Khalifa Hifter
Khalifa Hifter was once a top military officer for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but after a disastrous military adventure in Chad in the late 1980s, Hifter switched to the anti-Gadhafi opposition. In the early 1990s, he moved to suburban Virginia, where he established a life but maintained ties to anti-Gadhafi groups.
Late last week, Hifter was appointed to lead the rebel army, which has been in chaos for weeks. He is the third such leader in less than a month, and rebels interviewed in Libya openly voiced distrust for the most recent leader, Abdel Fatah Younes, who had been at Gadhafi's side until just a month ago.
At a news conference Thursday, the rebel's military spokesman said Younes will stay as Hifter's chief of staff, and added that the army - such as it is - would need "weeks" of training.
According to Abdel Salam Badr of Richmond, Va., who said he has known Hifter all his life - including back in Libya - Hifter -- whose name is sometimes spelled Haftar, Hefter or Huftur -- was motivated by his intense anti-Gadhafi feelings.
"Libyans - every single one of them - they hate that guy so much they will do whatever it takes," Badr said in an interview Saturday. "Khalifa has a personal grudge against Gadhafi... That was his purpose in life."
According to Badr and another friend in the U.S., a Georgia-based Libyan activist named Salem alHasi, Hifter left for Libya two weeks ago.
alHasi, who said Hifter was once his superior in the opposition's military wing, said he and Hifter talked in mid-February about the possibility that Gadhafi would use force on protesters.
"He made the decision he had to go inside Libya," alHasi said Saturday. "With his military experience, and with his strong relationship with officers on many levels of rank, he decided to go and see the possibility of participating in the military effort against Gadhafi."
He added that Hifter is very popular among members of the Libyan army, "and he is the most experienced person in the whole Libyan army." He acted out of a sense of "national responsibility," alHasi said.
"This responsibility no one can take care of but him," alHasi said. "I know very well that the Libyan army especially in the eastern part is in desperate need of his presence."
Omar Elkeddi, a Libyan expatriate journalist based in Holland, said in an interview that the opposition forces are getting more organized than they were at the beginning up the uprising. Hifter, he said, is "very professional, very distinguished," and commands great respect.
Since coming to the United States in the early 1990s, Hifter lived in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C. Badr said he was unsure exactly what Hifter did to support himself, and that Hifter primarily focused on helping his large family.
NATO, USA AND AL-QAEDA JOIN HANDS IN LIBYA
("at eleven days away from the commemoration of 9-11")
The "Liberation" of Libya: NATO Special Forces and Al Qaeda Join Hands
"Former Terrorists" Join the "Pro-democracy" Bandwagon
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, August 28, 2011
[Link]
"....According to DebkaFile (Israeli intelligence online report), the "pro-Al Qaeda brigades "led by LIFG (LIBYAN ISLAMIC FIGHTING GROUP) Commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj constitute the dominant force of the rebellion, overriding the authority of the Transitional Council. They are in control of strategic buildings including Gadhafi's compound.
"The LIFG chief [Abdel Hakim Belhadj] now styles himself "Commander of the Tripoli Military Council." Asked by our sources whether they plan to hand control of the Libyan capital to the National Transitional Council, which has been recognized in the West, the jihadi fighters made a gesture of dismissal without answering. (Debka, Pro-Al Qaeda brigades control Qaddafi Tripoli strongholds seized by rebels, August 28, 2011 )
Abdul Hakim Belhhadj received military training in CIA sponsored guerrilla camp in Afghanistan. He constitutes a CIA "intelligence asset" in the Lybian war theater. An earlier report suggests that he has some 1,000 men under his command. (Libyan rebels at pains to distance themselves from extremists - The Globe and Mail, March 12, 2011)
The US-NATO coaltion is arming the Jihadists. Weapons are being channelled to the LIFG from Saudi Arabia, which historically, since the outset of the Soviet-Afghan war, has covertly supported Al Qaeda. The Saudis are now providing the rebels, in liaison with Washington and Brussels, with anti-tank rockets and ground-to-air missiles. (See Michel Chossudovsky "Our Man in Tripoli": US-NATO Sponsored Islamic Terrorists Integrate Libya's Pro-Democracy Opposition, Global Research, 3 April 2011)
A "Democracy" run by Terrorists
Reports also confirm that large numbers of terrorists imprisoned in Abu Salim jail were released by rebel forces. They are now being recruited by the former LIFG Islamic brigades, led by "former" jihadists pro-democracy commanders.
So all ends well in the smooth transition towards a democracy run by terrorists.
NATO's Islamic Jihad
There is indications that NATO, in coordination with Western intelligence agencies (including Israel's Mossad), is involved in recruiting Islamist fighters. Israeli intelligence sources confirm that NATO in cooperation with Turkey, is now directly training and recruiting in several Muslim countries a new jihadist generation of "Freedom Fighters". The Mujahideen after undergoing training are slated to participate in NATO's "pro-democracy" "humanitarian" military campaigns. The Israeli report by Debka pertains to Syria, which is next in line on the NATO military roadmap:
"Our sources report, is a [NATO] campaign to enlist thousands of Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world to fight alongside the Syrian rebels... " (Debka File August 15, 2011 [Link])
The NATO led invasion and occupation of Libya is using Islamic fighters as the backbone of an alleged transition to democracy.
Concluding Remarks
The tragic events of 9/11 have played a key role in developing a massive propaganda campaign geared towards justifying a "war on terrorism" directed against Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
In a bitter twist, throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, the Western military alliance is using Islamic brigades, trained and groomed by the CIA, MI6 and Mossad, to wage its "Global War on Terrorism".
The war on terrorism constitutes a broad consensus instilled in the minds of millions of people, What is not known to Western public opinion is that the West's holy crusade against Islamic terrorism rather than targeting terrorists actually includes terrorists in his ranks, i.e Al Qaeda "freedom fighters" have been integrated into the ranks of US-NATO led military operations.
Rest assured, in the case of Libya, the rebels are "the good guys": they are "former" rather than "active" members of Al Qaeda.
The Western media has not reported on NATO war crimes. It has casually dismissed NATO atrocities: 8000 strike sorties represents more than 50,000 missiles and bombs dropped on the Libyan people.
There are various ways of concealing the truth. From the outset of the air campaign, the media has denied the existence of a war. Its causes and consequences are distorted. In turn, an effective propaganda campaign requires targeting people's mindset in newspapers, network TV and online.
People must be distracted from an understanding of the war on Libya. Atrocities committed by NATO with the support of the United Nations is rarely frontpage news. How best to camouflage the truth? By redirecting news coverage on Libya towards a number of trivial "talking points", including the size of Gadhafi's swimming pool, his female bodyguards, his cosmetic plastic surgery, etc. The Guardian, August 23, 2011)....."