Islamist Leader Now Libyan Commander

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
September 9, 2011 at 4:00 am

Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the new commander of the Libyan rebel Tripoli Military Council, is now linked to one of the most symbolic events of the Libyan revolution: the capture of the Bab al-Aziziya compound, residence of the Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Before the revolution, Belhaj was known for being one of the father-founders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an Islamist organization created with the dual goal of toppling Gaddafi, regarded as an infidel, and of establishing an Islamic state through armed struggle.

Born in 1966, Belhaj's career started in Afghanistan in 1988, where he fought alongside the mujahedeen --Muslim guerrilla warriors engaged in jihad, or holy war -- against the Soviets. After the defeat of the Soviet Union in Kabul, he was for a short time in Pakistan, and later in Iraq. In 1995, he participated in founding of the LIFG, joined by 2500 Libyans, many of whom had participated in the war in Afghanistan. In 1996, Belhaj participated with the LIFG in an attempt on the life of Gaddafi. The failed assassination gave the group credibility and legitimization as an opposition movement.

The LIFG's ideology

Luis Martinez, director of the French Research Institute on Africa and the Mediterranean (CERAM), in his book,The Libyan Paradox, argues that the LIFG's jihad against Gaddafi was based on the need to establish an Islamic regime which could bring back social "justice." Martinez reports on an interview in 1996 by the then-spokesman, Abu Bakr Al-Sharif, where he advanced the following arguments:

"There is no doubt that the tragic situation which is hurting Libyan society is not hidden from any person with even the least concern for the situation of the Muslim. So, the absence of the Islamic regime – which is a guarantor for the achievement of a salvation and peace in this world and the next – is what brought us to the situation. Gaddafi, as a ruler who has been forced over the necks of the Muslims in Libya in order to achieve the interests of the enemies of our Nation, has fulfilled the role which has been expected from him to the letter. This role required him to break the rules of Islam and its symbols within the minds of people and everyday lives."

The LIFG's spokesman also revealed – as reported by Martinez – that the only way out from Gaddafi's dictatorship was a religious revival. "The most important achievement of the LIFG is the bringing back to life an overlooked requirement and a dead Sunnah [the way of life based on the teachings and practices of the Prophet Mohammed, considered the perfect man, whom all men should emulate]. I mean, by the fight against the apostates and the traitors. It also revived the hope – with the help of Allah – in the spirits which had been overcome with the hopelessness and fear which had been created by the regime through entrenched means."

In the years since its creation, between 1996 and 1998, the LIFG was involved in violent clashes with Libyan security forces. Read the rest on: 

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