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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Libya
Index
Workers load a surface-to-air missile onto a transporter
Since Qadhafi's rise to power, Libya has chronically employed
terrorism and revolutionary groups as primary instruments for
fulfilling its international ambitions. The main targets of
terrorist activity have been Libyan dissidents living abroad and
prominent political figures of moderate Arab and African countries.
Qadhafi has openly declared that "the revolution has destroyed
those who oppose it inside the country and now it must pursue the
rest abroad." A concerted drive to assassinate anti-Qadhafi exiles
resulted in the murder of eleven Libyan dissidents in 1980 and
1981. A further five attacks were sponsored by Libya in 1985. Plots
were allegedly uncovered against President Habre of Chad in 1984
and President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaïre in 1985. Earlier, there was
evidence that Libyan agents had targeted Arab moderates, including
Presidents Anwar Sadat and Husni Mubarak of Egypt, Jaafar al
Numayri of Sudan, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, King Hussein of
Jordan, and King Hassan II of Morocco.
Qadhafi has endeavored to undermine moderate Arab governments
judged not to be militant enough in their attitude toward Israel or
to be too closely tied to the West. Sudan under Numayei was a
priority target because it cooperated with the West and with Egypt.
Arms and funds were funneled to Sudanese rebels based in Ethiopia
in their guerrilla warfare against the central government. In early
1983, Libya was accused of having masterminded a coup attempt that
miscarried badly. The coup plan called for Libyan planes to bomb
public buildings in the capital of Khartoum while dissidents took
over the center of the city. When the plan became known and
Egyptian and United States aircraft were deployed at Numayri's
request, Qadhafi called a halt to the operation. However, in 1984,
a plane believed to be Libyan attempted to destroy a radio station
at Umm Durman, Sudan, that was broadcasting condemnations of
Qadhafi's policies.
Since late 1980, Qadhafi has aided the Somali National
Salvation Front, an insurgent group operating out of Ethiopia. He
has kindled unrest in North Africa in the case of Algeria by
providing money and a base to dissidents, such as former president
Ahmed Ben Bella, and in Tunisia by recruiting dissidents from the
large numbers of Tunisian workers in Libya to conduct raids and
sabotage.
In addition to repeated interventions in Chad in his efforts to
impose a leadership that would be amenable to Libyan influence,
Qadhafi has been accused of providing arms and training to Tuareg
tribesmen at a camp at Sabha. His goal has been to stir up the
Tuareg into demanding a union carved out of existing Sahelian
states, a union that would be under Libyan influence.
Libya has contributed to Niger's fears by its annexation of a
strip of territory on Niger's northern border and its backing of a
coup attempt against the president of Niger in 1976. Relations with
other African countries--including Senegal, Gambia, Togo, Burkina
Faso, and Zaire--have been embittered by Qadhafi's plotting and
support for radical dissidents.
Beginning in the 1980s, Qadhafi extended his activities into
Latin America and Asia. Arms and money allegedly have been made
available to insurgents in Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as to
the M-19 terrorist group in Colombia. In South Asia, Libya has been
involved with opponents of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi
governments and in Southeast Asia has provided help to Muslim
minorities, notably the Moro separatists on Mindanao in the
Philippines.
In the Middle East, Qadhafi has been motivated by the aim of
destroying Israel and of punishing those Arab elements willing to
compromise in the interest of regional peace. The smaller, more
radical factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
have received training and arms from Libya as well as financing for
their activities. According to the State Department, Libya's
contribution in 1981 alone amounted to nearly US$100 million. In
1985 attention was focused on Qadhafi's links with the Palestinian
terrorist Abu Nidal Organization, more formally known as the Fatah
Revolutionary Council, and with the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine-General Command. The Abu Nidal Organization
was believed responsible for the shooting of the Israeli ambassador
in London, the hijacking of an Egyptian airliner, and attacks on
the El Al and Trans World Airlines ticket counters at the Rome and
Vienna airports. The State Department charged that millions of
dollars in Libyan funds had gone to the Abu Nidal Organization,
that its top figures were resident in Libya, and that Libya had
provided training and travel documents to its teams mounting
terrorist attacks. Although other Middle Eastern states such as
Syria and Iran remained involved in terrorism, the State Department
maintained that Libya had become the most active, especially
against American and European travelers.
The affinity of Qadhafi for the Abu Nidal Organization and
other radical Palestinian factions is explained by the bitter
enmity they share for the main Arafat wing of the PLO, and for
their rejection of any form of negotiations with Israel. Terrorist
attacks of the kind they have successfully launched serve Qadhafi's
purpose by further elevating tensions in the Middle East and
blighting the prospects of peace initiatives.
Data as of 1987
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