As the conflict for Tripoli International Airport intensifies, Islamists backlash has seen a strong uptick. One individual’s opinion that will carry some weight is the self-proclaimed Grand Mufti of Libya, Sadiq Gherani, who issued a fatwa in support of attack on Tripoli Airport. The leader of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, Bashir Al-Katabi, also emphasized the need to resolve the current political unrest using domestic alternatives, warning that the use of international forces can have some unintended consequences. Al-Katabi also refused to describe the initial results of the new parliament elections as a defeat for the brotherhood, saying that a great majority of the Islamists won as independents in this election. For our arabic readers, you can access more information about Al-Katabi in this interview. For our english readers, the article can be translated using the Google Chrome browser.These developments, along with the clashes taking place at Tripoli International Airport, show that the Islamists may not be as organized as the media portrays them to be. On the one hand, you have a very diplomatic formal leadership that recognizes the need to respect the ballot box and to work within the state institutions. On the other hand, there are factions within the Islamists who prefer to use violence and threats. Libyan analyst and commentator, Senussi Bsaikri, said he was contacted by the Libyan Revolutionaries Operations Room, a militia backing the GNC, and asked to put pressure on Libya‘s Muslim Brotherhood to lobby for one candidate for prime minister over another. “They said if the Justice and Construction Party continues to stand in front of us, we will attack them and kidnap their members,” said Bsaikri. More information related to the LROR is available in this Financial Times article. Despite indications from the preliminary ballot results that the Nationalist forces are far more popular, the Islamists will simply not give up in their struggle for power. They have the weapons, vehicles and religious zeal to defend the country against its perceived enemies. These forces include what they describe as drug dealers, human traffickers or liberal politicians they view as having been loyal to Qaddafi.
Are The Islamists as Organized as The Media Portrays Them to Be?