to former NTC member
Mr. Ahmed al-Abbar (Libya.tv; 08/04/2013, at 14:23), such
groups appearing inside the GNC are illegal and violate the
conditions stipulated by the Constitutional Declaration regarding
both: parties and independents.
With the Libyan Army out of the way, having been completely
pulverised on orders from the UN in 2011, and with some still
throwing more spanners in the work (seemingly full speed
ahead), the classification of people by tribe or party loyalty;
dividing the country into military zones and countless political
parties; the creation of "secret dungeons" to
deal with those who worked for the old regime; and establishing
special forces to protect those who are now working for the
new regime can all lead to damaging Libya's reputation and
stability, if not provide the catalyst for future conflicts
to flourish between the alleged "weak government" and
the so-called "powerful militias".
In an early attempt to bring the myriad of [created] militias
under the umbrella of government control, the NTC was reported
during the first few months of 2012 to have issued "licenses" to
registered militias – the rebel groups that registered with
the Ministry of Defence to operate under the approval of
the NTC.
Later it emerged that the GNC was paying "religious"
militias instead of re-building the destroyed army, and even
created the $700 million militia called the Libyan Revolutionaries
Operations Room (LROR). One of the first jobs LROR did was
to kidnap the Prime Minister Ali Zidan, before they began
blasting the liberal Zintani forces then protecting Tripoli
Airport.
Many Libyans had objected to such bizarre and dangerous
policies, with eyes wide open, and condemned the government's
lack of power to state authority, or even guard Libya's fragile
borders, catastrophically abused by "anyone" including
criminals, terrorists and mystery men from far afield; just
as they repeatedly complained about the officialisation of
militias, stating that such loosing strategies will encourage
the creation of militia culture –
just as the controversial cash reward had increased the number
of pretend-revolutionaries during the early months
of liberation.
Nonetheless, registering militias and brigades as 'battalion
units' within the army is not the answer, the Libyans
said, and instead they called for all brigades to join
the army as "individuals"; but seemingly no one
was much interested in what people say, let alone what
they want. Many of these licensed rebel-militias
were assigned to guard land-borders and seaports, only
to sink in cross-border corruption themselves, and leave
the borders in disarray to this day (2014, 2015, 2016, etc.).
Land borders and seaports ought to have been the priority
of the transitional NTC (and their foreign advisors who allegedly were
advising with border security) from day one of liberation, if not before
(as an exit strategy) to protect Libya's sovereignty – just as the
NTC had pledged in its founding manifesto to : "ensure territorial
security".
Despite the removal of the NTC seven months later, and despite
the election of its replacement the GNC, the government seemingly
is yet to deal with "outlaws" (regardless of flavour)
the usual way they are dealt with from around the world,
especially
"at home". They are yet to protect their
own headquarters, they say, let alone the whole of Libya
and the Libyan civilians for which Libya was badly destroyed by the so-called
caring international community. All in all, there are nearly 40 GNC and Local
Council resignations so far, the latest of which being on the 3rd of August
2013, when Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Awad Albarasi was reported
by LANA to have announced his resignation in Benghazi. He
said the sharp decline in security, the lack of an army,
and the fearsome number of assassinations targeting loyal
Libyans came as a result of the policies of the government,
upon favouring "central authority"
to deal with the issues facing Libya today.
The Deputy Prime Minister also said he worked hard towards
building the institutions of the state, especially the army,
the police and the intelligence service, but difficulties
were faced because the government had not given any powers
to the deputy ministers of the interim government; which,
he says, led to the obstruction of all the efforts that have
been made to address the worsening security in Libya and
particularly in Benghazi [ lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/28190/
]. This could suggest that the GNC, which was spending hundreds
of millions on militias, such as Libya Dawn (which later it
used to reinstate itself to power after the election of the HoR), was
not seriously bothered with building an army, otherwise
they would have done so. Perhaps
this is exactly what NTC PM Mahmoud Jibril was hinting at when
he was telling his story about the bombing of Tripoli in late 2011
by the UN-authorised forces and how such forces may have, he said,
favoured other groups to take over Tripoli than the forces designated
by the NTC.
