The Libya thread

[stefano]

Libya condemned the United States on Wednesday for snatching a man suspected of masterminding the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, describing the arrest as a violation of Libyan sovereignty.
...
In the first official reaction from Tripoli, Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani said Khatallah should be returned to Libya and tried there.

"We had no prior notification," Marghani told a news conference. "We expect the world to help us with security. We expected the United States to help us, but we did not expect the United States to upset the political scene."
...
Libyan foreign ministry spokesman Said al Saoud said: "This attack on Libyan sovereignty happened at a time when Benghazi is suffering from many problems." He asked that Khatallah receive a fair trial.

A source in Benghazi told the Libya Herald he was seized in the south east of the city and that Bukhatallah’s neighbours had claimed he was travelling to have dinner with a member of the Muslim Brotherhood when he was taken.

A source within Benghazi Islamist circles told this paper that those close to Bukhatallah were saying he had been betrayed by a member of his own entourage. The same source said the Islamist leader had been taken by local forces not on Sunday evening but on Monday and believed that he was then taken to a ship anchored close to the shore.

He said Bukhatallah’s arrest would have little impact on the current situation in Benghazi and that his small, insular group had little influence. He added that Bukhtallah had claimed to him personally that he had not had any involvement in the 11 September attacks on the US consulate two years ago.

Maybe the Americans got Abu Khatallah through the Muslim Brotherhood, maybe they have men in Ansar Al-Sharia reporting to them directly (though I doubt that - the way those guys live I think it would be too easy to be found out). And maybe, as I thought yesterday, the Americans operated through Haftar's forces, which are now denying knowledge for PR reasons - Haftar's CIA background is enough of a liability as it is. Though now I'm starting to lean towards the former explanation - that the Americans used the MB and high-tech surveillance to catch Abu Khatallah, gaining some leverage with Libya's next government in doing so (or maybe not).

In odd timing, former prime minister Ali Zeidan, sacked by the GNC in March, has appeared in Beida and insisted in a TV interview today that that he is still Libya’s legitimate prime minister. Zeidan had real problems with the Islamist GNC President, Nouri Abu Sahmain (who basically got him sacked after the tanker fiaso), but was probably closer to the Islamist current than the current PM, Abdallah Al-Thinni (who was Zeidan's defence minister). Zeidan reportedly "flew in around noon today from Egypt where it is said that he met President Abdel-Fattah Sisi."

[stefano]

Interesting little biscuit crumb (sorry French): Tunisair staff have concerns about their safety and of the type of passenger that takes the weekly Tunisair flight to Erbil, in Kurdish Iraq, which seems to be the flight chosen by Tunisian jihadis on their way to fight with ISIS. On June 11 a chartered flight from Erbil made an unscheduled stop in Tunis on its way to Tripoli, a sign of co-operation between ISIS and the Libyan jihadis who are fighting against Haftar's men.

[Ben D]

....the imperial powers that broke it, can't put humpty dumpty back together again.....

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/foreigners-urged-flee-libya-amid-clashes-2014727174139608350.html

Foreigners urged to flee Libya fighting

France, UK, Germany and Italy tell their nationals to get out as heavy fighting continues between militias.

European nations have called on their citizens to leave Libya as heavy fighting between troops loyal to a renegade general and militias in the eastern city of Benghazi left more than 36 people dead.

France on Sunday called on all its nationals to leave the country due to the deteriorating security situation.

Most of the victims we have noticed are civilians as the fighters have their own hospitals on the battlefield

"All our nationals are invited to get in touch as quickly as possible with our embassy in Tripoli," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The United States, the United Nations and Turkey have pulled their diplomats out of the North African country.

The United States evacuated its embassy on Saturday, driving diplomats across the border into Tunisia under heavy military protection because of clashes near the embassy compound in Tripoli.

A British embassy convoy was hit by gunfire during an attempted hijacking outside the capital on the way to the Tunisian border, but no-one was injured in the incident, an embassy official said on Sunday.

