Libyan Rebel Commander Says His Fighters Have Al-Qaeda Links
- Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:16pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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According to Libyan rebel leader Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, jihadists who fought against the U.S. in Iraq are now fighting with U.S.-supported Libyan rebels seeking to topple Muammar Gadhafi’s regime. The Daily Telegraph reports:
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr al-Hasidi admitted that he had recruited “around 25” men from the Derna area in eastern Libya to fight against coalition troops in Iraq. Some of them, he said, are “today are on the front lines in Adjabiya”.
Al-Hasidi says that he fought against coalition forces in Afghanistan in the early days of the “foreign invasion” as he calls it. But that stint was cut short when he was “captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan.” He was then handed over to the U.S. and held in Libya. In 2008, he was released. Al-Hasidi also said that at the time, he recruited about 25 Libyans to fight against the U.S. in Iraq.
These days, al-Hasidi is commanding a group of rebels in Libya who have al Qaeda ties. Libyan rebels have U.S. and coalition support in that country.
Al-Hasidi says that his group of Libyan rebel fighters “are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists.“ He also says that ”members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader.” The Telegraph reports that al-Qaeda has openly supported the Libyan rebellion “which it said would lead to the imposition of ‘the stage of Islam’ in the country.”
The Daily Telegraph notes al-Hasidi’s involvement in another Islamist organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group:
US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996.
Even though the LIFG is not part of the al-Qaeda organisation, the United States military’s West Point academy has said the two share an “increasingly co-operative relationship”. In 2007, documents captured by allied forces from the town of Sinjar, showed LIFG emmbers made up the second-largest cohort of foreign fighters in Iraq, after Saudi Arabia.
Byron York’s analysis over at The Washington Examiner is not to be missed:
There is no doubt that the rebels associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group are violent extremists. The Combating Terrorism Center Report found that the Libyans, along with Moroccans, were more likely than others to become suicide bombers once they were in Iraq. The Sinjar records, plus political developments in the 2007 time period, “suggest that Libyan factions (primarily the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group) are increasingly important in al Qaeda,” the report says.
Now, it is not clear what portion of the Libyan rebels, who enjoy the backing and assistance of the United States military, have been associated with al Qaeda and attacks on the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. That one reason critics of the Libya war say that the U.S.-led coalition doesn‘t really know who it’s fighting for. But we may learn more in the future, especially if the rebels prevail and some former jihadis find themselves running Libya, courtesy of the United States.
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Comments (140)
commentkazi
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:12pmUnintended consequences of our military intervention…nothing new here.
Report Post »End The Fed
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:48pmYou mean civilian leaders, correct??
Report Post »TheBMT
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:53pmexactly. But don’t listen to the guy saying stuff about non-intervention. Lets just call him an isolationist. Because obviously intervention is great because now we as a country are backing Al-queda. WTF.
Report Post »doncarr61
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:07pmEvery day it becomes abundanlty clear this current Harvard elitist administration has to go.
Report Post »Obama is an ‘empty suit’ directed by Marxist/Islamist ‘OPEN Society’ morons-albeit dangerous.
I predict that if this administration keeps screwing the American Citizens there are many that may be a violent tipping point. It is almost time for the Atlas Shrugged ‘The Great Strike’ (The novels original name before publication). We need to starve this beast and let the cards fall where they may. The true patriots will be there. I believe a George Washington will arise through divine providence.
TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:06pmNo new news on the Libyan front. Bad guys and worse guys. What a wonderful world, right?
Report Post »pwatkins
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:05pmObama probably don‘t have a birth certificate bc he is the devil and wasn’t born, but fell from the sky into the well in Iran and then dug out by the good Muslims…lol. Now, there is a conspiracy theory for the left to run with.
Report Post »All jokes aside I do believe Obama is conspiring with the enemy. We need to impeach him now if possible.
James
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:02pmFolks, I don‘t know perhaps I’m overly passionate about this if it is true, but how could I be. If this is correct and Al Queda is among the so-called freedom fighters, why are we extending the hand of humanity, cherity and arming them?
