Libya : Muslim Brotherhood provides safe haven for terrorist and crime gangs in the south of the country

The Muslim Brotherhood in Libya is trying to obstruct the parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for December 24. This is reflected in statements made by prominent leaders in the organization who called for a referendum on the draft constitution. At the same time, the terrorist organizations that are active in the Libyan south are trying to carry out some terrorist operations in order not to lose safe haven in this area, under the pressure of the Libyan army.

The leaders of terrorist organizations in the Maghreb do not want stability in Libya, because it poses a threat to their existence, said political analyst Mohamed Qashot. For example, the leaders of terrorist organizations in Algeria see a safe haven in Libya, he said. Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, moved to the cities of Ubari and Sebha and was spotted by Libyan army forces in the city of Ajdabiya during their battle against terrorism in Benghazi and Derna.

Qashot pointed out that the chaos in southern Libya is not only a safe haven for these gangs to pursue security in their country, but also for training and easy armament, and to form huge riches without complying with laws or fear of being held accountable. He added that the most prominent sources of these riches are the illegal migration trade, the smuggling of drugs and weapons to areas of conflicts and tensions within Africa and the Arab region, in addition to extorting countries with the bombings they are training and planning inside Libya.

He explained that the expansion of the Chadian and Sudanese opposition there is made more difficult by the fact that the south remains an incubator for terrorist organizations that are expanding along several tracks: from Algeria to the south, or from Niger, Chad and Mali, illustrating the impact this has had on the Libyan population in the south of the country. Since the city of Murzuq, which is considered a major artery of the south under the influence of terrorist organizations in 2019, large waves of displacement of its inhabitants have occurred, which has led to a large vacuum in favor of terrorist groups there, he said, stressing that there is coordination between the Libyan army and the notables and tribes to launch extensive security campaigns to establish security and eliminate terrorist organizations.

A study prepared by the Carnegie Research Center, entitled The chaos of the border lines after the fall of the regime of President Mouammar Kadhafi in 2011, indicated that the south of Libya causes major problems for all its neighbors. Arms and human smuggling flow freely from all over the Arab Maghreb, thanks to ethnic groups and their close ties to organized criminal networks that connect the region to each other, and it confirmed that this situation is especially difficult in Mali.

Suspicious Turkish role

Sky News Arabia quoted the president of the Silvium Foundation for Studies and Research, Jamal Shallouf, as saying that southern Libya is a safe passage for illegal immigration and the resulting criminal practices, most notably the slave trade, drugs, and exploitation of migrants in fighting groups loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood organization in western Libya. He clarified that those who enter Libya with the intention of illegal immigration to Europe do not all of them. There is a clear intention to keep these people as easy as recruiting them as mercenaries for the renewed fighting in the country. He pointed to Turkish activity in the southern neighboring country of Niger, where it is suspicious, especially with regard to the cooperation and coordination agency TİKA, which starts its activities in the countries where it works so that it can be considered terrorist, as the Niger is trying to organize its organized criminal acts in the capital.

He explained the timing of the terrorist operation carried out by ISIS in Sebha, explaining that ISIS is declaring its presence in retaliation for the military operations carried out by the army to dry up the sources of terrorism, in preparation for attracting lone wolves who fled the army attacks. He also refuted the video footage aired by ISIS to announce its claim of responsibility for the attack, in which he said that one of the scenes showed the executor of the operation Mohammed bin Muhajir being greeted by another terrorist, and then another terrorist, who was behind it, would be behind the operation.

He went back to reduce the size and importance of this cell, relying on a screenshot that showed the presence of the organization’s members in a farm, not a camp, which means that they are few in number and their capabilities. He expressed his expectation that Libyan forces would launch an attack against some terrorist hideouts in the south.

The Cooperation and Coordination Agency TİKA was founded in 1992 to create aid and development projects that strengthen cooperation between Turkey and ethnic Turkic communities in Central Asia. After the Justice and Development Party came to power, its activities spread to the country, to which Ankara intends to extend its influence on any continent.

The Libyan army has led the battles to cleanse the south of the country of these criminal gangs and terrorist organizations in a fierce war with many parties, most notably the Muslim Brotherhood, which is classified according to the Libyan House of Representatives as a terrorist organization, and the Chadian opposition forces and others. The latest of these battles was painful military strikes on ISIS hideouts in the city of Ubari, which resulted in the destruction of the city, the death of a number of ISIS members, and the bombing of an ammunition depot last May.

The President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, had discussed a few days ago with the head of the European Union’s civilian missions, Francisco Pérez, strengthening cooperation in supporting security on the country’s southern borders and combatting illegal immigration. The Presidential Council also announced in a statement its intention to take a number of important decisions and measures related to national security issues, especially in the South region, including naming the Border Guard’s assistant to operate from the South and appointing an associate to the anti-terrorism force there.

The Berlin 2 conference, to be held in Germany on 23 June, will come up with decisions on removing foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya and securing the southern borders, especially after Europe gained fire with the flow of illegal immigration from it to the European coasts.