Several weeks ago SamHenry posted Al Qaeda Establishes Emirate in Libya. There were conflicting reports of the veracity of this story [see On My Watch here].
However, there is growing evidence of the presence of their forces [see post here on Lorinov's Blog suggested by Freedom whose blog is here]. Lorinov cites an article in the Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile the US intelligence community is reporting:
WASHINGTON – Despite fears that Islamic extremists may be playing a hidden role in the rebellion against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the U.S. intelligence community has found no organized presence of al-Qaida among the Libyan opposition, American officials say.
A U.S. intelligence gathering effort that began shortly after anti-Gadhafi forces started seizing towns in eastern Libya last month – including eavesdropping on rebel communications and inserting CIA officers and equipment into rebel-held areas – has not uncovered a significant presence of jihadists among the insurgents. [Spokesman]
Sky news and other major outlets are also reporting that al Qaeda is not behind the insurgents in Libya. SamHenry rather takes the word of Sky news over the bungling CIA but in this case, they agree.
Only selected bloggers and Gaddafi himself believe al Qaeda is playing a role in this Civil War.
roblorinov
March 24, 2011
“….has not uncovered a significant presence of jihadists among the insurgents.”
Keyword: “significant”. And just what does the CIA consider “significant”? Obviously from their own statements there is a presence of jihadists among the Libyan rebels but how “significant”? Let us face it. CIA has poor reputation for gathering reliable intel and I’m sure Libyan al Qaeda rebels already know who the CIA operatives in their midst are.
BTW great blog!!
samhenry
March 24, 2011
Thank you roblorinov. I welcome you to the ranks and to my blog roll “destinations.” I like your blog quite a lot. Your points are VERY valid. I am confident the intelligence-gatherers for the US are known because that is how al Qaeda operates – they themselves stay small and intimate and operate within a known community. You are right. “Not significant” to the CIA is the al Qaeda usual strength to be effective in an area LOL.
Bob Mack
March 25, 2011
Sky news is lying through their prevaricating teeth. East Libya is teeming with jihadis, as even HuffPo has admitted:
on a per capita basis, no country sent more young fighters into Iraq to kill Americans than Libya — and almost all of them came from eastern Libya, the center of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion that the United States and others now have vowed to protect, according to internal al Qaeda documents uncovered by U.S. intelligence.
samhenry
March 25, 2011
OK so why is the Prime Minister of Britain sticking his neck out in anti-Muslim mode? What benefit is it to Britain to protect the rebels except for the fact that they are teeming with them themselves. Ad why would anti-Muslim Sarkozy go along with protecting them? It’s possible that wanting to curb more immigration is behind it. Cast a blind eye and bombs away. Just questions. Bob there are many news outlets that are saying there are not many. However, I did do a post that stated that Al Qaeda has established an Emirate in eastern Libya. The Huff Po report on the Libyan fighters in Iraq is chilling. If this is true then this al Qaeda business in Eastern Iraq has been going on for some time. Why didn’t Gaddafi do something about it earlier? It is possible that he is turning against them for his own motives. Surely he has supported them in the past. Thanks for your comment. It is a valuable addition to this post.