Report Post »If this is correct, then only the Tea Party US Representatives, Darrell Issa and Peter King can investigate, hold hearings and put preasure on this to stop. No one else will get to the bottum of this. Khaddafi the terrorist could have been brought to justice years ago, WHY WASN”T HE?
Non-sequitur
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:05pm“Khaddafi the terrorist could have been brought to justice years ago, WHY WASN”T HE?”
Because he kept the oil flowing and only tortured people occasionally?
Report Post »snidley-whiplash
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 6:55pmBecause obama is a muslim born in kenya.
Report Post »James
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 7:17pmI listened to what I would call a mainstream rino republican interviewed last night. I swear folks, I don‘t think I’m on the same planet. You just cannot make this stuff up.
Report Post »Getten
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:56pmThat’s not the half of it! – http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=204493.0
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:53pmI’m just thinking outside the box, but I wanted to throw this out there.
1) Recently Obama referred to France our CLOSEST ally
2) France took the lead in Libya (it’s all about oil for France)
3) I just read that the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be a Socialist candidate in the 2012 presidential race in France.
Can anyone look at this and connect any dots?
Report Post »JohnnyJT South Philly
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:49pmWow, I did’t know that.
Report Post »UpstateNYConservative
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:49pmHamas did something like this some years ago, going from a paramilitary organization to a ‘legitimate’ political party. Their aim to drive Israel into the sea hasn’t changed. Only the methodology has, far as public relations go. I wouldn’t be surprised if AQ took the lesson and is trying that ploy here.
Sadly, this Administration will buy it.
Report Post »RIGHTNOTLEFT
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:47pmSORRY off topic, but what if the reason Obama doesn’t show his birth certificate is that it has CAUCASION as his ethnicity?
That would have ruined his chance of being the 1st black president.
Report Post »Edct
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:45pmWho wanted us in Lybia so the muslim pig eating terrorist infidels could take over the country, oh yea, it was the lying socialist half black muslim terrorist in our White house….coincidence?….no.
Report Post »JROCCOD
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:42pmOMG!!!! Its Amatuer night at the White House. So now WE are BACKING al-quada? This president is either so incompatent it is pathetic, or, he is on a mission to deliberately bring down the USA and install some form of islamic theocratic rule. Its one or the other and I am leaning towards the latter.
Report Post »jmgair
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:38pmAnd we are supposed to beleive that Obama knew nothing about this and had no part in it ?? Sure we are. So the USA is helping AlWaeda now and even sending these rebels arms to fight against Gadahfi or at least it is supposed to look that way. America is being overthrown from WITHIN the White House plain as day. I bet Holder & Obama are so proud of their achievements now that AlQaeda is getting help from America, Oh the irony hurts deep.
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:36pmAnd here’s the kicker, the US and its allies are considering arming the Libyan rebels.
Report Post »Browncoat359
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:32pmNot a surprise is it? We should have never gotten involved. I have empathy for those Libyans that just want a better government but the way to that is not through Al Qaeda.
Report Post »betterthantv
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:31pmAs bad as this is. Perhaps this will be the wake up call for all the Obama lovers? But I doubt it.
Report Post »N34W118
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:31pmIt’s time to get out of the Middle East. The wars are unsustainable and we’re fighting a political theology that believes dying for Allah is the best thing that can happen to them. Make all the best war machines available to Israel and then leave. After a few decades the Shiites and Sunnis will have destroyed each other to the point where we can then go in and destroy the rest of the movement with minable loss of blood and treasure.
Report Post »Wilma
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:30pmThere is great evil in the world. I pray daily for our leaders to make the right decisions.
Report Post »YouGottaProblemWithThat
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:28pmThis is all a part of a US plan to get all of the radicals into one area of the world and into uniforms of new countries being formed. Once aligned and identifiable, the US will unleash a horrible attack on the new radical Islamic countries and wipe them out.
Report Post »Ellbee
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:34pmThat would entail intelligent leadership on this end. Oblahblah and the animal farm aint it.
Report Post »mrclean
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:47pmyeah, also makes it easy for them to take over the Suez Canal, sky-rocketing our gas prices and , let’s see, at $10 a gal….. cripling the US….. yep, oblahblah got his state of emergency all buttoned up!
Whew, wasn‘t sure I’d get my daily requirement of conspiracy for the day…..
