The Libya thread

[cptmarginal]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/2 ... -1.1546479
Three Alleged al Qaeda Operatives to Face Joint Trial in Manhattan

Two juries possible in Al Qaeda embassy bombing trial, judge says

A Manhattan Federal Court judge on Thursday denied a request by Libyan computer specialist Abu Anas al-Libi to be tried separately from his co-defendants, but suggested there could be two juries.

http://www.historycommons.org/entity.js ... _al-fawwaz

http://www.historycommons.org/entity.js ... abdel_bary

[cptmarginal]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/ ... PR20131213

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil held above $108 a barrel on Friday as traders eyed a restart of ports in eastern Libya and a possible scaling back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive stimulus programme.

The Libyan government is set to reopen three eastern ports on Sunday that could increase output at the OPEC producer from the current 250,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Upbeat economic data from the United States has heightened speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start trimming its bond purchases next week, a move that could strengthen the dollar and weigh on demand for dollar-denominated commodities such as oil.

[AlicetheKurious]

Libyans chanting, "We want a Sisi like their Sisi! To clean out the Brotherhood and return the nation!"

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=71 ... =2&theater

Sorry it's from Facebook, but Youtube has been VERY strange lately. Most of the videos I want to post are not there, or can't be found using search.

[stefano]

Libyans chanting, "We want a Sisi like their Sisi! To clean out the Brotherhood and return the nation!

Do you not think Khalifa Hiftar is CIA-sponsored? He certainly has connections with the CIA, having actually lived a short drive from Langley in the 1980s and 1990s, and Mahmoud Jibril and those boys from the National Forces Alliance who are now supporting Hiftar have their own strong networks with the Yanks as well. The way he went from vaguely comical nobody to scourge of the Brotherhood in a week certainly merits a closer look. The other reason I'm starting to think he got help is the fact that, if he gets this right, the oil will flow again. Ibrahim Jathran and the Cyrenaican separatists were ready to go to war with a Tripoli government under Ahmed Maiteeq as prime minister, and to keep blocking the two oil terminals that they still control in the east. Now that the MB-backed Maiteeq is essentially out of the picture, and it looks like Abdullah Al-Thinni will stay on as PM if Hiftar pulls off his coup, Jathran is supporting Hiftar. If you want to get really conspiracy-mined you could speculate that that whole oil tanker business was concocted between Jathran and the CIA to get rid of Ali Zeidan as PM and to get Thinni in. US special forces seized the ship and delivered it to Tripoli as soon as Zeidan had left, and the buyers of the oil, as far as anyone can tell, were Saudis or Egyptians. When Thinni quit after being threatened by MB-linked brigades the more elaborate plan B became necessary: Hiftar.

[AlicetheKurious]

I can't figure out why people spell his name "Hiftar" or "Hifter" or "Hefter", when phonetically, it's clearly "Haftar". That's how it's pronounced, so what's the problem? In response to your question, I am very conspiracy-minded, but Haftar is definitely not CIA-sponsored. Libya was transformed into a failed state, thanks to the US-led "liberation", and was wide open to every crazed "al-Qaeda" fanatic or mercenary or both, under the auspices of the CIA-sponsored Muslim Brotherhood. Nearly 5000 Libyan army officers were brutally murdered during the past few months, their corpses mutilated to terrorize the others. Like every other Arab army, the Libyan army had been targeted for destruction. Instead of surrendering, the Libyan army decided to regroup and fight back. It has the full backing of the Libyan people, who have been through hell. They and most Arabs view Haftar as a hero, and he is. Long live the Libyan Arab people and nation.

[stefano]

They and most Arabs view Haftar as a hero, and he is.

That's a big claim, about "most Arabs" - the Tunisians I speak to, at any rate, are sure he's a CIA asset. And he's hardly a hero, is he? He spent 20 years hanging around Langley chatting to US spooks and waiting for Gaddafi to fall, and when that happened he flew back home and was immediately sidelined. Libya is full of real heroes, men who have proven their courage and tactical skills, why isn't one of them doing this? Thinni and Jibril, for starters, are more credible as unifying anti-Islamist commanders. Why Haftar?

