LibyaPolitics

Hillary Clinton emails: Details of assassination of US ambassador in Libya and fears of Al-Magaryrif

Libya was mentioned in the email correspondence of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after US President Donald Trump declassified all documents related to federal investigations into the former minister’s use of a private server for government emails during her tenure.

Libya was included in the email messages of the former US Secretary of State in an email received from Jacob Sullivan, her chief advisor, on April 1, 2011, which included information about Libya, Al Qaeda and Al-Hasadi.

Sullivan says that, based on talks with the National Intelligence Agency, they do not believe that Abdul Hakim al-Hasadi is linked to al-Qaeda or that al-Qaeda is fighting with rebel forces in Libya.

The email indicates that the office of Clinton’s senior adviser raised an inquiry about Al-Hasadi’s relationship with what was happening in Libya at the time, to answer Ahmed Jibril, political advisor to the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, that Al-Hasadi had no role as a leader in the military movement against Gaddafi and that the army is currently under the supervision of Omar Hariri and Abdel Fattah Younes. However, there are press reports that there is likely to be a change in the military leadership.

The National Transitional Council advisor also stated that Abdul Hakim al-Hasadi himself denied allegations that he was a leader in the opposition’s military campaign against the regime or that he was working to establish an Islamic entity in Derna, adding that these allegations were promoted by Saif al-Islam and al-Nizam to undermine the opposition and make the West distrustful of the opposition, the transitional council and the revolutionary movement.

Separately, the former regime’s ambassador to the United Nations, Abd al-Rahman Shalgam, and the representative of the National Transitional Council to the organization at that time, told the US ambassador to Libya at the time, Jane Kretz, that there might be (about 100 people) who had al-Qaeda tendencies in the east of the country, but the Libyan government does not believe there is still active al-Qaeda activity, according to the documents.

Jacob Sullivan wrote to Hillary at the end of the email a background on the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, indicating that he wanted to share more information with it for reasons of confidentiality, and wrote:

– Concerning information about Al-Hasadi specifically, he admitted that he had fought in the past against the coalition forces in Iraq and that he had recruited “about 25” men from Derna for this purpose.

– The West Point Counter-Terrorism Center conducted a review of documents seized by allied forces from Sinjar, Iraq, and issued a report in the 2007 timeframe on the entry of foreign fighters into Iraq via Syria.

This report revealed that while Saudi Arabia was by far the most common nationality for fighters in that sample, Libya was the next most common country. Libya contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality in the Sinjar records (these records document the city / town / country of origin).

Al-Hasadi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The LIFG initially cooperated with Al Qaeda, culminating in its formal joining of Al Qaeda in November 2007. However, the LIFG recently changed its name and pledged allegiance to the National Transitional Council in Benghazi.

As noted in the email, Al-Hasadi participated in the killing of dozens of Libyan soldiers in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996.

– According to the 2007 West Point report: “Derna and Benghazi have long been associated with Islamic militancy in Libya, especially because of the uprising of Islamic organizations in the mid-1990s. The Libyan government blamed the uprising in the mid-1990s on “infiltrators from Sudan and Egypt” and one group – (the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group) – which claims Afghan veterans are in its ranks. The Libyan uprisings have become unusually violent. Gaddafi used helicopter gunships in Benghazi, cutting off the phone, electricity and water supply to Derna and claiming that the militants “deserve to die without trial like dogs.”

Gaddafi fought the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group to maintain his power.

Viewpoint: What is happening in Libya cannot be described as a problem, but rather a situation (stemming from tribal culture), and from long historical conflicts. It is not something that can be solved by itself, but that can be taken advantage of. Thus for those who want Gaddafi to go, according to this view, care must be taken about who we support, and before doing so, consideration must be given to removing the remaining weapons infrastructure – chemical, mustard gas, weapons factories, etc. – before it comes under control of new Libyan governments.

………………

In a separate mail that Hillary Clinton received on September 13, 2012, from Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, indicating that what she described as the interim Libyan president, “President of the General National Congress,” Muhammad al-Magaryrif told senior advisers that the death of the American ambassador was at the hands of “Islamic militias.” It poses a threat to the future of the newly elected GNC government.