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:27pmThis will be ignored and downplayed. “No no, that was the OLD Al-Qaeda. This is the new Compassionate Friendly Secular Al-Qaeda”
Report Post »Riiiiight.
End The Fed
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:25pmGreat job Hillary and Obama! Look both ways next time.
Report Post »Dale
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:30pmGive them a break, its hard thinking at 3:00 am.
Report Post »End The Fed
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:49pmYeah, I know, Dale – Especially when Christmas is comming up on April 15th.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:26pmApril 15th .. I will be having TEA. (as in a TEA Party!). Next year we throw these “bums” out!
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:22pmThis is the wake up call that some of us need in this Libya situation. Not sure that there is a good side here. We should have stayed out of it.
Report Post »Eric Von Zipper
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 9:19pmDamn right!… What a great Administration… Those Stupids!…
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:22pmDid anyone have any doubts about this ..?
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:37pmNope, it was either Al Qaeda or The Muslim Brotherhood. Who knows, maybe they’re there, too.
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:37pmNo, not me anyway.
Report Post »stifroc
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:21pmAnd THESE are the guys we are HELPING!?!?!
Report Post »*facepalm*
2012 can’t get here fast enough
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:25pmYes, God help us indeed, for with this POTUS, the ‘self anointed one’ will destroy us yet.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:17pmstifroc
Report Post »facepalm, I wish I could write like that. I’am serious, thats so discriptive.
Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:20pmNice, you thing we would have checked this out before lending our support in the form of millions of dollars worth of cruise missiles and endangering the lives of our pilots.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:24pmI can see it now in the White House:
(Obama: “Al Quada is there in Libya? Fire everything we have, yes everything, and no NOT AT THEM fire it at Quaddafi…”
Report Post »SUPPLY_SIDE
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:25pmWhat are we doing exactly in Libya?
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:26pmJust as suspected, there are no good sides here. We should have stayed out of Libya.
Report Post »SlimnRanger
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:27pmThe more i try to understand whats going on over there ,the more confused i get
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:31pmI think this explains why England and France were so gung ho … how many sypathizers or out in out al-Qaeda live in these two countries now.
Report Post »lovenfl3
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:37pmIt’s Egypt all over again. Once again we’re helping terrorists overthrow the government. While Gadhafi is no angel, we should have understood the possible alternatives. What’s the lessor of the evils?
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=619wI12Ky20
TSUNAMI-22
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:39pmWe should have never got involved….just like I stated in earlier posts. Let them conduct their own operations and decide their own circumstances.
Just remember that all of this is by design. None of this happened by accident.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:41pmOsama Bin Laden came out of the group we helped in Afg. Which one of these Sandrats will turn out to be the Lybian “Osama”?
Report Post »REDPILLREADY
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:42pmSo lets make sure we got this right. We‘re investing our nation’s treasure, blood, and integrity in support of radical, brutal, jihadists to topple an evil, brutal dictator? Says a lot about the state of the world and the values of our traitor in chief. Where are the good guys?
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:42pm“Members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims”…….that statement sounds like it came directly from the Obama administration…….
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:43pmI really wish we would use our own natural resources and let these third world toilets fight it out without us.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:44pmHey Obama, you traitor…..what are you doing having our military provide support for Al Queda?….oh, I forgot….you are friends with them….shameful!!
Report Post »greggor
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:44pmDo you honestly believe that Obama didn’t know this? Get real. What is happening in the world.. is what he wants to be happening everywhere in the world.. including Wisconsin, and now Indiana.
One world dictatorship.
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:45pm@ 13th Imam
He’s already been elected to the White House.
Report Post »restorehope
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:47pmProgressives instinctively root for the underdog because they ‘feel sorry’ for them. They do not analyze or look for truth in a situation, rather they just want to be seen as saviors. I have a lib friend whose says his main goal in life is to “just help people”. That’s a fine sentiment, but very naive. You have to make sure that the people you are helping are the good guys and not taking you for a ride.
That said, no surprise our country is now helping al-Qaeda in Libya. There is no military experience or leadership in this administration, so they plunge ahead into the fray without knowing what they are doing. They neutered the CIA who maybe could have gotten some intelligence on the rebels. How can we we helping the enemy who brought down the Towers and not be outraged?