"It was an attempted hijack as the convoy was on its way to the Tunisian border," the official said. "No one was injured but vehicles were damaged."

Britain's Foreign Office advised its citizens on Sunday to leave the country immediately because of the "greater intensity of fighting" in Tripoli and the likelihood of further attacks on foreigners.

Germany and Spain also issued warnings to their citizens to leave. Italy's foreign ministry said it helped more than 100 Italians leave Libya and would help other countries evacuate their citizens as well.

Battle for airport

The Libyan government said more than 150 people had died in Tripoli and Benghazi in two weeks of fighting.

In Tripoli, 23 people, all Egyptian workers, were killed when a rocket hit their home on Saturday during fighting between rival militias battling over the city's main airport, the Egyptian state news agency reported.

Since the clashes erupted a fortnight ago, 94 people have died in the capital, and more than 400 have been injured as militias exchanged rocket and artillery fire across southern Tripoli, the health ministry said.

Another 55 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Benghazi since the clashes have intensified over the last week between regular forces and militias who are entrenched in the city.

"Most of the victims we have noticed are civilians as the fighters have their own hospitals on the battlefield," a Benghazi medical source told Reuters news agency.

A new Libyan parliament was elected in June and Western governments hope warring parties may be able to reach a political agreement when the lawmakers meet in August for the first session.

[seemslikeadream]

Fuel Tank Blaze Near Tripoli Airport 'Out of Control'

"It is a tank of 6 million liters of gasoline and it is close to others containing gas and diesel," NOC spokesman Mohamed al-Alharari said. "The firefighters are trying to counter the fire, but if they cannot, a big disaster will happen" he added.

In a statement posted on its website on Monday, the interim government said the fighting between rival militias caused the huge blaze, which could trigger a "humanitarian and environmental disaster."

[seemslikeadream]

Huge blaze spreads at fuel storage depot in Tripoli
Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Footage shows rescuers attempting to quell the huge flames at the fuel depot - Rana Jawad reports

A huge blaze engulfing Libya's biggest fuel storage facility in the capital, Tripoli, has spread to a second tank.

[stefano]

Libya Islamist militias declare control of Benghazi
Jul. 31, 2014 | 05:16 PM

CAIRO: Islamist hard-line militias are claiming to have taken control of Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, after defeating army units, taking over military barracks and seizing tanks, rockets and hundreds of boxes of ammunition.

A commander of one of the militias in the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries umbrella group told The Associated Press Thursday, "We are the only force on the ground in Benghazi." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

In a video put out by the umbrella group, Mohammad al-Zahawi, the head of the Ansar al-Shariah militia, congratulates his followers on "this victory and conquest."

The militias have been battling forces loyal to a renegade general, Khalifa Hifter, who had been waging a campaign to crush extremist militias.

Benghazi declared ‘Islamic emirate’ by militants

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Thursday, 31 July 2014

Libya’s Islamist militant group Ansar al-Sharia has said that it seized complete control of Benghazi late on Wednesday, declaring the city an “Islamic emirate,” the group’s representative said.
[...]
“Benghazi has now become an Islamic emirate,” said Mohammed al-Zahawi, the spokesman, to Radio Tawhid.

However, Khalifa Haftar, a retired, renegade former army general who earlier this year launched a self-declared campaign to clear the city of Islamist militants, denied the group’s claims.

“The national Libyan army is in control of Benghazi and only withdrew from certain positions for tactical reasons,” Haftar told Al Arabiya News Channel.

“The claim that Benghazi is under the control of militias is a lie,” he said.

Ansar al-Sharia’s declaration comes a month after jihadist militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) announced an “Islamic caliphate” over their territory.

Their annoucement also comes following two days of fighting in which Islamist fighters and allied militiamen overran an army base in the city.

Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Libya reported that Islamist groups had seized the headquarters of the Libyan army’s Special Forces in Benghazi late on Tuesday following heavy fighting.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency quoted Talal bin Harir, a Benghazi Shura Council member, as saying that the Islamists were in control of the army base.

Also some reports, which he denies, that Khalifa Haftar has fled to Egypt. This is seriously very, very bad news. The fucking lunatics are going to start executing people in the streets and blowing up mosques and monuments.

[82_28]

There is a narrative going on here that must be detected by reading between the lines, as they say. It is equal parts disturbing and fascinating. I guess because it is happening before our media fueled eyes. There is a better way NO MATTER WHAT. And that is being kind 100% of the time. I feel like a broken record anymore.

[stefano]

FWIW: Remarks by John Kerry and PM Abdallah Al-Thinni in Washington yesterday. Note that Thinni isn't uncontroversial as PM - he quit, then refused to recognise the election (in the General National Congress, not in a general election) of his Islamist-aligned successor Ahmed Maiteeq. The GNC was yesterday replaced by a new, elected legislature, the House (or Council) of Representatives. Which the Islamists don't recognise because they did badly in the poll, which is why they attacked Tripoli's airport. When Thinni talks of the "various parties" fighting in Tripoli I think he means the various parties on the Islamist side. Is he hinting at the State Dept's links with the Muslim Brotherhood when he asks for "pressure"? Also note that the army and police are solidly behind Khalifa Haftar, the anti-Islamist officer, after the 20% or so aligned with the Islamists deserted.

SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning. I’m very pleased to welcome the Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni here in Washington.

This is a very critical time in Libya. We are very much encouraging all Libyans to respect the recent election of the Council of Representatives and to support the work of the constitutional defining assembly and to reject the use of violence.

Libya’s challenges can really only be solved by Libyans themselves, but we are committed to stand by them as they engage in the difficult work of doing so. We believe that Libya is filled with possibilities, even at this difficult moment. And we intend to work very, very closely with our Libyan friends in an effort to try to help to build the capacity of the government to be able to restore stability to this country.

As we announced on July 26th, we have had to temporarily – and I emphasize temporarily – relocate our personnel out of the Embassy in Tripoli because of the fighting going on around them, not directly at it, but around it. And we wanted to make sure we were providing for the security of our personnel, who are temporarily operating from other places.

Above all, we want the recent elections that took place in Libya to be respected, and that means the legitimate Council of Representatives needs to be seated and the government needs to be able to move on with its work. We are committed to continuing to support the Libyan people, to work with the Libyan Government, and to return our people to Tripoli as soon as the security situation allows.

So thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, for being with us today. I look forward to our conversation.

PRIME MINISTER AL-THINNI: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much. In the name of God, the merciful and the compassionate, I seize the opportunity of my presence here in Washington and the commencement of the first U.S.-Africa Summit, particularly the economic forum, to express my high regard for the efforts that President Obama himself and the U.S. Government and the people, the U.S. people, have extended to provide indefinite and limitless support to Libya.

And I would also like to thank the U.S. President, President Obama and the American people for the special role that they have played before the liberation of Libya and specifically for President Obama’s move to freeze the assets of al-Qadhafi and the former – and his former elite allied with him.

And I also highly value the role that President Obama played in – with the affair of the Libyan oil tanker, which oil was trying to be – some parties were trying to seize it, and when he also issued instructions to stop it, and this has ensured that Libya became a secure place and nobody could advance threats against it. And as a result, the Libyan Government has managed to solve the crisis of the oil. And today, we have four oil ports that are able to export oil inside of the security situation in that region.

And we also ask the United States to stand by the Libyan people and parliament and its government so that it can overcome this very difficult period that it’s experiencing. And particularly by pressuring the various warring parties, which have really destroyed the infrastructure of the city of Tripoli. And these parties have engaged in aggression against the country’s airports, against civilians. They have killed and terrorized innocent civilians.

