OnIslam.net

TRIPOLI – Being a key military leader of the Libyan revolution that ended Muammar Gaddafi 42-year rule, Abdel Hakim Belhadj is assuring the Libyans and the West about his political aspirations and the Islamists’ agenda in post-revolution Libya.

"In the transitional period, I don't have a desire to be part of anything," Belhadj told Reuters on Friday, November 11.

Belhadj, Tripoli’s military commander who controls 25,000 of the tens of thousands of former rebels, has been regarded as a rising Islamist figure in post-Gaddafi Libya.

Announcing the death of Gaddafi last month, he grabbed global television attention.

His rise and that of other Islamists has angered secular leaders who were part of rallies against the old regime.

It also generated anxiety among NATO powers who backed the rebellion.

Moreover, rivals allege that Belhadj has been seeking to be defense minister in the new transitional government being formed this month by Abdurrahim El-Keib.

"I want to serve my nation with all the power and ability I can offer, but to choose where and how, it is too early to talk about this now," Belhadj said.

Suffering under Gaddafi regime, Belhadj was captured by the CIA in Asia and put on a secret flight back to Libya where he was interrogated and tortured by the Libyan security services.

"What was done to me by the American and British secret services ... was very unfortunate. I was tortured by the CIA and I was tortured by the Libyan secret service," said Belhadj

But he added: "I'm not looking for revenge. That isn't my way." He has lawyers, however, looking to follow his complaint.

"I'm not negative about these nations," he said.

"God has created us as tribes and nations and has commanded us to mingle and will judge us according to our faiths. God created us different so that we can mingle and build on common interests," he added, quoting a Qur’anic verse.

Moderate Libya

Being a close figure to Qatar-based Libyan cleric Ali al-Sallabi, Belhadj assured Libyans on democracy.

"There is nothing to fear, there is no extremism in Libya," Belhadj told Reuters.

"Libyans are Muslims, they are moderate, their Islam is moderate ... There is no al Qaeda in Libya and there is no connection between the revolutionaries and al Qaeda.

"I have no relationship with al Qaeda," he added, addressing questions about his time with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Afghanistan before the US invasion.

Yet, Belhadj did not confirm his involvement with a project, highlighted by al-Sallabi in Qatar this week, to establish a new Islamist party to contest elections, in common with Islamists who have done well from the Arab Spring revolts in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt.

"We aspire to build a modern nation, a nation of law that will have justice, equality and freedom for all," Belhadj said.

“These are the standards that we missed under Gaddafi's rule.

"All Libyans marched together,” he added.

“No one tried to rush past anyone to raise their own banner or to belittle another banner, and this is one of the characteristics of this revolution."

Islamists were aggressively repressed under Gaddafi’s 42-year rule.

The fallen leader called Islamists "heretics" and worked energetically to silence them.

Hundreds, if not thousands, were jailed, and an unknown number were executed.

In 1987, Gaddafi authorized state television to broadcast the hanging of six suspected Islamists in front of a crowd at a sports stadium.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a variety of armed Islamist groups tried and failed to topple Gaddafi.

And in the 2011 war that finally ousted the strongman, Islamist fighters fought in guerrilla groups that played important roles in the taking of Tripoli and other major towns.

Observers believe that this is a golden opportunity for Libya’s Islamists to assert their role after decades of repression under Gaddafi.