Temehu
 
   
  
 
  • Libyan Army
  • 5+5 JMC
  • Notes
  • Conclusion

 

 

The Free Libya Armed Forces

abdelfattah younes


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?

 

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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."

Source: nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/africa/29libya.html

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."

Source: Libya Herald, article: /benghazi-official-linked-to-younis-killing-assassinated/

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:

  1. Ali Abdul Aziz Saleh al-Issawi
  2. Muhammad Faraj Awad
  3. Akil Rashid Rakha
  4. Abdul Hakim key Mhammed
  5. Faraj Milad Ahmed Almqsbi
  6. Muhammad Faraj Mahmoud Bin Hamid
  7. Abdel Fattah Ali Absekri Almsheeti
  8. Mustafa Mohammed Suleiman Arroba
  9. Yousef Mohiuddin Ramadan Almjberi
  10. Mohi Mohammad Kamal Almjberi
  11. Jumaa Hasen Fdeil Aljazwi
  12. 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

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khalifa haftar head of libyan army

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)

yousef manqoush ntc member

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):

  1. Deraa Battalion No.1
  2. Deraa Battalions No. 2
  3. Deraa Battalions No. 7
  4. Deraa Battalions No. 10

[*] http://www.Libya Herald, article: /2013/06/09/mangoush-resigns/

 

 

(4)

major-general abdulsalam al-obeidi
Photo source: defense.gov.ly

Chief of Staff No. 4

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).

  1. defense.gov.ly/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=299
  2. presssolidarity.net/news/ONENEWS/10206-عدد_من_ضباط_الجيش_في_بنغازي_يرفضون_الرئيس_الجديد_للأركان/
  3. Libya Herald, article: /2013/06/27/mohammed-mahmoud-al-barghati-removed-as-defence-minister/
  4. Libya Herald, article: /2013/06/28/pm-and-army-chief-at-loggerheads-over-inadequate-funding/
  5. Libya Herald, article: /2013/07/14/army-chief-criticises-zeidan-for-not-building-libyan-army/
  6. defense.gov.ly/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=297
  7. presssolidarity.net/news/ONENEWS/10402-أعضاء_من_المؤتمر_الوطني_يرفضون_طلب_زيدان_بمناقلة_300_مليون_دينار/
  8. 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)

mr. alnadouri
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)

Chief of Staff in 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)

 

 

khalifa haftar head of libyan army

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.

 

Haftar's photo

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.

 

photo of libyan armed forces commanders in Tobruk

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.

See PC's GNA's Decrees regarding the Libyan Army.

 

 

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

 

Almanfi   Alafi     Alkouni
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+5 committee
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

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]!!!

 

Libya's regions

?

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 "their most 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.

 

al-essawi
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]

 

 

More Conclusions  and more UN violations here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations--2
[2] ossanlibya.org /?p=41880#more-41880
[3] alnabaa.tv/LocalNews/Details/ID/6155
[4] qurynanew.com/61642 ; http://www.presssolidarity.net/news/ONENEWS/68279-الحكومة_المؤقتة_:من_حق_ليبيا_محاكمة_أبو_ختالة_على_أراضيها_وبموجب_قوانينها/
[5] lana-news.ly/ara/news/view/54467/أمريكا_تبلغ_مجلس_الأمن_بأن_المشتبه_به_في_هجوم_بنغازي_كان_يخطط_لمزيد_من_الهجمات_ضد_أمريكيين
[6] ossanlibya.org /?p=41880#more-41880
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Army_%28Libya%29
[8] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/30/libya-general-younis-islamists-blamed
[9] Secret Affairs, by Mark Curtis, 2010, 2012, Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, p. 363
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAcAS0fq-LY