I also ask the U.S. to provide – to support us in our effort to bring up our institutions, particularly the army and the police, so that weapons are only in the hands of elements of these two institutions.

And I would like to assure everybody that despite all the challenges and problems and armed conflict that Libya is experiencing, we hope that, with the assistance of our friends, particularly the U.S., we’ll be able to overcome this critical stage and lay the foundations of a democratic system and the peaceful transition of power.

We also urge the Libyan parliament to take very strong and solid resolutions that would enable the Libyan state and the apparatuses the state to be strong so that it can also overcome this very critical stage. And thank you very much for this meeting.

Thank you very much.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much.

edited to clarify the bit about the army and police.

[stefano]

If someone is still paying attention to that poor place, I think shit is about to really hit the fan. The UN came up with a 'peace plan' that would give the Muslim Brotherhood-flavoured General National Congress effective control of government, rather than the elected House of Representatives. The HoR (Egypt-backed, has a serious army) is not having it. Can't see any way forward but all-out war. Interestingly the Misrata brigades, until now aligned with the GNC and its army, Libya Dawn, now accuse Dawn of backing IS - not without reason. Misrata has a lot of firepower, could change some things if they make a deal with the HoR. Reports of choppers in the sky, the Algerians on full alert on their border.

[semper occultus]

......( semi humourous question ) so did Gadaffi get knocked over because he pissed off Goldman Sachs by demanding compensation when the masters of the universe managed to spunk 98% of the $1.3 bn investment funds entrusted to them by the Libya sovereign wealth fund...

[Searcher08]

......( semi humourous question ) so did Gadaffi get knocked over because he pissed off Goldman Sachs by demanding compensation when the masters of the universe managed to spunk 98% of the $1.3 bn investment funds entrusted to them by the Libya sovereign wealth fund...

Next recursion of the system up. Don't piss-off the BIS.
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/wow-that-was-fast-libyan-rebels-have-already-established-a-new-central-bank-of-libya

[Nordic]

http://original.antiwar.com/brad_hoff/2 ... -and-gold/

Damning.

New Hillary Emails Reveal Propaganda, Executions, Coveting Libyan Oil and Gold
by Brad Hoff, January 06, 2016
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New Emails Expose Hillary’s Dirty War in Libya

The New Year’s Eve release of over 3000 new Hillary Clinton emails from the State Department has CNN abuzz over gossipy text messages, the “who gets to ride with Hillary” selection process set up by her staff, and how a “cute” Hillary photo fared on Facebook.

But historians of the 2011 NATO war in Libya will be sure to notice a few of the truly explosive confirmations contained in the new emails: admissions of rebel war crimes, special ops trainers inside Libya from nearly the start of protests, Al Qaeda embedded in the U.S. backed opposition, Western nations jockeying for access to Libyan oil, the nefarious origins of the absurd Viagra mass rape claim, and concern over Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves threatening European currency.

Hillary’s Death Squads

A March 27, 2011 intelligence brief on Libya, sent by long time close adviser to the Clintons and Hillary’s unofficial intelligence gatherer, Sidney Blumenthal, contains clear evidence of war crimes on the part of NATO-backed rebels. Citing a rebel commander source “speaking in strict confidence” Blumenthal reports to Hillary [emphasis mine]:

Under attack from allied Air and Naval forces, the Libyan Army troops have begun to desert to the rebel side in increasing numbers. The rebels are making an effort to greet these troops as fellow Libyans, in an effort to encourage additional defections.

(Source Comment: Speaking in strict confidence, one rebel commander stated that his troops continue to summarily execute all foreign mercenaries captured in the fighting…).

While the illegality of extra-judicial killings is easy to recognize (groups engaged in such are conventionally termed “death squads”), the sinister reality behind the “foreign mercenaries” reference might not be as immediately evident to most.