Do you have any reason to think this apart from your conviction that the US power structure is still - and only - supporting the MB?

[stefano]

Decent bit in the Guardian yesterday. It looks to me as though the CIA and the State Department are at cross-purposes; it wouldn't be the first time. My bold.
_____
Khalifa Haftar: renegade general causing upheaval in Libya
Commander has managed to rally influential bodies in offensive against post-Gaddafi government but is dogged by old CIA link

Under clear desert skies and a sweltering sun, a team of CIA trainers put the Libyan exile commander through his paces, teaching sabotage and tactics to his small band of fighters. Back then, in the 1980s, they dreamed of the day they could go home and topple Muammar Gaddafi.

Khalifa Heftar's offensive against the government that replaced Gaddafi – which he accuses of being a haven for terrorists – has been far more successful. It has seen him attack Islamist militias in Benghazi and the parliament in Tripoli. In less then a week key army units, political parties and tribal forces have rallied under his banner. On Thursday tension mounted when a powerful brigade from Misrata deployed in the centre of the capital. The renegade general's moves are being closely watched both at home and abroad.

Heftar's old links with the CIA have come back to haunt him – with enemies denouncing him as an American "agent". In Libya's charged political mood, the accusation is toxic but it may be misleading or simply old news. For the record the US has denied backing him; he has also denied being in contact with Washington.

Several former senior US intelligence officials told the Guardian that, while they did not have direct knowledge, they did not believe the US was backing Heftar. Instead, they say, his current offensive should be seen as an audition for future US backing. By showing that he can take on the Islamist militias and win, he establishes himself as somebody the west cannot ignore.

"He is kind of a 'fumpy' guy," said one of the former US officials. "They tend to underestimate him. He's a pretty tough old guy and he could win, whatever winning in Libya means."

Heftar's road to power began as a twentysomething soldier in another coup – led by his fellow officer Gaddafi against King Idris in 1969. Like Gaddafi, Heftar hailed from Bedouin background and believed the army would be Libya's salvation. But the country plunged into dictatorship and then war when Gaddafi invaded neighbouring Chad.

Gaddafi's "Toyota War" ended in disaster. In September 1987 a Chadian force, aided by French and US intelligence, launched a stunning night attack on Libya's southern airbase, killing 1,700 troops and taking 300 prisoners, among them their commander, Heftar.

In captivity in Chad, disowned by Gaddafi, an angry Heftar accepted an US offer of freedom in return for defecting and joining an exile brigade, the Libyan National Army. "Heftar was an experienced soldier and it was a very big deal for us when he came over," said Ashour Shamis, then a member of the anti-Gaddafi opposition.

The programme that followed was standard fare for a CIA that was busy training exiles to fight America's enemies. Gaddafi – supporter of international terrorism – was a high priority for the Reagan administration. In 1986 Libyan agents bombed a Berlin nightclub, killing off-duty US soldiers. US jets bombed Gaddafi's Tripoli home. Smarting from the attack, and blaming Paris and Washington for his failure in Chad, Gaddafi reportedly authorised the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and a French airliner over Niger the following year. Later, Heftar and his men had to leave Chad after a pro-Libyan coup and ended up in the US. Heftar set up home in Virginia, a stone's throw from CIA headquarters in Langley.

But by then his star was fading [This is a bit misleading - Idriss Deby took over in Chad in 1990 - long before there was any detente between Washington and Tripoli]. With the end of the cold war, Libya lost its strategic importance and the CIA cut funding for Heftar's brigade. Eventually he broke with the opposition and mended his fences with Gaddafi, though he never returned to Libya. Tony Blair's famous meeting in the desert with Gaddafi in 2004 symbolised the pariah's return to international respectability. Exile armies became a thing of the past.

Heftar went back to Benghazi when the Libyan uprising began in 2011, but without US help. Britain, France and the Gulf states sent military trainers and special forces to support the Nato bombing while the Obama administration kept its distance. Heftar was relegated to number two behind Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdel Fatah Younis. "Khalifa felt he had been jilted in not getting a senior military position," an acquaintance said. "The [rebel] national transitional council didn't want him because he was tainted by contacts with Gaddafi."

