tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5221719.post489279404683934682..comments2024-02-16T19:15:30.213-05:00Comments on Brian's Coffeehouse: Salafi Jihadism in LibyaBrian Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06986631330360998134noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5221719.post-68346067431776836642009-06-18T23:14:07.797-04:002009-06-18T23:14:07.797-04:00Thanks for the insight - North Africa isn't my...Thanks for the insight - North Africa isn't my forte.Brian Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06986631330360998134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5221719.post-74627867461141715882009-06-18T22:33:23.481-04:002009-06-18T22:33:23.481-04:00I think this is a case of poor headlining (by Jame...I think this is a case of poor headlining (by Jamestown). I have the greatest respect for Camille Tawil as a scholar on Jihadism -- and I may be wrong -- but he doesn't make it quite clear here that what happened in 2007 was that <i>a faction</i> of the tattered remains of the LIFG joined AQ. (Zawahiri even stressed later in his Q & A-sessions that it was a <i>group from LIFG</i> that joined, as opposed to a formal organizational merger of LIFG with AQ.)<br /><br />The point is that LIFG has long since ceased to be as a cohesive entity. Most leaders are in jail in Libya, while a few are free and in exile, pushing reconciliation/mediating (eg. bin Uthman), while yet another group has merged with AQ in Pakistan (Abu Laith el-Libi). As far as I know, group one has no contact with group three.<br /><br />So, what is happening is that one faction is about to renounce violence à la el-Gamaa in Egypt, and in that process also distance themselves from the merger of their ex-colleagues with AQ. But they're not "backing away" from joining AQ, since the people about to publish these denunciations have never joined AQ in the first place.allehttp://maghrebinenglish.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com