While over the decades Gaddafi was known to make use of European and other international security and infrastructural contractors, there is no evidence to suggest that these were targeted by the Libyan rebels.

There is however, ample documentation by journalists, academics, and human rights groups demonstrating that black Libyan civilians and sub-Saharan contract workers, a population favored by Gaddafi in his pro-African Union policies, were targets of “racial cleansing” by rebels who saw black Libyans as tied closely with the regime.[1]

Black Libyans were commonly branded as “foreign mercenaries” by the rebel opposition for their perceived general loyalty to Gaddafi as a community and subjected to torture, executions, and their towns “liberated” by ethnic cleansing. This is demonstrated in the most well-documented example of Tawergha, an entire town of 30,000 black and “dark-skinned” Libyans which vanished by August 2011 after its takeover by NATO-backed NTC Misratan brigades.

These attacks were well-known as late as 2012 and often filmed, as this report from The Telegraph confirms:

After Muammar Gaddafi was killed, hundreds of migrant workers from neighboring states were imprisoned by fighters allied to the new interim authorities. They accuse the black Africans of having been mercenaries for the late ruler. Thousands of sub-Saharan Africans have been rounded up since Gaddafi fell in August.

It appears that Clinton was getting personally briefed on the battlefield crimes of her beloved anti-Gaddafi fighters long before some of the worst of these genocidal crimes took place.

Al-Qaeda and Western Special Forces Inside Libya

The same intelligence email from Sydney Blumenthal also confirms what has become a well known theme of Western supported insurgencies in the Middle East: the contradiction of special forces training militias that are simultaneously suspected of links to Al Qaeda.

Blumenthal relates that “an extremely sensitive source” confirmed that British, French, and Egyptian special operations units were training Libyan militants along the Egyptian-Libyan border, as well as in Benghazi suburbs.

While analysts have long speculated as to the “when and where” of Western ground troop presence in the Libyan War, this email serves as definitive proof that special forces were on the ground only within a month of the earliest protests which broke out in the middle to end of February 2011 in Benghazi.

By March 27 of what was commonly assumed a simple “popular uprising” external special operatives were already “overseeing the transfer of weapons and supplies to the rebels” including “a seemingly endless supply of AK47 assault rifles and ammunition.”

Yet only a few paragraphs after this admission, caution is voiced about the very militias these Western special forces were training because of concern that, “radical/terrorist groups such as the Libyan Fighting Groups and Al Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) are infiltrating the NLC and its military command.”

The Threat of Libya’s Oil and Gold to French Interests

Though the French-proposed U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 claimed the no-fly zone implemented over Libya was to protect civilians, an April 2011 email sent to Hillary with the subject line “France’s client and Qaddafi’s gold” tells of less noble ambitions.

The email identifies French President Nicholas Sarkozy as leading the attack on Libya with five specific purposes in mind: to obtain Libyan oil, ensure French influence in the region, increase Sarkozy’s reputation domestically, assert French military power, and to prevent Gaddafi’s influence in what is considered “Francophone Africa.”

Most astounding is the lengthy section delineating the huge threat that Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves, estimated at “143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver,” posed to the French franc (CFA) circulating as a prime African currency. In place of the noble sounding “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine fed to the public, there is this “confidential” explanation of what was really driving the war [emphasis mine]:

This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

(Source Comment: According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.)

Though this internal email aims to summarize the motivating factors driving France’s (and by implication NATO’s) intervention in Libya, it is interesting to note that saving civilian lives is conspicuously absent from the briefing.

Instead, the great fear reported is that Libya might lead North Africa into a high degree of economic independence with a new pan-African currency.

French intelligence “discovered” a Libyan initiative to freely compete with European currency through a local alternative, and this had to be subverted through military aggression.

The Ease of Floating Crude Propaganda

Early in the Libyan conflict Secretary of State Clinton formally accused Gaddafi and his army of using mass rape as a tool of war. Though numerous international organizations, like Amnesty International, quickly debunked these claims, the charges were uncritically echoed by Western politicians and major media.

