Tuesday, February 17, 2015

MICHAEL BURLEIGH: Slaughter on the shores of the Med... so close to resorts loved by Britons

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Published: 00:04 GMT, 17 February 2015 | Updated: 09:32 GMT, 17 February 2015

They were marched along the pristine sands of the beach to the scene of their murder.

Twenty-one terrified souls, whose only crime was their faith, executed in such a barbaric manner the sea turned red.

The world has been so transfixed by gruesome events in Iraq and Syria that the developing Islamist threat in Libya has been largely ignored.

Shocking scene: Islamic State militants march Egyptian Coptic Christians in orange jumpsuits along a beach

Horrifying footage: The 21 Christian hostages are forced to kneel for their beheadings in the IS video

But the beheading of the Coptic Christians who had come to Libya from Egypt as guest workers will now serve as the most horrific wake-up call for the West over what is unfolding on Europe’s doorstep.

For this medieval massacre did not take place in some far-off, fly-blown desert in Syria or Iraq.

It happened on the shores of the Mediterranean, 180 or so miles south of Crete, where Britons will be holidaying this summer. Britons who will be closer to the ghouls of IS than they probably realise.

Ever since the Western-backed overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, Libya has spiralled ever-deeper into violent, terrifying chaos.

In a cringe-making victory tour after Gaddafi had been killed, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French leader at the time, arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli to be hailed as heroes who had delivered freedom and democracy to the country.

Yet the truth is that Libya has become a failed state, where murder and tribal warfare are endemic, weaponry can be bought on every street corner and the rule of law has long since disappeared.

Last July, the Americans shut down their embassy in Tripoli because it was too dangerous. A month later, Britain followed suit. And this weekend, the Italians – Europe’s last ambassadorial presence in Libya – packed their bags.

Into the vacuum have stepped gangsters, terrorists... and now IS.

On the beach: The medieval massacre happened on the shores of the Mediterranean, 180 or so miles south of Crete, where Britons will be holidaying this summer

Gruesome: The beheading of the Coptic Christians who had come to Libya from Egypt as guest workers will now serve as the most horrific wake-up call for the West over what is unfolding on Europe’s doorstep

The decision by Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to send in jet fighters to bomb IS positions in Libya is not just a matter of retribution, although the Egyptian people understandably demand it.

Al-Sisi is rightly worried that Egypt faces an escalating threat from Islamic terrorists on two fronts, not just from IS in Libya, but from its affiliates in Sinai, the Egyptian peninsula next to Gaza and Israel, where in recent months hundreds of Egyptian police and soldiers have died in bombings.

Ever since the Western-backed overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (pictured) in 2011, Libya has spiralled ever-deeper into violent, terrifying chaos

Again, Western tourists snorkelling in the clear waters at Sharm el-Sheikh in south Sinai may not quite understand how near they are to the barbarians who have declared war on their way of life.

Egypt’s airstrikes on IS in Libya may hinder the terrorists in the short term, but whether its armed forces – which admittedly are impressive on paper – can crush them is open to question.

In the Libyan coastal town of Derna, where IS is based, the group’s black banner flutters over the main mosque, and its roving police enforce sharia law with beheadings and floggings.

For many years a hotbed of extreme Islamism, Derna supplied the bulk of Libyan jihadists who went to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Given the power vacuum, many have now returned home sensing Libya as an opportunity, and have pledged ‘their’ city’s allegiance to the IS caliph – or leader – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Al-Baghdadi is deliberately cultivating pledges like this to boost IS’s influence beyond its heartlands in Iraq and Syria.

His global reach now encompasses northern Nigeria, where he enjoys the support of terror group Boko Haram; the wild and lawless Sinai peninsula; Afghanistan and Pakistan; and, we must not forget, his sympathisers in Europe.

Just as Afghanistan suited Osama bin Laden as a base, lawless Libya is almost ideal for Baghdadi’s malign purpose, especially because of its central geographical position, not to mention prodigious oil and gas wealth.

One US counter-terror expert bleakly described Libya as ‘Scumbag Woodstock’, comparing the way drug-taking hippies were drawn to the huge US open air pop concert of the 1960s to the way Libya is attracting a vast, armed camp of jihadists from neighbouring countries whose governments are making it difficult for them to operate.

Cringe-making victory tour: After Gaddafi had been killed, David Cameron (above) and Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Tripoli to be hailed as heroes who had delivered freedom and democracy to Libya

Airstrike: The decision by Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to send in jet fighters to bomb IS positions in Libya is not just a matter of retribution, although the Egyptian people understandably demand it

The country borders Algeria and Tunisia in the west and Egypt in the east, all long-term IS targets for Islamist subversion.

In the south, Libya abuts the vast majority-Muslim states of Chad and Niger. These provide easy access to Mali, Mauritania – both Muslim countries – and Nigeria, whose north is mainly Muslim.

The combination of Libya’s vast supply of weapons – the country is awash because Gaddafi and then Nato flooded it with arms – and all but non-existent border controls means it has become the primary supplier of illicit arms in the world.

Western tourists snorkelling in the clear waters at Sharm el-Sheikh in south Sinai may not quite understand how near they are to the barbarians who have declared war on their way of life

UN experts said last year that Libya’s weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, have been trafficked to at least 14 countries.

Meanwhile, there’s little prospect of a resolution to the chaos.

The country has two rival governments, based loosely on two historic Ottoman provinces: Cyrenaica in the east, and Tripolitania in the west, though in truth, each town is virtually a law unto itself.

The desert in the south west, meanwhile, has slipped into general lawlessness.

It is the internationally recognized regime of prime minister Abdullah al-Thinni that is based in the east.

For security reasons, its House of Representatives meets not in a parliamentary building but on board a heavily defended Greek car ferry in Tobruk harbour.

Al-Thinni enjoys the support of a former Gaddafi-era general, Khalifa Haftar, who has vowed to crush the Islamists.

His immediate enemies are the rival government in the west, which controls much of Tripoli and is run by the Islamist party Libya Dawn.

The aftermath of Egyptian airstrikes on Libyan city of Derna

Destroyed buildings: For many years a hotbed of extreme Islamism, Derna (above, pictured yesterday) supplied the bulk of Libyan jihadists who went to fight in Syria and Iraq

Leader: Lawless Libya is almost ideal for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s malign purpose, especially because of its central geographical position, not to mention prodigious oil and gas wealth

Several conservative Arab governments, notably the United Arab Emirates, are so fearful of violent Islamists as they extend their grip on Libya that they have sent fighters to bomb them but have kept quiet about their military actions.

In response the Islamists bombed their embassies in Tripoli.

Yet this drastically simplified account does not begin to describe the anarchy that has engulfed Libya.

Real power lies in the hands of 1,700 armed militias with vast arsenals who are on the public payroll – and most of whom signed up after the fall of Gaddafi simply to get a salary.

The borders are non existent, which means Libya’s section of the Mediterranean coast has become an open door for asylum seekers seeking access to Europe.

Last week, 2,000 migrants were rescued by Italian coastguards from Kalashnikov-wielding traffickers as they headed for Italy in overcrowded boats.

Truly, the consequence of the West’s ‘liberation’ of Libya in 2011 have been far-reaching.

But I wonder whether Mr Cameron, as he watches IS thrive in the anarchy, remains quite as ‘proud’ of delivering freedom and democracy as he once declared himself to be.