venetiarainey Venetia Rainey
Saif Gaddafi claims to be planning Islamist state with rebels: "Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?" bit.ly/rukSrI
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venetiarainey Venetia Rainey · FollowJournalist, writer, and photographer. Interested in the Middle East, Arab-Western relations and human rights. Editorial Assistant for The First Post.
Saif Gaddafi plans Islamist state in ‘sexy’ Libya
Gaddafi’s son claims to be making deal with Islamist rebel who he says is really in charge of uprising
LAST UPDATED 12:57 PM, AUGUST 4, 2011The son of Colonel Gaddafi has claimed that he is in talks with a leading Libyan Islamist and is planning to set up an Islamic state in the war-torn country within the month.Sporting a beard for the first time in years and playing with Muslim prayer beads, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi told the New York Times's David Kirkpatrick: "Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?"In a rare interview, he said that he had been having numerous conversations with Ali Sallabi, a leading Islamist within the rebel camp. "We don't trust them, but we have to deal with them," he said. "We will have peace during Ramadan."The agreement, if it turns out to be true, would be a dramatic U-turn for the Gaddafi clan, which has continually characterised the entire pro-democracy uprising as an Islamic conspiracy in an attempt to discredit it. Then again, as Kirkpatrick notes, this new line may simply be "a twist on an old theme". In the interview, Gaddafi's son seemed to take special pleasure at the thought of Western countries being forced to accept Islamist ambassadors, suggesting that the supposed alliance could be an attempt to wind up Nato, who are still mounting frequent bombing raids against the regime."It was hard to gauge how credible his comments were," Kirkpatrick said of Saif.An alliance with Islamists would also indicate a huge personal change for Saif, who has previously worked hard to present himself as an agent of social and economic liberalisation in Libya.When asked why he thought Nato had intervened in Libya rather than anywhere else, Saif replied: "Libya is very sexy, very nice. Small country, small population, a lot of cash, a lot of oil. A very delicious piece of cake."Gaddafi's son also claimed that Sallabi is the "real leader" of the rebellion, which he says is being led by Islamists - an idea gaining traction even among western observers following the mysterious assassination last week of rebel general Fattah Younes."They decided to get rid of those people - the ex-military people like Abdul Fattah and the liberals - to take control of the whole operation," Saif said, adding that Sallabi had told him that the much-discussed future civil constitution of Libya would be against Islam.But Sallabi, who has openly said that he has been in talks with Saif for several months, denied that any kind of agreement had been made, insisting that the main point of discussions was always about the Gaddafi family's "departure from power".The Islamist leader reaffirmed his support for a civil constitution, adding: "Liberals are a part of Libya. I believe in their right to present their political project and convince the people with it."
Read more: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/82630,people,news,saif-al-islam-al-gaddafi-plans-libyan-islamist-state-with-rebels#ixzz1U3ycixLc