It seemed no matter how bizarre the conspiracy theory, as long as it painted Gaddafi and his supporters as monsters, and so long as it served the cause of prolonged military action in Libya, it was deemed credible by network news.

Two foremost examples are referenced in the latest batch of emails: the sensational claim that Gaddafi issued Viagra to his troops for mass rape, and the claim that bodies were “staged” by the Libyan government at NATO bombing sites to give the appearance of the Western coalition bombing civilians.

In a late March 2011 email, Blumenthal confesses to Hillary that,

I communicated more than a week ago on this story – Qaddafi placing bodies to create PR stunts about supposed civilian casualties as a result of Allied bombing – though underlining it was a rumor. But now, as you know, Robert gates gives credence to it. (See story below.)

Sources now say, again rumor (that is, this information comes from the rebel side and is unconfirmed independently by Western intelligence), that Qaddafi has adopted a rape policy and has even distributed Viagra to troops. The incident at the Tripoli press conference involving a woman claiming to be raped is likely to be part of a much larger outrage. Will seek further confirmation.

Not only did Defense Secretary Robert Gates promote his bizarre “staged bodies” theory on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” but the even stranger Viagra rape fiction made international headlines as US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice made a formal charge against Libya in front of the UN Security Council.

What this new email confirms is that not only was the State Department aware of the spurious nature of what Blumenthal calls “rumors” originating solely with the rebels, but did nothing to stop false information from rising to top officials who then gave them “credence.”

It appears, furthermore, that the Viagra mass rape hoax likely originated with Sidney Blumenthal himself.

[1] The most comprehensive and well-documented study of the plight of black Libyans is contained in Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO’s War on Libya and Africa (publ. 2012, Baraka Books) by Maximilian Forte, Professor Anthropology and Sociology at Concordia University in Montréal, Québec.

[seemslikeadream]

Pentagon says US bombed IS training camp in Libya
By Robert Burns And Maggie Michael Associated Press
POSTED: 02/19/2016 04:56:48 AM MST3 COMMENTS
UPDATED: 02/19/2016 01:36:56 PM MST

WASHINGTON (AP) — American F-15E fighter-bombers struck an Islamic State training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border Friday, killing dozens, probably including an IS operative considered responsible for deadly attacks in Tunisia last year, U.S. and local officials said. The strike did not appear to mark the beginning of a sustained U.S. campaign in Libya but a Pentagon spokesman said "it may not be the last."

The spokesman, Peter Cook, said the U.S. is determined to stop the Islamic State from "gaining traction" in Libya. Cook said the training camp was "relatively new," and that the U.S. has identified similar Islamic State training camps elsewhere in Libya, suggesting potential future strikes in defense of regional and U.S. national security interests.

In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 wounded men lie in a hospital after U.S. warplanes struck an
In this picture released online by the Sabratha Municipal Council on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 wounded men lie in a hospital after U.S. warplanes struck an Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically. (Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT (Uncredited/AP)
In Libya, local officials estimated that Friday's U.S. attack killed more than 40 people with more wounded, some critically. Up to 60 people were believed to be at the camp, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence-related information.

Political chaos in Libya has allowed the Islamic State to expand across the northern coast of the oil-rich North African country, which is just across the Mediterranean from Italy and has also become a major conduit for African migrants heading to Europe. IS controls the central city of Sirte and a number of oil installations.

Adding to the concern in Washington and Europe is evidence that the number of Islamic State fighters in Libya is increasing — now believed to be about 5,000 — even as the group's numbers in Syria and Iraq are shrinking.

The Obama administration has said it would approve of international military support for counter-Islamic State efforts in Libya once the country assembles a unity government. But it also has vowed to strike key targets when opportunities arise, such as Friday's attack near the city of Sabratha.

The Libyan parliament is close to endorsing a new unity government cabinet, which could eventually seek international military intervention against Islamic State extremists.