Still, Heftar's reputation for strong leadership served him well as the first post-Gaddafi government lurched from crisis to crisis. From the eastern town of Bayda, he gathered support as Islamists took control of parliament and army commanders complained of the growing strength of independent militias. The US was furious after the state-funded Ansar al-Sharia stormed its consulate in Benghazi and killed ambassador Chris Stevens.

In February Heftar put his head above the parapet with a televised speech denouncing the government and announcing its overthrow. The dramatic appeal failed to spark an uprising but it marked Heftar out as the figurehead for opposition.

Critics compare him to Egypt's army commander Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, who overthrew the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi last July and is now poised to be elected president. Heftar, like Sisi, is said to have the enthusiastic backing of the fiercely anti-Islamist United Arab Emirates, as does his ally, the former prime minister Mahmoud Jibril. Heftar even created a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – the same name used by the Egyptian military.

But direct comparisons are not helpful. Libya's armed forces are nothing like as strong as their mighty Egyptian counterparts. "No one is fooled when Heftar says he is leading the national army," said Jason Pack of Libya-analysis.com. "That's just another militia."

Heftar's momentum could change that. His Operation Karama ("dignity") has blazed across Libya with army units, tribes and the largest non-Islamist party, the National Forces Alliance, all declaring their allegiance. But victory is far from certain – and the risks are considerable.

"Heftar's initiative is responding to a deeply felt need," said Libya expert George Joffe. "Even if he is not the man of the moment he might appeal to a popular mood that will allow him to carry on. The danger is that it will collapse into civil war."

According to former American officials, one of the major driving forces for Heftar and his financial backers – rich Libyans involved in the retail and oil industries and the foreigners who want to do business with them – is to re-engage the US in Libya.

They are horrified that in the wake of the Benghazi attack on the US consulate in September 2012 that killed the ambassador and three other Americans, with political fallout in Washington that continues to this day, the Obama administration decided the country was too toxic and walked away.

Among those who know Heftar well is Mary Beth Long, head of a group of US companies lobbying a sceptical Congress to sell weapons to Libya. Long headed CIA operations when Heftar was still in Virginia. Later appointed Donald Rumsfeld's assistant secretary of state, she was Middle East adviser for Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 election campaign. Until Heftar's successes, the Obama administration had been worried by the growing power of jihadist groups and feared US weapons could fall into their hands, although in January Congress authorised a $600m (£355m) programme to support training for 6,000 Libyan soldiers. The only sizable defence sale to date, of 347 Humvee personnel carriers, went wrong when some ended up with Ansar al-Sharia.

Attitudes on Capitol Hill may change if Heftar succeeds in defeating Libya's Islamists. The US will be monitoring events closely – though for the moment its embassy in Tripoli is working to keep channels open to the Muslim Brotherhood. "I don't think something like this can happen in Libya and the Americans would not know about it," said Shamis. "I think they want to see how much momentum Heftar has and how far he goes."

[AlicetheKurious]

That's a big claim, about "most Arabs" - the Tunisians I speak to, at any rate, are sure he's a CIA asset. And he's hardly a hero, is he? He spent 20 years hanging around Langley chatting to US spooks and waiting for Gaddafi to fall, and when that happened he flew back home and was immediately sidelined. Libya is full of real heroes, men who have proven their courage and tactical skills, why isn't one of them doing this? Thinni and Jibril, for starters, are more credible as unifying anti-Islamist commanders. Why Haftar?

Do you have any reason to think this apart from your conviction that the US power structure is still - and only - supporting the MB?

I think you have a serious problem choosing where to get your information. You seem to be heavily reliant on sources that one way or another are linked to the MB. Tunisia is run by the MB, and the Guardian is one of the media outlets most closely associated with Qatar, the MB's generous sponsor. I don't have the time or inclination to get into a detailed discussion about Libya, but Haftar has already received the backing of all of Libya's major tribes (which, since the fall of the Qaddafy regime, have formed their own, heavily-armed private armies, trained and led by ex-military men). This is the game-changer. The MB are finished in Libya; all that's left is the mopping up, and their urgent priority in the immediate future will be finding a place to escape to. Sudan is most likely. All the accusations that Haftar is CIA are just hot air and noise; the US has failed again.

