In Libyen hat der Putschversuch des Ex-Generals Khalifa Haftar nicht den schnellen militärischen Durchbruch gezeitigt, wie ihn die USA und Saudi-Arabien nach ägyptischem Vorbild gewünscht haben.
Nun setzt Saudi-Arabien auf ein Truppen-Bündnis der Haftar- und der Ex-Gaddafi-Milizen. Die Fahne der libyschen Revolution von 2011 soll nicht mehr gezeigt werden, oder nur noch im Verbund mit der grünen Fahne des alten Regimes.
Das angestrebte Bündnis zielt vor allem auf die restlose Einbindung des libyschen Militärs und der Geheimdienste – gegenüber den unterschiedlichsten sozialen, ethnisierten und islamistischen Aufständen im Lande. Im Hintergrund dürften auch die USA und die EU fieberhaft nach militärischen Lösungen suchen, um die Petro-Exporte zu sichern und den Stopp der Boat-people durchzusetzen.
info@mideastwire.com:
„Thousands of Libyan Jihadists return from Syrian and Iraq to face Haftar“
On July 17, the Saudi-owned, London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily newspaper carried the following report: „Asharq al-Awsat obtained documented pieces of information on the return of thousands of Libyan Jihadists from Syria and Iraq to their country in order to fight the leader of the Dignity Operation, Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, and to confront the victory of the National Movement at the next parliament where the radical Islamists and the MBs suffered a major loss. Official sources revealed for the first time that the official at the Al-Qa’idah organization, Algerian national Mokhtar Belmokhtar transferred his operations from Mali to the city of Sebha in southern Libya…“Amidst a state of caution and attentiveness, and on the rhythm of the bombings and shed blood, Libya is seeing the emergence of two terms: the „striped people“ and the „green people.“ The „stripes“ are the three colors of the Libyan flag that was raised by the February 17, 2011 armed revolution. The „green“ is the color used by Gaddafi for his flag… These two main parties in the largest oil-producing African country will be seemingly forced to take part in negotiations aimed at establishing a stable Libyan state following the wave of the Arab Spring similarly to the agreements reached between the Islamists and their foes in Tunisia…
„Away from the ongoing clashes between the army of Maj. Gen. Haftar and some Jihadist groups – knowing that both groups belong to the „striped flag“ – other kinds of arrangements are taking place on the other bank of the Libyan desert where several main tribes are trying to take advantage of the ongoing conflict between the two parties in order end the deep and ongoing clashes for three years now between two important parts of the Libyan equation: the tribes that took part in the February revolution, and the tribes accused of supporting Gaddafi during his time in power…
„The supporters of the February revolution are carefully monitoring this sudden tribal movement. For this reason, some called this movement „the green team,“ in an attempt at guarding people against it… According to pieces of information obtained by Asharq al-Awsat from prominent Libyan sources, a coordination operation had been taking place early this year between the tribes, Maj. Gen. Haftar and the civil and national movements in order to form a united front to end the control of the Islamists. However, Haftar failed to honor all the clauses of the agreement…
„Some of these clauses had requested that Haftar’s men must avoid attacking some specific Arab countries. One official in charge of the coordination operation said: „We were surprised by a speech from Haftar’s supporters criticizing the Gulf States…“ Haftar was also asked not to make public appearances with the „striped flag“ during his televised speeches in order not to upset the above mentioned group of tribes „but he also failed to do that.“
„… On the other hand, one officer who serves as Haftar’s aide in Benghazi told Asharq al-Awsat that „the tribes (or the so-called people of the „green flag“) also failed to abide by our terms. One such term was for them to abstain from brandishing Gaddafi’s flag during their televised meetings. However, the flag as well as Gaddafi’s pictures were raised…“ A prominent Libyan source living outside the country and concerned with the arrangements taking place in Libya said: „When Haftar violated some clauses, the tribes (or the „green flag“ people) wanted to give him a chance by telling him, we are not with you but at the same time, we will not leave you…“ Haftar responded to this „pinch“ by saying that the battle cannot be won without the tribes.
„A prominent Libyan official told Asharq al-Awsat that Haftar knows that he cannot win the battle alone. His adversaries, i.e. the radical Islamists and the Muslim Brothers, have also started to realize the fact that he might receive some support either from within Libya via the main tribes or through the countries that are concerned with Libya’s stability, mainly the neighboring countries. The official who chose not to mention his name said: „For this reason, the Islamists decided to summon back the Libyan Jihadists that they had sent to Syria and Iraq. They also decided to seize control of Tripoli by the twentieth of Ramadan especially now that they lost the parliamentary elections…“
„The Islamists were planning for a long battle to seize power in Libya by next October on the occasion of Gaddafi’s death. However, according to a member at the mediation committee between the „striped“ and the „green“ groups, they [i.e. the Islamists] were taken aback by their massive failure at the latest parliamentary elections… The available pieces of information indicate that all these events pushed the Islamists to bring back the Libyan Jihadists who had been previously sent to fight in Syria and Iraq and to activate the role of the foreign Jihadist leaders mainly Algerians, Tunisians, Egyptians, and Sudanese…“
Asharq al-Awsat, United Kingdom