Cook said the U.S. airstrikes targeted extremist Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian national. Cook called him "an ISIL senior facilitator in Libya associated with the training camp," using another acronym for the Islamic State.

Cook did not confirm that Chouchane had been killed but said "we feel good" about the effectiveness of the attack, which other officials said were conducted by F-15E strike aircraft based in Britain. Cook said unmanned aircraft, or drones, also were involved.

Cook said Tunisian officials in May 2015 had named Chouchane as a suspect in a March 18, 2015, attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in which 22 people died.

"He facilitated the movement of potential ISIL-affiliated foreign fighters from Tunisia to Libya and onward to other countries," Cook said.

"Destruction of the camp and Chouchane's removal will eliminate an experienced facilitator and is expected to have an immediate impact on ISIL's ability to facilitate its activities in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and potentially planning external attacks on U.S. interests in the region," he added.

The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for a June 2015 attack at the Tunisian resort of Sousse in which 38 people were reported killed.

Before the Sousse attack, the Tunisian Interior Ministry issued a wanted poster for Chouchane. He is originally from the Sidi Bouzid region, where the 2011 revolution that ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was triggered when a fruit and vegetable seller set himself on fire.

After the Sousse resort attack, the then-security chief for Tunisia, Rafik Chelli, told AP that the suspects killed in the Bardo and Sousse attacks had received military training in a camp in Sabratha.


On Friday, a witness in Sabratha said he heard two explosions at 3:30 a.m. coming from the nearby village of Qasr Talel, at the same time the Pentagon said the airstrike began. He said the house that was hit belongs to Abdel-Hakim al-Mashawat, known locally as an Islamic State militant, he said. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.

The official Facebook page of the Sabratha local city council also put the death toll at more than 40 with more wounded, some critically. "There are torn body parts buried under the rubble," it said in a posting. It said the victims were not all Libyans. The witness said he saw a hospital list that noted victims were from Tunisia and Algeria as well as Libya.

Sabratha is one of the main launching points for smugglers' boats heading to Europe. It has been also a transit point for Tunisians and North African jihadists before joining Islamic State affiliates elsewhere in Libya.

Cook said Friday's airstrike was taken "with the knowledge of Libyan authorities," but he would not be more specific about any coordination.

In November, a U.S. military airstrike killed an Islamic State leader named Abu Nabil or Wissam al-Zubaydi, an Iraqi national in the eastern city of Darna

.

[conniption]

Moon of Alabama
(embedded links)

March 18, 2016
The Islamic State Is Pretext To Again Mug Libya

There are currently two governments in Libya. A "moderately Islamist" one in the west in Tripoli and one in the east in Tobruk. The eastern one is internationally recognized and "secular" but also supported by some Salafist groups. Both governments have their own parliament and various supporting militia. In the middle of the long east-west coastline the Islamic State led by some cadres from Iraq and Syria has taken a foothold in Sirte. It is recruiting followers from north Africa and moving to capture nearby oilfields to finance its further expansion.

The "west" is alarmed about this development and wants to intervene with military force. Special forces from several countries are already on the ground. But both governments and their parliaments do not want such foreign intervention.

The UN or someone came up with the glorious idea of creating a third government which is supposed to supersede the two existing ones. The task of this third government will be to "invite" foreign forces and to rubber-stamp whatever they will do. That third government is now constituted in Tunisia and has zero power on the ground in Libya:

[T]here is no guarantee that the other factions will back down. So what is a war between two rival governments backed by militias risks becoming a war among three rival governments, none of which recognize the others ..

Naturally the Libyans hate that idea of a foreign imposed government. They will likely fight any third force that tries to usurp their sovereignty. Confronted with a foreign imposed government and foreign military forces more Libyans will join the Islamic State to fight the intruders. The shortsightedness of the UN and the "western" governments on this issue is breathtaking.

