Libya must take on the militants believed to be involved in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the head of the country’s legislature said, adding that the assault that left four Americans dead was part of a wider plan to destabilize the nation.
Mohammed Yussef Magariaf, who was recently elected head of the General National Congress, said in an interview in Benghazi that communications intercepted by the U.S. ahead of the attack linked al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to another Islamist brigade known as Ansar al-Shariah.
The attacks on U.S. and other diplomatic mission in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Yemen over the past few days were largely sparked by a film denigrating Islam’s prophet. The incidents, however, also laid bare the challenges confronting many of these nations as they emerge from the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.
“This is a turning point for the country,” Magariaf said, referring to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left the U.S. ambassador and three others dead. “Confrontation is necessary and inevitable with these elements. Today, it is the Americans, tomorrow it is going to be the Libyans.”
Magariaf said the attack on the U.S. mission was part of a wider campaign to destabilize Libya, and the militants must be “confronted” by pro-government forces.
[h=2]Arrests for Attack[/h]The legislature’s head said separately on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program today that about 50 arrests have been made in connection with the attack.
The spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee said by phone that the names of as many as 50 people had been given to Libyan border posts, “but some may have escaped to Egypt.”
The disparity in information about the arrests in Libya, coupled with questions about whether the attack was pre-planned or coincidental, also reflected the uncertainty and instability in Libya, where the new prime minister has yet to appoint a government and the country has been mired in violence since Muammar Qaddafi’s ouster last year.
The attack in Benghazi was the deadliest of the assaults on U.S. missions in several Arab nations. Egypt’s Interior Ministry said 417 people had been arrested in connection with the roughly five days of protests that began on Sept. 11. In Tunisia, 75 were arrested in connection with attacks on the U.S. embassy on Sept. 14. The attack there included several thousand Salafis, who adhere to an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam, protesting near the mission, burning vehicles in the embassy compound and torching the American school.
[h=2]Rifts Among Militants[/h]Magariaf said in the interview there appeared to be rifts even with the militants believed to be involved in the attack, with some of the Benghazi-based Ansar al-Sharia “for participation, some against.”
In either case, “it’s a deliberate, calculated action by a group working in collaboration with non-Libyan extremists,” he said. “I would not be surprised if it’s another country, but it’s not Saudi Arabia or Qatar, I’m sure.”
The Ansar al-Shariah brigade remains in its base in Benghazi, and its forces are guarding one of the city’s three main hospitals. Brigade members at both locations declined to be interviewed when approached by a Bloomberg reporter.
The U.S.’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said that the Benghazi protests were “hijacked” by extremists, leading to the violence.
[h=2]McCain, Rice[/h]The protest appears to have begun as “a spontaneous, not a premediated, response” to protests in Cairo over a “very offensive video” about Islam, she said, speaking today on ABC News’s “This Week.”
Arizona Senator John McCain, the most senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, disputed Rice’s contention about a spontaneous attack.
“How spontaneous is a demonstration when people bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons?” McCain asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” adding that there is “no doubt” the attack was waged by “extremists,” though he didn’t know how long it had been planned.
With the Federal Bureau of Investigation planning a probe into the attack, Magariaf urged the U.S. to not act unilaterally, fearing such a step would inflame public sentiment.
“We will not hesitate to act - to do what is our duty,” he said. “Let us start first, by ourselves, and if we are not capable” then others can help.
With assistance from David Lerman in Washington, Brigitte Scheffer in Tripoli and Jihen Laghmari in Tunis.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Stephen in Cairo at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Digby Lidstone at [email protected]
Mohammed Yussef Magariaf, who was recently elected head of the General National Congress, said in an interview in Benghazi that communications intercepted by the U.S. ahead of the attack linked al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to another Islamist brigade known as Ansar al-Shariah.
The attacks on U.S. and other diplomatic mission in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Yemen over the past few days were largely sparked by a film denigrating Islam’s prophet. The incidents, however, also laid bare the challenges confronting many of these nations as they emerge from the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.
“This is a turning point for the country,” Magariaf said, referring to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left the U.S. ambassador and three others dead. “Confrontation is necessary and inevitable with these elements. Today, it is the Americans, tomorrow it is going to be the Libyans.”
Magariaf said the attack on the U.S. mission was part of a wider campaign to destabilize Libya, and the militants must be “confronted” by pro-government forces.
[h=2]Arrests for Attack[/h]The legislature’s head said separately on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program today that about 50 arrests have been made in connection with the attack.
The spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee said by phone that the names of as many as 50 people had been given to Libyan border posts, “but some may have escaped to Egypt.”
The disparity in information about the arrests in Libya, coupled with questions about whether the attack was pre-planned or coincidental, also reflected the uncertainty and instability in Libya, where the new prime minister has yet to appoint a government and the country has been mired in violence since Muammar Qaddafi’s ouster last year.
The attack in Benghazi was the deadliest of the assaults on U.S. missions in several Arab nations. Egypt’s Interior Ministry said 417 people had been arrested in connection with the roughly five days of protests that began on Sept. 11. In Tunisia, 75 were arrested in connection with attacks on the U.S. embassy on Sept. 14. The attack there included several thousand Salafis, who adhere to an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam, protesting near the mission, burning vehicles in the embassy compound and torching the American school.
[h=2]Rifts Among Militants[/h]Magariaf said in the interview there appeared to be rifts even with the militants believed to be involved in the attack, with some of the Benghazi-based Ansar al-Sharia “for participation, some against.”
In either case, “it’s a deliberate, calculated action by a group working in collaboration with non-Libyan extremists,” he said. “I would not be surprised if it’s another country, but it’s not Saudi Arabia or Qatar, I’m sure.”
The Ansar al-Shariah brigade remains in its base in Benghazi, and its forces are guarding one of the city’s three main hospitals. Brigade members at both locations declined to be interviewed when approached by a Bloomberg reporter.
The U.S.’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said that the Benghazi protests were “hijacked” by extremists, leading to the violence.
[h=2]McCain, Rice[/h]The protest appears to have begun as “a spontaneous, not a premediated, response” to protests in Cairo over a “very offensive video” about Islam, she said, speaking today on ABC News’s “This Week.”
Arizona Senator John McCain, the most senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, disputed Rice’s contention about a spontaneous attack.
“How spontaneous is a demonstration when people bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons?” McCain asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” adding that there is “no doubt” the attack was waged by “extremists,” though he didn’t know how long it had been planned.
With the Federal Bureau of Investigation planning a probe into the attack, Magariaf urged the U.S. to not act unilaterally, fearing such a step would inflame public sentiment.
“We will not hesitate to act - to do what is our duty,” he said. “Let us start first, by ourselves, and if we are not capable” then others can help.
With assistance from David Lerman in Washington, Brigitte Scheffer in Tripoli and Jihen Laghmari in Tunis.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Stephen in Cairo at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Digby Lidstone at [email protected]