http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/22/146357.html
Al-Qaeda in Libya?
Friday, 22 April 2011
Algeria has repeatedly warned that members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were among Libyan opposition forces and that group was exploiting the fighting in Libya to obtain armament.
A high official of the United States military said on Friday there were no signs of al-Qaeda representation among Libyan opposition forces, which he said were moving toward a “stalemate” with the Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.
The Western powers were reluctant to provide military hardware to the ragtag opposition forces, which have hitherto failed to make any significant progress in their fight against Colonel Qaddafi.
The allied powers have justified their reluctance by what they said was a lack of sufficient information about the nascent opposition leaderships in the oil-rich North African state.
The United States in particular is wary about not repeating its mistake in Afghanistan when it supported the mujahedeen against the Soviet occupation with weapons, which would later be used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda against US interests.
Algeria has repeatedly warned that members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were among Libyan opposition forces and that group was exploiting the fighting in Libya to obtain armament.
But Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during his visit to Baghdad, “We're watchful of it, mindful of it and I just haven’t seen much of it at all. In fact, I’ve seen no al-Qaeda representation there at all.”
Admiral Mullen’s statement is likely to dispel a primary fear of Western powers in Libya and push for a more concerted US engagement and speed up bringing an end to Colonel Qaddafi’s 42-year old rule.
Admiral Mullen warned that Mr. Qaddafi’s forces were only hobbled and that conflict was moving into a stalemate.
“It's certainly moving towards a stalemate,” said Admiral Mullen, said. “At the same time we’ve attributed somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of his main ground forces, his ground force capabilities. Those will continue to go away over time.”
In Misrata, the only rebel-held major city in western Libya, rebels wrested control of a large downtown office building which had been a base for Colonel Qaddafi’s snipers and other troops, after a furious two-week-long battle.
Shattered masonry, wrecked tanks and the incinerated corpse of a government soldier lay near the former insurance offices on Friday amid buildings pockmarked by gunfire.
Rebel fighters are fighting a block-by-block war of attrition, with an enemy sometimes only yards away.
“Qaddafi’s fighters taunt us. If they are in a nearby building they yell at us at night to scare us. They call us rats,” one rebel said.
Fighting continues in the rebel-held east of the country. Colonel Qaddafi’s forces fired shells towards the town of Ajdabyia on Thursday, seeking to dislodge anti-government fighters from their main outpost before the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
(Mustapha Ajbaili of Al Arabiya can be reached at: Mustapha.ajbaili@mbc.net)
