Libyan rebels admit having links to al-Qaeda

Tripoli, Mar 26, 2011. Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Ironically, our own President Barack Hussein Obama, D-Kenya, has joined their ranks too, providing air support for the rebel attempt to oust Muammar Gadaffi.

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".

Mr al-Hasidi insisted his fighters "are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists," but added that the "members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader".

His revelations came even as Idriss Deby Itno, Chad's president, said al-Qaeda had managed to pillage military arsenals in the Libyan rebel zone and acquired arms, "including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries".

And now President Obama has joined their ranks by providing American air cover for their revolution against the Libyan strongman Gadaffi.

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan".

He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

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.

 

Now that our President is assisting al-Qaeda, he has solidified his image as a strong defender of radical Islam.

Reactions were favorable after a major speech in Cairo in 2009 by President Obama that marked an attempt by the US president for reconciliation with the Muslim world. 

Terrorists said they were impressed. 

"We still hate America," said a spokesperson for Al Queda, "but this Obama guy seems alright.  In our future attacks, we will do all that we can to make sure he is not injured."

A White House spokeperson said the administration was pleased with the response and hoped that future conciliatory speeches by other senior US officials could secure similar immunity for the vice president, secretary of state and perhaps other members of the Cabinet.