[conniption]

RT

US sends assault ship with 1,000 Marines near Libya, asks Americans to 'depart immediately'

Published time: May 27, 2014


USS Bataan (AFP Photo / Justin Webster)

The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya's coast as a “precautionary” move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US official said. Security concerns also led the US to suggest Americans in Libya "depart immediately."

Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya’s new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP.

An aide to Maiteeq said "there was an attack with rockets and small arms on the prime minister's house" in Tripoli at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT). Maiteeq’s guards opened fire on the attackers, wounding and arresting two of them, the official added.

In reaction to the heightened strife in Libya, the USS Bataan, stocked with several helicopters in addition to the Marines, is to be in the nation’s coastal area “in a matter of days,” an anonymous US defense official said, according to AFP.

The preemptive move is a reaction to increasingly violent militia battles, which could threaten the American embassy’s security, the official said.

Based on escalating security concerns, the US State Department recommended Tuesday that Americans in Libya "depart immediately."

"Due to security concerns, the Department of State has limited staffing at Embassy Tripoli and is only able to offer very limited emergency services to US citizens in Libya," the travel warning said.

The US also has 250 available Marines, seven Osprey combat aircraft, and three refueling aircraft in Sigonella, Italy, AFP reported.

The State Department said last week that its embassy in Tripoli was operating as usual despite offensives launched by a dissident general, Khalifa Haftar, against the Libyan parliament and Islamist factions.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Zahawi, the head of Libya’s Ansar Al-Sharia militant group in Benghazi, warned against any US interference in the nation’s ongoing tumult.

Zahawi accused the US government of backing General Haftar, a "new Gaddafi," and an "agent of American intelligence.”

“We remind America, if they intervene, of their defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, because they would face in Libya something much worse," he said in a statement on Tuesday. "It was America who urged Haftar to turn the country towards war and bloodshed."

The State Department has denied any role in Haftar’s recent offensives despite accusations that the US is encouraging the senior military official. Haftar previously spent decades in the US before returning to Libya in 2011 to join rebels fighting the regime of then-president Muammar Gaddafi.

Following the ouster of Gaddafi in 2011, militias in a destabilized Libya expanded in numbers, both exploiting and filling in the security gap while the nation struggled with weak military and police forces.

Libya's parliament remains split by rivalries, with little democratic reforms made since 2011. The country is now under the rule of its third prime minister since March, and a new constitution is still not ready.

Maiteeq, who is backed by Islamists in parliament, was chosen as the new premier this month in a chaotic vote by the General National Congress. He replaced Abdullah Al-Thani, who resigned in April after claiming he and his family were the target of attacks.

Maiteeq has invited opponents to join a "comprehensive national dialogue to complete state institutions,” though he has also said he is committed to "pressing the battle against terrorists and those who threaten the security of the country," a nod to eastern militants, some of whom are blockading oil terminals in the region.

[stefano]

You seem to be heavily reliant on sources that one way or another are linked to the MB. Tunisia is run by the MB

No it isn't. Ennahdha's much less MB than it used to be, since the MB's rapid fall from power in Egypt. Politicians can tell which way the wind blows, and it seems clear that the Tunisian Islamists have chosen to be more accommodating now, rather than cling to the old hard line they were instructed to take by the international MB. That way they can hang on to some measure of relevance ahead of the elections later this year. And Ennahdha certainly doesn't 'run' Tunisia; it arguably doesn't even dominate any more. Times have changed.

Even if the MB did run Tunisia, would that invalidate the opinions of every Tunisian? The people I'm talking about are old friends from when I worked up there who very definitely don't have Islamist sympathies, one is an ex-colleague who until recently travelled to Tripoli several times a year. I don't take his opinion - or anyone's - as gospel, but I certainly take it into account.

and the Guardian is one of the media outlets most closely associated with Qatar, the MB's generous sponsor.

