Posted on 08/28/2011 12:28:12 AM PDT by kronos77
Speaking to RT today live from Brazil, Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar said that an al-Qaeda asset is now leading the military of rebel-controlled Libya.
According to Escobar, Abdelhakim Belhadj, who commanded a military offensive in Libya over the weekend, has become the de facto commander of the Tripoli armed forces. Belhadj has also, says Escobar, was trained in Afghanistan by a “very hardcore Islamist Libyan group.”
Escobar says that Taliban-linked sources overseas have confirmed Belhadj as the new commander. In the aftermath of 9/11, the CIA began tracking Belhadj, who was eventually captured in Malaysia in 2003. Escobar says that he was then tortured in Bangkok before being transferred back to Libya and imprisoned. He made a deal that allowed for his release in 2009 and as of this week is the military commander of Tripoli.
“I can say almost for sure with 95 percent certainty that this is the guy,” Escobar confirms.
How unexpected.
And then made a deal and was released,some deal.
Gee, couldn’t see THIS coming.
Go easy believing Escobar, he doesn’t always have his oars in the water. He can be very incendiary, and is a longtime America hater.
The story has problems, there is no overall military commander for the rebels, there are three rebel brigades and separate from them are the French trained and armed Berbers from western Libya.
He only went to Afghanistan to rebuild his organization after his failed revolt in Libya in the 1990s. He has no connection to AQIM and is much more a Libyan nationalist than jihadist.
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