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| Africa North |
| Ansar video "genuine": Operation Dignity's Air Force chief |
| 2014-07-06 |
| [Libya Herald] A video purporting to show a captured member of Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... admitting during interrogation to having murdered a number of people in Benghazi in return for payment by the organization is authentic, the head of Operation Dignity's air forces has claimed. Air Force Brigadier-General , who until January last year was chief of staff of the Libyan Air Force, said that the man seen being interrogated in the recording was just one of a number of members of Ansar who had been caught since Operation Dignity was launched. "We have a lot of them," he said, adding that they included a senior Ansar leader. The video, which appeared on a number of TV channels, shows an evidently frightened young man, said to have been placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in Marj, admitting to six killings. Intially, he stated, he was not paid but later was given between LD 1,500 and LD 2,000 per killing. He also said that there were many in Ansar who were not Libyan. He mentioned Algerians, Tunisians and Aghans. Geroushi similarly claimed today that among members of Ansar who had been captured there were Algerians and Tunsians. He would not, however, give names or numbers of those caught. In confident mood, he said the reason why there was less apparent action at present in Benghazi was because it was Ramadan and Operation Dignity wanted to try and avoid killing in the holy month. But Ansar were becoming weaker, he declared. They were running out of ammunition and funds and some of them, he said, had asked to negotiate with Operation Dignity forces. "We refused. We will not do it," he insisted. Ansar has made no statement about the video. |
| Posted by:Fred |