News / Brèves Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan Describes Islamist Control of Libya 30 March 2014 (LPAC)—On March 16, former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who was forced to flee his country after being removed from office illegally by the Islamist-controlled General National Congress gave an interview to the Libya Herald, in which he gave a picture of a country under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) -controlled militias. When asked if he had felt there were any failures by his government, Zeidan said that security was the main failure. Nevertheless, he attributed this too to the weak post-revolutionary Libyan state and its lack of institutions. He specifically stated that the President of the GNC Nuri Abusahmain is a "poor man" who was a hostage of the Islamist Justice and Construction Party (Muslim Brotherhood) and the Wafa bloc in the GNC. The Wafa bloc is the Martyrs’ Loyalty bloc founded by Abu al-Wahhab Mohammad Qaid, a leading member of the LIFG, who is the elder brother of al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed by a U.S. drone in Pakistan in July 2012. "They are the ones who decide what the GNC head does," he said. Zeidan gave the example of the handing over of the control of the security of Tripoli by the GNC head to the (Islamist) Libyan Revolutionary Operations Room militia (LROR), as a case in point. "I fear the Islamists monopolize power and turn Libya into Algeria," Zeidan said that he feared that the Islamist bloc consisting of the Ikhwan (the Brotherhood), the Wafa bloc and others would monopolize power in Libya and turn Libya into an Algeria (during the period when the military Islamists were carrying out a terror campaign against the state). "Continuing his theme of the weak post-revolutionary Libyan state and the non-existence of state institutions, Zeidan admitted that the Libyan state has no army. Zeidan said that there is nothing under the state’s control, and that the army does not take orders from the state. ’When you look at the salaries, there is an army, but when we call upon it, it is not there,’ he explained. "Former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan implicated GNC head Nuri Abusahmain and the Islamist militia group LROR in his kidnapping. With regards to the fact that the GNC head visited him while he was still their hostage, yet left without him, Zeidan said that that in itself was telling — without elaborating. Zeidan said that the poor man, Abusahmain, was under pressure. He pointed out that those accused of having a hand in his kidnapping later shared a stage with the GNC head at a press conference and from within the GNC. Following the implication of the LROR militia in his kidnapping, they were nevertheless attached to the Chiefs of Staff and paid by the state. "Zeidan said that when he asked the GNC head who the LROR’s leaders were and how many they were, he was unable to provide an answer. The former Prime Minister put the reasons for his kidnapping to the fact that he had decided that militias would only be paid either by cheque or through a bank account. ’I am not prepared to hand over rubbish bags full of money,’ he said. Also, he refused to hand over the pay of a whole militia to their commander, but to members individually. "During his kidnapping guns were put to his head and chest, but he refused to resign, he said. When asked by the interviewer why he hadn’t resigned, Zeidan said it was not in the interest of Libya. "Vote of no confidence was partisan and illegal With regards to his removal from office last week, former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan rejected the process and procedure saying that it was improper. Zeidan said that it was illegal in that in reality the vote of no confidence only obtained 113 votes, with the balance of votes added later. "It must be noted that the vote was surprisingly carried out off air with the GNC refusing to broadcast the session. Zeidan said that the GNC also failed to inform him that it was conducting a vote of no confidence in him and failed to call his government in for questioning. "Zeidan also admitted that the GNC had attempted to force him into exporting weapons to Syria, which he refused fearing international and UN reputational damage." Although Zeidan is clearly still afraid to name the names, this in short is what Obama has wrought upon the people of Libya with his illegal, unconstitutional war. [William Wertz]