The Clock is Ticking: 2020
(1)
Unfortunately many Libyans can see the odyssey unfold before
their eyes, and for the sake of audacity they protested throughout
the past 20 months or so about Libya slowly slipping down
the slippery slope of "failed states",
on par with Iraq and Afghanistan and many more yet to come. Unfortunately,
despite the repeated cries of Libyans the whole world went silent once
Libya was sent back to the stone age; seemingly only when destruction
is on the menu the UN's morality comes reverberating
with hurtling bombs.
The Libyans
repeatedly spoke of terrorists and imported terror groups wreaking
havoc in Cyrenaica and elsewhere. The Libyans now speak of "resistance
groups" being formed in the south, with some sources
speaking of mergers being struck between the various groups
of the Sahara, reportedly including loyalists, the radicals
pushed out of Mali, and outlaw militias and border traffickers
among other obscure groups; having been blessed by the UN with "Tesco" in
a borderless "Jihadist
Wonderland". The response of the international community
this time round is that there can be no military solution to the
crisis in Libya; leaving the various terror groups taking advantage
of the vacuum they earlier created by their military solution to
the no-crisis in Libya.
There are a number of reports speaking of Salafist "sleeper
cells"
in Tunisia, waiting for the green light; having been heavily
armed by similar Libyan groups during the early months of
liberation. Recent reports from Algeria (July 2013) speak of a group of terrorists escaping from prison in Niger,
on their way to attack Libyan oil installations and other
targets in Mali; consisting of mixed nationalities from the "Signers
With Blood" radical brigade – reportedly responsible
for the recent incident at nearby In Aminas, in which a number
of both hostages and radicals were killed in an Algerian-style
response.
There are also reports coming from Libya regarding the business
of arms export into Niger and Mali for their ultimate destination:
Nigeria and north east Algeria; where Tbessa and Mseila were
said to be among the caravan stations used by traffickers
to smuggle arms from Libya via Tunisia. On the 3rd of August
2013, LANA said Algerian Defence Ministry's forces had confiscated
a consignment of weapons in Djanet (by the Libyan border,
not far from Ghat); and also two 4x4 vehicles loaded with
a variety of guns and munitions nearby. Five days earlier,
Reuters reported seven Tunisian soldiers shot dead by gunmen
by the Algerian border, which the Tunisian authorities later
said they came from Libya. A year later the Algerian authority
discovered a number of tunnels being used to smuggle weapons
into Algeria from stricken Libya.
(2)
The Libyan government did not appear to report
on such matters, nor appeared much bothered by the implications
of the mysterious radicalism claiming the created wonderland;
except perhaps dismissing their neighbours' concerns as
"unfounded claims" or else the acts of released "prisoners" or
"loyalists" who do not wish Libya's return to normality,
if ever. Dismissing democratised Iraq for the time being,
what is happening to pulverised Libya right now may be compared
to how the tragedy began in poor Somalia when North Africa was fast
asleep, when the installed Transitional Federal Government found
itself locked against the ICU, before the latter's splinter
into so many radical groups including al-Shabaab ('The
Youth'); only to plunge Somalia in a 20-year bloody
civil war. Similarly, both the Libyan transitional NTC and
the transitional GNC were blessed with a ruined state, before
they were hurried in a way to face difficulties beyond their
reach, then pressurised to come up with draconian laws, complicated
electoral laws, and unjust declarations and decrees, while
seemingly appearing powerless to effect the essential
services required to run the dilapidated state now known
as "Jihadist Wonderland". After some initial criticism, both
the NTC and the GNC came under attack, labeled "helpless" by
the media, while the militias roamed free to take the law
into their hands, and even forced the government to pass
laws by the gun. Warnings were abundant from the start, but
somehow the government says it is powerless to reverse the
trend and instead urged people to respect the law they do
not have; while the world still goes on about the "democratic
success" imposed on Libya by the damn bomb without an exit
strategy.
(3)
It is such "foreign-coordinated" militias and
heavily-armed groups that may claim to correct
the path of the (failed by design) transitional governments
of Libya by repeating the Somali tragedy on a massive scale,
which may drag Libya together with (still-standing) Algeria
into a decade-long Saharan conflict, the UK now says.