And Blumenthal quoted a source describing him as “sensitive”, that al-Magaryrif believes that the primary goal of these and other attacks on Western facilities is to prove that the GNC cannot protect its non-Muslim friends.

Libyan security officials believe that the attack was carried out by the “Ansar al-Sharia Brigade”, which operates outside the camps in the eastern suburbs of Benghazi.

These officials added that their sources indicate that this group is led by former members of the LIFG, some of whom are loyal to Abd al-Hakim Belhadj. The officials themselves were quick to point out that they had no evidence that Belhadj himself had any direct involvement in this attack. They also do not have direct information whether this attack had anything to do with the killing of the Libyan-born al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, but they are following this matter, according to the email.

Sidney Blumenthal detailed in the email the information he obtained from his sources as follows:

1- These officials believe that the attackers, who were preparing to launch their attack, took advantage of the cover provided by demonstrations in Benghazi to protest the production of an online movie that is seen as offensive to the Prophet Muhammad.

2- The direct events started with a statement made by a cleric in Egypt in which he said that the Internet movie will be shown all over the United States on September 11th in an attempt to insult Muslims on the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. This statement caused a form of increased hostile demonstrations against the United States Embassy in Cairo and diplomatic facilities in Libya.

In Benghazi, security sources reported that about 21 Ansar al-Sharia fighters left their base in eastern Benghazi, just after sunset, and infiltrated a crowd of about 2,000 protesters in front of the US consulate. These forces, operating under cover of darkness, opened fire on the consulate, eventually setting it ablaze with rocket-propelled grenades. Then these fighters withdrew to their camp. Al-Maqrif ordered the security officials to identify the attackers and arrest them, adding that he had been in contact with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, and they agreed to cooperate with the intelligence and security men in this matter.

* Note: Some Libyan officials believe that the entire demonstration was a cover for the attack, but point out that there is no evidence of such a complex operation at the present time.

3- Another source says that the Libyan security officers informed al-Magaryrif that the attacks were planned for about a month ago, based on information obtained during an early demonstration in front of the US consulate in Benghazi. The attackers, in the opinion of these individuals, were looking for an opportunity to approach the consulate under cover and in a crowd.

These officials add that government security officers have confessed to al-Megrif that they do not have the material capacity to locate, attack and destroy the Ansar al-Sharia Brigade. Ansar al-Sharia forces are well-trained and ruthless killers; Many of them have spent time in Afghanistan and Yemen. These fighters are stationed in camps in eastern Libya. Libyan officials suspect that they can penetrate these camps because the militias are better armed than the National Army forces.

4- A separate source believes that al-Maqrif still believes that the attacks were planned and carried out in a political atmosphere in which a part of the Libyan people focused on the previous cooperation between the Western intelligence and security services and the former regime

According to this source, al-Magaryrif realizes that the death of the American ambassador dictates that he find concrete solutions to the problems related to disarming militias, dealing with Salafi violence, and attempts to discredit his government by linking him to Western intelligence services, and he has issued instructions to his security officials in cooperation with their American counterparts. He also warned all his advisers of the need to prepare for American retaliation against the suspected perpetrators of this attack and the angry popular reaction that would surely follow.

5- A separate and sensitive source added that al-Maqrif said in a private conversation that if his government could not protect a senior diplomatic official, foreign companies would not be willing to risk opening new operations in Libya. According to this sensitivity, Al-Maqrif believes that Islamic militias have become influenced by Al Qaeda and other extremist groups, and operate outside the camps in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country, and receive aid and weapons from their supporters in Sudan.

In the end, al-Magaryrif added that while he does not expect US officials to focus on this point, he believes that the attacks against the interests and citizens of the United States and other Western countries aim first to bring down his government and replace it with a militant Islamic government dominated by Salafi leaders.

Al-Magaryrif also warned that the tribal militias loyal to the Gaddafi family still pose a similar danger and pose a threat to the new rulers.

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