Report Post »avenger
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:58pmoh my god….really ! what a fkng surprise….
Report Post »My Two Cents
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 3:59pmIn addition to providing military support, the intellectuals in Washington are now talking about supplying arms to a group of so-called rebels who may have al Qaeda operatives among their ranks.
I guess aiding and abetting the enemy during a time of war is no longer a criminal offense.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:02pm@CatB
Good point about why Britian and France are in it.
@SlimRanger:
Most of us here cannot figure it out other than this is a half baked operation without ending in sight or any form of sanity.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:03pmObama must be impeached and tried for treason. Now. Do it now.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:14pmWe good Americans set here and read this and get yet another slap in the face. These are insults to an intelligent man and also we don’t believe these events are by some misunderstanding. Thats why we have gun shows every week some where near us. What , you think you can take our Liberty and way of life that easy. Hell we know you are affraid. Thats why you go around the world doing this sh.t because you know a frontal assault would leave you plain old dead. Know this we will seek you out and hunt you down like a dog. You will never enjoy another day here or in the hereafter as we will follow you to the other side if we need to. You will rue the day you schemed against America. Your day is coming.
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:15pmTerrific!
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:20pmThere are other places that we should invade…the white house and the capital buildings in Washington to take our country back.
Report Post »Obama Bin Lying
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:22pmAL Qaeda fighters…..there is a shock
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:28pmRemember this, no nation can be taken without putting men on the ground and occupying it first. And know this no Army on Earth can defeat ten million armed Americans. There are more than that and because of the way we were raised we can literally defend against 400 to 1 odds. The enemy of Liberty knows this also. They are in a quandry and really don’t know what to do now that the beans have been spilled. They actually had a chance taking it slow as we were surely dying in every manner. Then they got tired of waiting like the Bible says all human nature is the same. They don‘t won’t to wait 100 years like we were told they would. Thats the key. They are just like us especially in our weakness. But they are not like us in our strength that the true God gave us. They are commited to move forward and they are looking defeat right in the face. Its driving their thinking people insane, both of them.
Report Post »Uncle Crusty
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:47pmahhh, now we know why the Obumbler our Marxist-Muslim-In-Chief is picking and choosing who to overthrow and who to let live…quite obvious to me that Obama has no problem supporting the rebels, and he knows damn well there is al-qaeda in their ranks. This is no humanitarian mission at all. He would like to see nothing less than a world wide Caliphate IMO…too bad so many Americans have been hoodwinked by this silver tongued marxist-muslim charlitan! Vote them all out of govt or we are doomed, if we make it that far to 2012, if not we all know what must be done – don’t we?
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:56pmAttn: Blazers
This video is a must watch.
Disclaimer: If you are a socialist troll, watching this video will make blood shoot out of your eyes.
Don‘t say I didn’t warn you.
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 4:56pmSorry folks, here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAyCdfOXvec&feature=player_embedded
Report Post »snidley-whiplash
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 6:34pmAre you all nuts! obama is in office to bring down the United States of America.
Report Post »and from the looks of it and the stories presented he is well on his way to accomplishment.
Our congress and senate do nothing to stop him. Spineless,spineless.
God save America pray, pray and shoot straight.
S/F
ottodiedacktick
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 10:50pmThis is like providing life saving emergency room hospital care to a death row inmate.
Report Post »MiketheTrucker
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 10:50pmSo that’s why Obama decided to jump in on this one.
Report Post »nptden
Posted on March 27, 2011 at 12:58amI’m sure Hussein Obama and Hillary know exactly who they are…No boots on the ground will ensure their take-over after we pay to get rid of Gadaffi….When will Americans wake up and realize that extremists are in power here. Whatever they want to call themselves means nothing…Their actions show them for what they believe in. The destruction of the USA.
Report Post »colonial10
Posted on March 27, 2011 at 10:59pmOur enemy is now our friend which will become our enemy again. Obama and his regime support this. Idiots.
Report Post »Czar Casm
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 1:21pmImagine if in WWII we fought against the Nazi’s in France and fought with them on the eastern front against Russia. WTF?
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