Why do you say that? I tried researching those links now and couldn't find anything. Instead, if you Google something like "Guardian links with Qatar", the first hits are the Guardian's decent investigation into the horrendous treatment of migrant construction labourers in Qatar. If the Qataris control the paper's editorial line it seems odd that they'd let it write so much about the way they literally work people to death.

Anyway the elements that I consider salient in that bit upthread about Haftar can be found elsewhere and I don't think they're in dispute: he was a CIA asset in the Reagan/Bush senior years, and until ten days ago he had done nothing very notable in Libya.

[AlicetheKurious]

Ennahdha's much less MB than it used to be, since the MB's rapid fall from power in Egypt. Politicians can tell which way the wind blows, and it seems clear that the Tunisian Islamists have chosen to be more accommodating now, rather than cling to the old hard line they were instructed to take by the international MB.

Islamists practise a strategy, "itmasken le had ma tetmakken," which roughly means, "act gentle and meek until you entrench your power." The Salafists in Egypt, who used to refuse to salute the Egyptian flag or stand for the national anthem, because, according to them it's idolatry and forbidden by God, are now claiming that it's mandatory and everybody should do it. The MB did the same. But they all stood for the US national anthem. When Mubarak was in power, they claimed that taking IMF loans is forbidden by religion. When they were in power, they announced that religion mandates taking an IMF loan. If you'd lived for a year under Brotherhood rule, you'd understand just how seamlessly they flip depending on what the international MB decides. Lying means nothing to them, because we are all "dar el harb", infidel fodder for the fires of hell, and war is deception. They don't change their minds, because they don't have minds of their own. They are robots, who do only what they're told. They thought they had entrenched their power in Egypt, Syria, Libya and elsewhere, which is why they dropped the act. It was premature. The international MB (and its handlers) got the message. Nahda is MB, and that's all anybody needs to know.

and the Guardian is one of the media outlets most closely associated with Qatar, the MB's generous sponsor.

Why do you say that? I tried researching those links now and couldn't find anything. Instead, if you Google something like "Guardian links with Qatar", the first hits are the Guardian's decent investigation into the horrendous treatment of migrant construction labourers in Qatar. If the Qataris control the paper's editorial line it seems odd that they'd let it write so much about the way they literally work people to death.

I couldn't find anything either. But that's because I get dizzy whenever I try to decipher labyrinthine business and financial dealings. The Guardian is owned by The Scott Trust, Limited, which in turn is affiliated with a number of companies, including some in which Qatar is a major investor/part owner. That's about as far as I could get without risking convulsions. The information that Qatar is heavily invested in the Guardian comes from Egyptian intelligence. Maybe it's propaganda, but why just the Guardian? Why not the evil BBC, the New York Times or the especially virulent Washington Post, or any of the other Western media which have consistently been hostile and misleading about Egypt? As for that coverage of the atrocious conditions of migrant workers, it was indeed striking, but only because it is a unique example of criticism of Qatar, in its otherwise uniformly fawning coverage. I have no explanation for this odd anomaly.

Anyway the elements that I consider salient in that bit upthread about Haftar can be found elsewhere and I don't think they're in dispute: he was a CIA asset in the Reagan/Bush senior years, and until ten days ago he had done nothing very notable in Libya.

Nobody's disputing that he was a CIA asset for 24 years after the debacle in Chad, when he was a fugitive from the Qaddafi regime. But he's not anymore. There are serious seismic shifts occurring in the Arab world today, and it's a bad idea to allow the past to blind us to the very different current reality taking shape.

Haftar: "I will approve any military strike by Egypt to secure its borders, even inside Libya."

[Iamwhomiam]

Good to see your words once again, Alice. I've missed your sharing your perspectives. wishing you well.

[AlicetheKurious]

Thanks, Iamwhoiam. It's very, very nice to hear from you too.

[stefano]

Also posted in the Benghazi thread, but it's interesting for more than that.

