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Al-Qaeda Targets Gaddafi

(National Post-Canada) Stewart Bell - A Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report says al-Qaeda-backed militants in Libya want to assassinate Col. Muammar Gaddafi, providing a possible explanation for the dictator's recent attempts to improve relations with the West. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is the most powerful radical faction waging holy war against Gaddafi, aiming to establish an Islamic state in Libya, CSIS said. "In order to achieve their goals, the LIFG has made numerous attempts to kill Col. Gaddafi," said the report, dated September 2002. Headed by Anas Sebai, a key al-Qaeda leader, the Libyan fighting group includes about 2,500 Libyans who fought in the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The group's stronghold is in the mountains on Libya's northeast coast. Three other armed groups, the Islamic Movement of Martyrs, Libyan Jihad Movement, and Islamic Movement for Change are also battling Gaddafi and at one point had "thousands, if not tens of thousands of supporters," CSIS said. A section of the report called "Presence and Activities in Canada" was entirely deleted by CSIS before the document was released under the Access to Information Act.
2003-12-26 00:00:00
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