But there is still a lot of money to be made in Libya and especially the French and British governments want to keep robbing the country blind. This requires some feet on the ground. The "brain" and a likely main profiteer behind all this seems to be one well known figure.

A revealing piece in the Times of Malta describes some of the astonishing political-business connections behind the scenes:

[A] major military operation by a collection of foreign powers is in the works to tackle Isis and install a UN-backed government but the shabby way it has been put together carries the risk it will blow back in everyone’s faces.

First, there is the strange situation that [Britain’s Ambassador to Libya, Peter] Millett takes his orders from Britain’s Libya envoy, Jonathan Powell, a contractor to the FCO. Yes, the same Powell who, along with then prime minister Tony Blair, brokered the deal with Muammar Gaddafi to end his dictatorship’s isolation a decade ago - and lead to fat Blair consultancies with that same tyrant after the prime minister left office.

Among other beneficiaries of this new opening up of Gaddafi’s dictatorship was a massive property development contract handed out to a company chaired by none other than Powell’s brother, Lord Charles Powell, which also involved an array of colourful London-based, well-known Arab millionaires. Which makes Powell more of a close relative of an interested party.

Libya is awash with weapons and munitions of all kinds and these are bought and sold in open markets. With the right amount of money one can easily buy powerful anti-tank weapons or anti-air guns readily installed on the ubiquitous Toyota technicals. But Britain also wants to sell, not buy weapons:

Millett revealed that he wants to sell Libya yet more [weapons] - but only to the ‘right’ militias, that is, those supporting the new UN-backed government of national accord (GNA).

The GNA, designed to replace Libya’s two warring governments, in Tripoli and Tobruk, is the cornerstone of Western policy in Libya, designed to unite the country to turn its united guns on Isis. Hence the weapons.

Millett insists the weapons will only go to the ‘right’ militias, an echo of a Western statement about supporting the ‘right kind’ of terrorists in Syria in the war against Isis.

Here now comes the real business part with the most valuable piece being the Libyan Investment Authority with some $65 billion in assets. This fond is owned by the Libyan people but whoever controls it will be able to siphon off tons of money:

Much of the fallout for this clumsy step to create a third government for Libya will be felt in Malta, where commercial battles rage between the two existing Libyan governments over control of a host of enterprises headquartered here - and which are soon to have unity government leaders also pushing for control.

The Valletta court battle for the public telecommunications company LPTIC highlighted the complicated split and a new tussle is underway for control of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the Tobruk-appointed office of which is situated in Malta.

For now, the LIA battle is in London but in a bizarre twist the case was last week controversially stopped in mid flow on advice from Britain’s Foreign Office.

The judge making the order, which keeps both existing governments from getting their hands on this $65 billion asset, is none other than William Blair, brother of - you guessed it, Tony.

Never mind that Tony worked with the LIA in the latter Gaddafi years.

Conflict of interest?

Well, you decide. But to me this looks like another coup in the making this time by introducing a third government that will be completely controlled by foreigners. All this not to "fight the Islamic State" but for Tony Blair and others to control and rob whatever assets the Libyans have left. (How, by the way, is the Clinton Foundation involved in this?)

I can not think of any positive outcome this hapless robbery attempt under the disguise of fighting the Islamic State will have for Libya and its people. Or for the people of those countries who's "elites" now again move to wage war on Libya.

Posted by b on March 18, 2016

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RT
Published time: 17 Mar, 2016
Egypt’s Sisi tells West ‘stay out of Libya’ amid talk of UK military intervention

[Morty]

On March 16 Cynthia McKinney commented: "Hot News: Green Libya (Resistance) captures largest NATO camp in Benghazi." regarding this video: https://www.facebook.com/benghazi2013/v ... 5/?fref=nf

Can't say I'd ever heard of the Green Libya resistance before.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-secret ... ce/5366235

Could this have contributed to the renewed talk of western intervention in Libya?