U.S. captures Benghazi suspect in secret raid

Ahmed Abu Khattala had returned home Sunday night after a day of militia skirmishes in Benghazi when U.S. military commandos swarmed his residence south of the waterfront city and took him captive, quickly moving him out of Libya to a U.S. warship.

“He was isolated,” a U.S. official said. “It was pretty clean.”
...
U.S. officials said the joint Special Operations and FBI mission had been planned for months and was approved by President Obama on Friday. The Pentagon said that there were no civilian or other casualties and that all involved U.S. personnel had safely left Libya.

The administration provided few details about the operation itself, where Abu Khattala is being held or the timing of his first appearance in court. After news of the capture became public Tuesday morning, Obama, on a visit to Pennsylvania, said Abu Khattala “is now being transported back to the United States.” Administration officials said they expected him to appear in court here within days.
...
Believed to be in his 40s, Abu Khattala was imprisoned for many years for his Islamist views by the Gaddafi regime. After Gaddafi was ousted in 2011 by Libyan fighters aided by U.S. and NATO warplanes and subsequently killed by militiamen, Abu Khattala helped form Ansar al-Sharia.

Abu Khattala’s residence is a relatively modest, two-story house in the neighborhood of al-Lathi in southern Benghazi, with no armed guards posted outside.

One former Islamist fighter close to Ansar al-Sharia said Monday that Abu Khattala was frequently on the move, had been “unavailable” for weeks and was not answering his phone.

Neighbors in al-Lathi said they had last seen him Sunday night around sunset, when he returned from fighting in Ansar al-Sharia skirmishes with the forces of Gen. Khalifa Hifter. Hifter has declared war against Islamists in eastern Libya and has been carrying out airstrikes against them for weeks.
...
But senior administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that they had not informed the Libyan government until after the operation was completed and that it was “a unilateral U.S. operation.”

This time, with Libya still in a state of turmoil, a decision was made not to tell the government in advance. “We have made clear to successive Libyan governments our intention to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack on our facilities in Benghazi,” one official said. “So it should come as no surprise to the Libyan government that we would take advantage of an opportunity to bring Abu Khattala to face justice.”

In an apparently conflicting report:

The United States notified the Libyan government about the operation to capture a suspected ringleader of the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, but declined to say whether Libya was notified prior to the capture.
...
Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon that U.S. officials had notified Libya about the operation, but declined to say when it took place.

There isn't really a 'Libyan government' to speak of, but the anti-Islamist faction of government which is supporting Khalifa Haftar has control of most of the army (such as it is), the intelligence services, and most of the bureacracy of state. I tend to suspect that the US did co-ordinate with this government, which would have been able to provide useful intelligence and which would be very pleased about the blow against Ansar Al-Sharia that Abu Khattala's capture represents.

[stefano]

Sunday, the day of the US operation to capture Abu Khatallah, saw heavy fighting in Benghazi between Ansar Al-Sharia and troops under Haftar's command:

Benghazi and much of central-eastern Libya was today [June 15] without power for much of the afternoon as fighting raged around the Sidi Faraj area of the city, where for the first time the Dignity forces used tanks along with aerial bombardment and helicopter gunships.

There are unconfirmed reports that Ansar Al-Sharia forces were surrounded in the Sidi Faraj district which was later overrun by Saiqa troops from the 21st and 36th Brigades and and Libyan army.

The new battle broke out in the small hours of the morning when, according Operation Dignity spokesman Mohamed Hejazi, aircraft attacked a convoy of around 20 vehicles belonging to Ansar Al-Sharia and the Omar Mukhtar Brigade which is commanded by Zeyad Balam. They were coming from Ganfouda, he said.

From most parts of the city, almost continuous gun-fire was heard until mid-morning when the exchanges became intermittent.

The electricity blackout came, according to Reuters, after a rocket hit a substation. However GECOL engineers had warned yesterday that the already damaged local power network was in danger of tripping out unless urgent repairs were made.

Ansar fighters used anti-aircraft guns against the attacking planes and fired salvos of Grad rockets. While the heaviest exchanges were in Sidi Faraj, there has also been fighting in Hawari, Ganfouda and Guwarsha.