Such groups have in fact started practicing nearly two years
ago, under the governments' eyes (and other top eyes too),
bombing targets on regular basis, assassinating scores of
Libyan officials and army colonels, attacking power stations,
blowing children to pieces, shutting down oil terminals and
installations, selling arms in the open market for radicals
and criminals, robbing banks, flooding Libya with Tramadol
and unchecked immigrants, and seeding corruption and crime
and so many other uprooting acts of terror the "helpless" governments
still cannot even admit, let alone prevent. Such perceived
failure had already prompted the Egyptian Army to declare
a military coup against the democratically installed government
of Morsi on June 2013 – the long-term consequences of which
may repeat the Black Decade massacres of Algeria to eventually
link with Syria and far beyond. Many analysts had already
speculated the fall of more (still-protected) Arabian dictators
to the so-called Arab Spring, with Robert Fisk saying "Qatar
may survive" the hurricane – probably meaning it
will be saved for last!
Conclusion
Update: March 2018:
شهادة عبد الجليل حول خفايا فبراير - الجزء الثاني
Finally, after all these years, NTC leader, Mr. Mustafa Abdul Jalil,
blames the islamists for a number of issues including the assassination
of Abdulfattah Younis. When he was asked by the presenter (at minute
18:15 of the interview) if the islamists were behind the murder of
Abdulfattah Younis, his answer was: "yes".
He also named Abu Obaida Ibn al-Jarrah
Militia to be responsible for
his murder.
The forces authorised by the
UN to bomb Libya were also attacking the units
led by Abdulfattah Younis (as noted above) - an act that eventually
forced the general to decide to leave for Nafousa Mountain from where
he hoped to storm Tripoli.
This led to some Libyans to speculate whether
some Western sources did intend the islamists to take over Libya
(as hinted at above). In fact even in the above video Mr.
Abdul Jalil said (starting at minute 45) that Britain to this day
still protects the Muslim Brotherhood.
This was also hinted at by former
NTC prime minister Mr. Mahmoud Jibril when he said, as noted
earlier,
that the strange decisions of the forces during the bombing campaign may indicate
that the forces implementing the no-fly zone may had favoured "other
groups" to
take control of Tripoli other than the forces authorised by the NTC.
According to Mark Curtis, "Much
of Qatar's support went to the so-called 17 February Brigade, one
of the most influential rebel formations led by Abdel-Hakim Belhaj" [9].
Immediately after the UN bombing campaign was concluded complete
with precision,
the former LIFG leader, Mr. Abd al-Hakim Belhaj, took charge of Tripoli
to become the president of Tripoli
Military Council.
Abd al-Hakim Belhaj is the former commander
of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG: الجماعة الإسلامية المقاتلة
الليبية) — still listed (as
of 2018) by the British Home Office as a "foreign terrorist
organization" [1] that "seeks to replace the current
Libyan regime with a hard-line Islamic state", and which
is "also part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement,
as inspired by Al Qa’ida" [1].
Yet for some other reason
the British support for the LIFG to topple Gaddafi is well documented
by a number of sources including the extraordinary "Secret
Affairs" by Mark Curtis (Islamist Boots On
The Ground, p. 359), in which Curtis explores "Britain's
Collusion With Radical Islam", and in which he invites
readers to
complete the picture.
This means that the subject is far more complicated than what the
media would have us believe. For a start, the UN objective in Libya
clearly is total destruction and the creation of yet more governments
(as of 2018) while leaving them clash against each other and against
the myriad of created militias that infested the country since its
bombing campaign destroyed Libya to a state of no repair — of
course, not in the name of protection, but allegedly in the name of unintentional
mistakes.
The islamist leaders (and their various militias) ought to know that
swallowing the bait of power may well backfire as has on their installed
predecessors, and that their fed-dream of the "State" may
well turn out to be a nightmare in which they (and their masters) will "excel" to
see their entire "nation" (from
ocean to ocean) retired to oblivion; to eventually annihilate each
other. Violence
is not he answer no matter what the UN says or does; it is the bait.
Who is Abu Obaida Ibn al-Jarrah Militia?
Abu Obaida Ibn al-Jarrah Militia (كتيبة أبو عبيدة بن
الجراح), according to Wikipedia, is a "radical
Islamist militia allegedly implicated in the assassination of National
Liberation Army commander-in-chief Abdul Fatah Younis on 28 July 2011" [7].
