From jihadist to Libyan war hero
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A lot of hand ringing controversy is going on about the outcome in inLibya. Will this be a much worse version of Pakistan? Afghanistan or .. Allah forbid .. IRAN? I believe something far more promising is going to happen. Like the American Revolution, this revolution came abut because of a coalition of groups with a shared common interest in in making Libya a place for opportunity. That opportunity, based on the existance of a nascent middkle calls, the examples of Turkey, Egypt and even Israel, is based on the idea that a solid military can back up a bourgeois commitment to promoting the middle class.
All of this dream vision depends on finding leaders with the skill to work together. Unlike Iran with nits Khomeini or Pakistan with its need to establish itself a not-India, Libya has no religious enemies, It is an Islamic nation in an area of moderate Islamic nations. Libyan leaders do not have a need to fight with Hindus or Shia. Instead, I believe they have a common interest forged in 42 years of an ugly dictatorship. Here is a hopeful example or what such leaders may look like:
Security experts say Abdel Hakim Belhadj, the new military commander of Tripoli, once spent time with al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan . (Belhadj )also) led a failed revolt in Libya in the 1990s.
But despite concern about his past, Libya’s new rulers and western diplomats seem confident there is no problem with the appointment.
After fighting with other jihadists against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, Belhadj joined the now defunct Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
The group reportedly had links with al Qaeda but Belhadj’s supporters say he and fellow leaders rejected a merger with Bin Laden’s movement in 2007.
From prison, Belhadj is also said to have publicly renounced terrorism in 2009, a year before he was freed.