Benghazi, Libya, deteriorating into security nightmare

[Doc91678]

By Ashish Kumar Sen
February 3, 2013



Security in Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where four Americans were killed Sept. 11 in a terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate, has decayed to the point where Westerners are fleeing, assassinations and kidnappings are rife and residents worry that U.S. drone strikes on jihadist targets are imminent.

...

In January, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada urged their citizens to leave Benghazi. The British Foreign Office said it was aware of “a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi.”

Several nongovernmental organizations already have left.

...

Over the past year, militants in Benghazi have attacked the British envoy’s motorcade, the offices of the International Red Cross, the U.S. Consulate and Italy’s top diplomat in Libya. The Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, State Department officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Westerners are not the only targets.

At least two dozen security officers, including Benghazi's police chief, have been killed over the past year. The head of the criminal investigative division, who was investigating the police chief’s death, was abducted and is still missing.

...

Libya’s weak government, police force and judiciary have done little to arrest or prosecute those responsible for the attacks.

“The Libyan government does not have the strength” to tackle this problem, said Karim Mezran, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “The government has been paralyzed and has allowed the jihadist groups to establish camps in the south and in the east.”

The conflict in Mali has heightened security concerns in Libya. Western and Libyan officials are worried that Islamist militants fleeing the French military offensive will cross Algeria’s porous borders and seek safe havens in Libya.


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Benghazi, Libya, deteriorating into security nightmare - Washington Times

 

[Claudette]

Yup. Our embassy folks should have been brought home and the embassy closed. We should have taken a clue from those embassies that did close and the Red Cross who pulled out.

If they had then no one would have had to depend on Barry's 'State Department to save their asses.

They would all still be alive.

 

[NYcarbineer]

By Ashish Kumar Sen
February 3, 2013



Security in Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where four Americans were killed Sept. 11 in a terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate, has decayed to the point where Westerners are fleeing, assassinations and kidnappings are rife and residents worry that U.S. drone strikes on jihadist targets are imminent.

...

In January, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada urged their citizens to leave Benghazi. The British Foreign Office said it was aware of “a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi.”

Several nongovernmental organizations already have left.

...

Over the past year, militants in Benghazi have attacked the British envoy’s motorcade, the offices of the International Red Cross, the U.S. Consulate and Italy’s top diplomat in Libya. The Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, State Department officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Westerners are not the only targets.

At least two dozen security officers, including Benghazi's police chief, have been killed over the past year. The head of the criminal investigative division, who was investigating the police chief’s death, was abducted and is still missing.

...

Libya’s weak government, police force and judiciary have done little to arrest or prosecute those responsible for the attacks.

“The Libyan government does not have the strength” to tackle this problem, said Karim Mezran, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “The government has been paralyzed and has allowed the jihadist groups to establish camps in the south and in the east.”

The conflict in Mali has heightened security concerns in Libya. Western and Libyan officials are worried that Islamist militants fleeing the French military offensive will cross Algeria’s porous borders and seek safe havens in Libya.


**snip**

Continue reading: -->
Benghazi, Libya, deteriorating into security nightmare - Washington Times

What's your point?

 

[Bigfoot]

What's your point?

What difference does it make?

 

[waltky]

Muslim extremists takin' over Libya...

Extremists Setting Up Shop in Libya
June 07, 2013 — Growing lawlessness in southern Libya and an influx of Islamist militants from Mali are stoking worries that Libya’s security weaknesses are fast becoming a destabilizing factor in the region.

A former Libyan intelligence source has told VOA that al-Qaida-linked jihadists driven out of Mali by a French-led offensive earlier this year have set up at least three jihadist camps in southern Libya in recent months. As a consequence, the source said, Libya has now become the headquarters for al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The situation has triggered criticism from neighboring sub-Saharan nations and has caused Libya to appeal for technical assistance from Europe to help police the nation’s long borders.

