Al-Qaida’s No. 2 has harsh words for Libyan leader
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida’s No. 2 figure harshly criticized Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a new audio tape Saturday, accusing him of being an enemy of Islam and threatening a wave of attacks against the North African country because it improved relations with the U.S.
In the 28-minute audio tape called “Unity of the Ranks,” Ayman al-Zawahri also announced that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was joining ranks with al-Qaida.
The recording also carried a message from Abu Laith al-Libi, a Libyan al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan who accused Gadhafi of decades of tyranny.
For decades, the U.S. had regarded Libya as a pariah state after Gadhafi came to power in a military coup in 1969 and turned against the West.
Libya was demonized for sponsoring various terrorist groups and for trying to undermine pro-Western governments in Africa. Washington put Libya on a list of state sponsors of terrorism and imposed sanctions that barred American companies from doing business in the oil-rich country. In 1986, U.S. warplanes carried out airstrikes against Libya.
But the tide started to turn in 2003, after Gadhafi’s surprise decision to dismantle Libya’s clandestine nuclear program. That same year, Libya reached a $2.7 billion settlement with families of the victims of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the next year it paid $170 million in compensation to the families of the 170 victims of the 1989 bombing of a French UTA passenger jet.
The U.S. resumed full diplomatic relations with Libya last year and removed Libya from the State Department’s list of terrorism sponsors.