Crime, violence, extortion, and looting of people’s properties and state resources… What are the Muslim Brotherhood doing in the Libyan capital?
For over 13 years, the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has been under the control of political Islamist militias led by the Muslim Brotherhood organization, during the rule of the General National Congress, the first government after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
According to an article by Libyan writer Jibril Al-Obeidi, the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya seized control of the government and had a share in all ministries, which is why Tripoli continues to suffer from a difficult situation due to militia control. The city is divided among rival armed groups, and official authorities have failed to fully regain control since 2011. It has become a hostage to militias and is under the sway of extortion.
The Islamist militias in Libya, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, are more active in urban areas than in desert regions, where they have no refuge among tribes. In urban areas, they strongly impose their influence, and residents live in a state of constant instability and fear. The security situation in the city is tense due to ongoing fighting between militias for control of power zones, the division of extortion from ministries and government institutions, and the violation of human rights with arbitrary detentions of opponents by militias. Those who do not submit to their influence risk being thrown into secret prisons.
Al-Obeidi added that the challenges are significant for any attempt to regain control of the capital, Tripoli, and it is difficult to access certain areas controlled by these militias, as these groups are entrenched in residential neighborhoods and use residents as human shields.
These Muslim Brotherhood militias have intensified crime, violence, extortion, and looting of people’s properties and public funds, leaving people mired in poverty and weakened services, such as power outages, water shortages, and unemployment, due to the negative impact of militia dominance on daily life and the economy, blocking citizens’ salaries for months, according to Al-Obeidi.
He stated: although the Brotherhood has been banned by the Libyan parliament and classified as a terrorist organization, it has not stopped trying to hinder the establishment of the state because it dreams of controlling the country and its wealth, and then accumulating money to destabilize Arab countries. The Brotherhood has miserably failed in the eastern and southern regions. It only has Tripoli and a few cities left, thanks to the Libyan Army, which has made great efforts to cleanse the country of militias.
Today, the Libyan Army has extended its influence over most Libyan territory. However, the Muslim Brotherhood organization, its militias, and its allies have entrenched themselves in the capital, Tripoli, protected by direct regional support. They have even used drones in favor of the group, preventing the advance of the Libyan army to free the capital from their grip. The liberation of the capital from militias is a matter of time.
Soon, the Libyan Army will be in the capital, and then citizens will be liberated from the dominance, repression, and extortion of militias, and the country will return to its strong developmental rise, to build Libya’s greatness with its immense wealth and numerous potentials.
Libya’s suffering from the innovatively religious and politically bankrupt Muslim Brotherhood organization is very great. The organization cannot depart from its behavior, as it is accustomed to behaving like a chameleon, changing its skin to hide and reappear with changing circumstances. The Muslim Brotherhood group in Libya insists on staying in place despite its losses, as what is at stake is not only the electoral process but also people’s trust in it. The organization is accustomed to deception and political playacting under the guise of religion, but it is politically bankrupt and religiously innovative.
He added that no one can leave the organization. The issue of resignations from the Brotherhood group is nothing more than a tactic of Brotherhood organization members and a political maneuver aimed at sending messages internally and externally, starting with a purported and disguised resignation.