Libyan militias blockade the Justice Ministry in Tripoli April 30 demanding the ouster of officials linked to the late Moammar Gadhafi.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan reacted angrily to accusations last month that suicide bombers behind twin blasts in Niger that killed 24 crossed over from Libya. What appeared to anger the Libyan leader the most was the claim by Niger officials that Libya was becoming a safe haven for militants affiliated with al-Qaida. Zeidan insisted that Libya was working hard to be a good neighbor and that its own investigation had shown that no terrorists had crossed into Niger from Libyan territory. In January, the Zeidan government was equally dismissive of Algerian claims that al-Qaida-affiliated militants used Libya to mount the deadly assault on an Algerian gas facility that left dozens dead. Algerian officials said the assailants wore Libyan military uniforms and drove vehicles with Libyan license plates.

Alarm rising over extremists in Libya

European officials have expressed their own concerns about the movement of radical Islamists into Libya. The terror group’s increased presence in Libya comes at a time the country is reeling from several threats to—or attacks on—Western targets. French President Francois Hollande has pointed to Libyan lack of security as a cause for major worry. In May, the French embassy in Tripoli was bombed, and the French leader has argued publicly that there is a link between the bombers behind that attack and those responsible for the blasts in Niger on May 23. Despite Zeidan’s public denials, he has started to focus attention on the south of Libya, and has been conferring with his officials to see what can be done to reverse what his aides say is a deteriorating situation in the south.

Zeidan also visited NATO headquarters in Brussels last week to seek assistance. A team of NATO experts is due to arrive in Libya shortly to assess military training and border security needs. NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, says technical aid “would be a fitting way to continue our cooperation with Libya after we successfully took action to protect the Libyan people two years ago.” In May, an advance team of border security experts from the European Union arrived in Tripoli to start up a mission separate from NATO to provide technical assistance and advice. Libya has been plagued by instability since the overthrow of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi 18 months ago.

Army and police barely functioning

 

[waltky]

Eastern Libya wracked by waves of political assassinations...

Rights Group: Wave of Political Assassinations Paralyzes Libya
August 08, 2013 — Human Rights Watch [HRW] says more than 50 people have died in a broadening wave of apparent political assassinations in the cities of Benghazi and Derna in volatile eastern Libya. Analysts say the state has been unable to reign in the violence that has taken place during the two years since Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was ousted in 2011.

The rights group said two of those killed were judges and 44 were serving members of the security forces. Most held positions in the Gadhafi government and at least six were high-ranking officers during his leadership. Hanan Salah, a Libya researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, “In none of these cases have the law enforcement agents, the criminal investigations department or the police been able to conclude any of these investigations.” People interviewed by HRW said law enforcement agents have not investigated at crime scenes, summoned potential witnesses, or provided information to the families about their investigations.

Libyan officials could not be reached for comment. Law enforcement officials in Benghazi, though, have said the unstable security situation creates major obstacles to their investigations and they lack the means to summon witnesses without the use of force. They also say they do not have access to sophisticated tools for investigation, such as DNA testing. Salah said the government has shown no political will to resolve the situation. "The weakness of the government and the lack of means for these law enforcement agents to conduct their jobs, to do their investigations, is the main cause for that." No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

People stand in front of a damaged Marks & Spencer store after a blast in Benghazi, Libya

Shashank Joshi, a Libya analyst at the Royal United Services Institute research group in London, said the situation has grown steadily worse since the overthrow of Gadhafi and shows little sign of improving. "At this point it is difficult to see how the state could do more without a more fundamental change in the political circumstances - and that is, all groups respecting the legitimacy of the central state." He said the law enforcement system is not cohesive enough to apprehend suspects from far-flung parts of the country where they might have fled. Also, because of porous national borders to the south, suspects can easily flee the country. Libya’s prime minister has said he will re-shuffle his government to try to tackle instability in Benghazi.

On top of the assassinations, the city has recently been hit by bombings, public protests, and a mass jail breakout. Joshi said the government needs to rein in the situation now or risk state collapse. "I think they have a strong incentive in showing themselves to be competent. Because the more they allow this to continue, the less capable they are, the more they lose legitimacy and the more they lose ground to militias." The research carried out by Human Rights Watch shows a peak in political assassinations in Benghazi in the second half of 2012, and then again in January and July 2013. It says most of the killings have been in central and eastern Libya.

Rights Group: Wave of Political Assassinations Paralyzes Libya