Wikipedia's source for the information was the Guardian [8] who quoted
a National Transitional Council minister as their source. According
to Libyan Ossan [6], the commander of the brigade, Mr. Ahmed Abu-Khettala
(أحمد محمد بوختالة), and other members of the brigade were implicated
in the murder of Abdul Fatah Younis, who was arrested by the brigade
in Ejdabiyah and later was found dead in the brigade's headquarters
in Benghazi (in the area of Bouhdima: منطقة بوهديمة). However, Abu-Khettala
denied the allegations and said his brigade was infilterated by
others who killed genral Abdulfattah Younis (غير
أن بوختالة نفى تهمة قتله ليونس مفيدا بوقوع اختراق لصفوف كتيبته وقيام
مجهولين بقتل اللواء ورفيقيه) — which is possible, in the light
of everything else.
Ahmed Bou Khettala (أحمد بوختالة )
Commander of Abu Obaida Ibn al-Jarrah Militia
Abducted by US Special Forces from Benghazi in June 2014
In 2012, most of the brigade members joined Ansar Asharia Brigade
[2] — the
brigade that was implicated in the assassination of the US ambassador
during the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi. Ironically,
the American government hired the February 17th Brigade to guard and
protect their mission-office in Benghazi!!! Ahmed Abu-Khettala was
later abducted by American special forces from Benghazi without
permission from the Libyan government [3]. The Libyan government condemned
the attack on Libya's sovereignty and demanded the return of Abu-Khettala
to face trial in Libya [4]. The American ambassador in Libya later
said Abu-Khattala was arrested because he was involved in the attacks
against the American mission-office in Benghazi and that he is planning
further attacks against American targets [5]!!!
?
Didn't the Libyans and
others peacefully uprise against tyranny to implement justice and observe
the rule of law? Violence is not the answer, and will never be the
answer no matter what the UN says or does. All forms of violence
(authorised or radical) can only be a recipe for disaster.
Unfortunately
most people still hope the installed leaders will soon realise that
only they can build the "legal" framework
required to implement law and order amidst the UN-inflicted chaos,
and that fighting terror with more violence is exactly what their enemy
wants from them. On the other hand, being lured to swallow the bait
of "divine
utopia" will
also backfire to destroy the mere hamlets left standing on
the face of tyranny.
National Reconciliation is what your enemy most fears from
you; and only your re-actions can ultimately decide your
fate! No matter how powerful or "smart" the
enemy is, and regardless of who the "anonymous
enemy" is, it is the power of people united that
can halt the final fall, only if they refuse to fight each
other, abandon hate, stop sponsoring violence against each
other, burn all the evil weapons of destruction in a big
bonfire for the world to see, begin the real job of rebuilding
the imposed catastrophic mess, and above all start protecting "theirmost
holy prize" before it is too-late.
Former president of the GNC, Dr. Magarief, spoke of national
reconciliation for good reasons, as he also urged people to "think" before
they act, and "not to be pawns on others' chessboard".
If not, regrettably, both chaos and war may be imposed on the whole
region, including on the majority who love peace; on those who laid
down their arms; on those who think they are still protected; and
also on the peaceful women and children who always suffer the
dire consequences of some "men" who believe
in hell being their only ticket to heaven.
Update: October 2018
السراج يستقبل العيساوي المكلف بوزارة الاقتصاد رغم اتهامه بمقتل اللواء عبدالفتاح يونس
UN-imposed GNA's president appoints Mr. Ali Abdul Aziz Saleh al-Issawi, the main suspect in the murder of General Abdulfattah Younis, as his minister of economy.
Ali al-Issawi
(The main suspect in the assassination of General Abdulfattah Younis)
رغم الجدل الدائر حول تعيين المجلس الرئاسي، علي العيساوي أحد المتهمين في قضية مقتل اللواء عبدالفتاح يونس ورفيقيه وزيرا للاقتصاد، وما أثاره القرار من غضب الشارع خاصة في المنطقة الشرقية استقبل اليوم رئيس المجلس الرئاسي فائز السراج العيساوي في مكتبه وناقش معه عمل الوزارة. الامرالذي اعتبر تجاوزا للقانون وانتهاكا لحرمة الفقيد وأهله ولكافة القبائل وتجاهلا واضحا للمواقف الرافضة للقرار [10]
