Sunday, May 24, 2015

Britain Is 'Helping Turn Libya Into a Cradle of Terrorism' Exporting Killers to Europe Amid Thousands of Illegal Immigrants
Mahmoud Jibril was Libya's interim prime minister when Gaddafi was killed

Claims muddled policies have allowed ISIS to reduce the nation to anarchy
He uses example of the 21 Coptic Christian's beheaded on a beach by ISIS

By NABILA RAMDANI IN SWEIMEH, DEAD SEA, JORDAN
09:19 EST, 24 May 2015

Britain is helping turn Libya into a 'cradle of terrorism' exporting killers to Europe along with thousands of illegal migrants, one of the country's senior politicians has warned.

'Actually, ISIS's threats were very clear, and very open, when they slaughtered those twenty one Coptics in Libya.

'Their message to Europe was very clear, was very open, it was not implicit, it was a very explicit threat - that they will be coming to European shores.'

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on North Africa and the Middle East, Mr Jibril said:

'Actually we believed the international community's intervention was to protect civilians but it turned out that their main purpose was to get rid of Gaddafi.

'What civilians are exposed to right now is much more horrible, and much more dangerous than what took place in 2011, and the world community doesn't raise a figure about that.

Mr Jibril (next to David Cameron in 2011) was speaking at the World Economic Forum on North Africa and the Middle East,

'I remember October 2011, by the end of the Nato bombing campaign I was in Brussels.

'I was pleading to the European Union, saying the mission was just about to start now, saying don't leave us before we rebuild our institutions. It is now that we really need help.

'It's easy to destroy a home, but the hardest part is to rebuild that home, unfortunately nobody listened.

'I think the Europeans will pay a heavy price now, for not listening to that call for help. We even sent a letter asking them to extend the mission for a few months, but they refused.'

Thousands of migrants from all over the world are now using Libya as a gateway to Europe, with many drowning as they attempt perilous sea crossings organised by people smugglers.

ISIS SEIZE KEY BORDER CROSSING - BUT IRAQI FORCES REGAIN GROUND

Islamic State extremists have seized the Iraqi side of a key border crossing with Syria after isolated government forces pulled out.

'Daesh (IS) early this morning took control of the Al-Walid post on the border between Iraq and Syria after the withdrawal of the army and the Iraqi border police,' a police colonel said.

The jihadists had seized the Syrian side, known as Al-Tanaf, three days earlier, leaving Iraqi forces guarding the remote outpost in Anbar province very vulnerable.

The police colonel said the government forces at Al-Walid temporarily pulled back to the nearby Trebil border crossing with Jordan.

IS fighters seized another border crossing between Anbar and Syria last year. The other crossing between the two countries is further north and controlled by Kurdish forces.

The head of Anbar’s border commission confirmed that government forces had pulled out of Al-Walid.

'There was no military support for the security forces and there weren’t enough of them to protect the crossing,' Suad Jassem said.

'Daesh now controls both sides of both crossings,' she said.

It came as Iraqi forces regained ground from Islamic State militants in western Iraq on Sunday, advancing towards the city of Ramadi one week after it fell to the insurgents.

A police major and a pro-government Sunni tribal fighter in the area said they had retaken the town of Husaiba al-Sharqiya, about 10 km east of Ramadi, with the help of Shi'ite paramilitaries.

Shi'ite militias, Iraqi security forces and pro-government Sunni tribal fighters launched a counter-offensive on Saturday against the insurgents, who have pushed east towards a key military base after overruning Ramadi.

Mr Jibril warned that, by 2050, some 350 million young people from Africa would be looking for work abroad and, if Libya remained a 'black hole', it would continue to be their main 'funnel' into Europe.

Many of the illegal migrants from countries such as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt and Libya itself arrive in Italy, and some make their way to Britain via Channel ports in France.

Mr Jibril warned that the number of IS killers in Libya had swelled from a few dozen six months ago, to some 2000 today, and a number were likely to be Europe bound too.

Referring to IS as Daesh, Mr Jibril said: 'A combined militia could crush them, but without political agreement I fear that Libya will become a black hole that will engulf all its neighbours in North Africa, the sub-Saharan Sahel and Europe.'

Mr Jibril added that: 'There are currently more than 27 million weapons in Libya. These could arm more than seven African countries.'

Bernardino Leon Gross, the UN Special Representative working to create a 'national dialogue' between internationally recognised governments based in both Tripoli and Benghazi, was also at the Forum in Sweimeh, Jordan.

He said 'agreement is crucial' to prevent the crisis growing even more serious, and urged the creation of a national unity government 'in a few months' time'.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France's former president, has been accused of wanting Gaddafi dead because the Libyan paid him millions in undeclared cash..

Mr Sarkozy feared that evidence against him would be uncovered during the Arab Spring revolt of 2011, but now denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Cameron has insisted that the attacks on Libya were justified, even though the UN resolution which sanctioned bombing were solely aimed at 'protecting civilian lives', rather than killing Gaddafi.

Libya was plunged into chaos following Gaddafi's death, with heavily armed militias and terrorist groups such as IS all competing for control of the country's massive energy wealth.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3094893/Britain-helping-turn-Libya-cradle-terrorism-exporting-killers-Europe-amid-thousands-illegal-immigrants.html#ixzz3b7PFYNJR
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