EVERY DAY dozens of petitioners gather at the heavy wooden door of Abdel Hakim Belhaj’s office at Mitiga airport, a former US military airbase in eastern Tripoli.
Besuited men who look like foreign diplomats sit with Libyans in traditional dress on leatherette sofas, all waiting to be ushered in to meet one of the most powerful men in Libya. Belhaj’s official title is head of the Tripoli military council, but in the eyes of his supporters and some of his critics his influence extends beyond that.
As post-Gadafy Libya tentatively begins to take shape, the ideas and ambitions of this man with a past are the subject of much speculation in the intrigue-filled capital.
A veteran of the 1980s jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, Belhaj, who is in his late 40s, went on to help found and lead the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an organisation which posed the most serious threat to Gadafy in the 1990s and was later deemed by the US to be a terrorist entity, allied with al-Qaeda. When Gadafy’s regime hit back with a bombing campaign directed at LIFG strongholds, many fighters, including Belhaj, sought refuge in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, then home to a constellation of militants including Osama bin Laden. They insist the LIFG never agreed with or assisted in al-Qaeda’s war against the West. “We had no other goal but to get rid of Gadafy,” says Belhaj, who fled Afghanistan in late 2001 before ending up in southeast Asia. There he was subjected to extraordinary rendition in what he alleges was a CIA and MI6 operation, and handed over to Libya in 2004. This month Britain said an inquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of suspected terrorists will examine his case.
During his subsequent imprisonment in Tripoli’s notorious Abu Salim jail, Belhaj and others began the process of redefining the LIFG’s goals and ideology. The group was eventually stood down and renamed the Libyan Islamic Movement for Change. When Libya’s uprising turned bloody in mid-February, the former militants offered their unconditional support.
“People were voicing their demands in a peaceful way but they were faced with the regime’s bullets, so they had to take up arms,” says Belhaj. “This revolution united all the people. Its flag was not raised under any agenda or ideology whatsoever. No one led it. This was the people’s revolution.”
Dressed in military fatigues and with a pistol strapped to his belt, Belhaj leans back in his chair and shuts his eyes for a few seconds. It has been an exhausting four weeks since Tripoli fell, not least because of the jockeying for power within the ranks of the former rebels. Belhaj’s appointment stirred controversy – senior figures in a number of rebel brigades claim his supporters have exaggerated the role he played in the revolution.
An aide says Belhaj will not comment on specific individuals or groups because, as the aide puts it, “he’s working hard to help preserve unity”. Some Islamists, including prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ali Salabi, have claimed “extremist secularists” within the National Transitional Council interim government are working to exclude people such as him and Belhaj.
Asked about this, Belhaj weighs his words carefully. “Our main objective is to gain such freedom that everybody can express their own opinions, and nobody imposes their views. We need to reach the level where we have a civil state with a proper constitution and laws which respect human rights and raise the flag of justice and equality without excluding anyone.
“We have not had this freedom for 42 years,” he says. “We don’t want anyone to hijack this revolution with their own agendas, and lead the people without representing the majority of Libyans.”
In an interview with The Irish Times in March, two leading members of the former LIFG did not rule out the possibility of the Libyan Islamic Movement for Change becoming a political party in the post-Gadafy scenario.
“Why not?” says Belhaj. “The opportunity is open now for all Libyans to be organised in groups or parties. When we have completed the battle of liberation, we will talk more about it. [The movement] is, like any others, concerned with the welfare of the Libyan people. They want to serve this country. Their way is very peaceful.”
Asked whether he is interested in a career in politics, Belhaj’s reply is coy and delivered with a smile: “I haven’t thought about it yet.” He predicts what kind of parties he believes will hold most appeal in the new Libya. “The Libyan people belong to a conservative society, with its own traditions and culture. Nationalists, who have integrity and concern for the country, and are trustworthy, will be the ones chosen.”
Like many Libyan Islamists, Belhaj speaks approvingly of the lessons offered by Turkey and Malaysia. “They succeeded in developing their countries and their economies, and succeeded in establishing effective institutions that provide justice and welfare for their people,” he says. “This experience is worth aspiring towards.” He acknowledges the road ahead appears daunting.
“We face many challenges and obstacles, from completing the liberation war, to setting up administrations, security, and everything else to run the country, until we get to the point where we are ready to perform politically in a way that gathers all the parties together for the people to decide.” One major challenge will be ensuring all the brigades and irregular militias that emerged during the revolution come together under one command.
Belhaj says he is confident the armed revolutionaries will either give up their weapons or merge into formal military or police structures once the revolution is over. “There won’t be anything worrying or frightening from them. They are serious patriots and they will comply,” he insists.
“I hope we have a strong government that serves the people and achieves their ambitions. This will ensure harmony and help us build a strong country.”