“Remember
Libya?
The North African country that got caught up in the ‘Arab Spring,’
ousted its eccentric dictator, and is now supposedly transforming into a
peaceful, democratic state?” This was a foreboding question posed by
the
Trumpet on Feb. 23, 2012. During and since that time, Libya
has been steered down a path of violence that is destined to end in
radical Islam claiming another victim from the ‘Arab Spring,’ which will
bring on the fulfillment of a number of powerful prophecies in the
Middle East.
Since Libyan President Muammar Qadhafi’s execution at the hands of
rebel forces, Libya has taken a backseat to more “gripping” news in the
region, predominantly from Syria and Egypt. The
murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens
received some media attention and sparked a renewed interest in the
plight of Libya, but in recent months interest has faded as the
atrocities in other regions of the Middle East have intensified. While
turmoil has raged across the Middle East and North Africa, Libya has
quietly descended into a political, social and economic crisis.
Libya now faces its most daunting challenges since the days of
Colonel Qadhafi. Since the war, the economy has failed to restart. Libya
is largely dependent on its oil and gas revenues to pay its workforce,
arm its military and to run the nation.
Libya currently exports 130,000 barrels of oil per day, a veritable
dribble compared to the amounts gushing forth pre-2011. Today exports
are at
less than 10 percent
of the pre-war level. With such a heavy reduction in oil—the lifeblood
of the country—Libya is running out of ways to pay its workforce.
Many government workers are now striking, fed up with the
inefficiency of the administration. Protesting costs the nation around
$140 million per day. The cost of strikes on the economy has been $5
billion so far. With daily power and water outages across the nation,
the striking looks set to continue, and intensify.
Some are already taking more extreme measures to make a buck. Tired
of the weak government, and wishing to capitalize on the country’s
instability, some are taking over the country’s oil terminals, selling
the oil for their own profit. Security guards have taken over four oil
export terminals along the northeastern coastline, and despite
government threats and feeble retaliation, the terminals have remained
under rebel control.
Striking and theft are severely crippling the nation, but they are
not the only concern. Streets upon which tourists and journalists once
roamed are now the highways of rebels and militias, each working to
obtain power and influence in their respective cities or regions.
Some of these militias have tried to take on the role of private
security. However, many of the militia are simply common citizens who
took up arms to topple Qadhafi and never put them down. The result is
terrorism and gang violence taking over the country. The Libyan Shield
Brigade, which operates out of Benghazi and is one of the two largest
militia forces in the nation, opened fire on protesters outside one of
its barracks, killing 31 demonstrators.
Another group that is on the rise is the Supreme Security
Committees. This private militia is better funded and better armed than
the legitimate police. Libyans are turning to these militia groups for
protection because they know how ineffective the real police are. Take
for instance the case of Military Prosecutor Col. Yussef Ali
al-Asseifar. Mr. al-Asseifar was in charge of investigating
assassinations across the country, yet he himself was
assassinated in a car bomb attack
on August 29. This shows the ineffective state of the police in the
face of well-armed terrorists. Police fight on the streets with
handguns, while the terrorists shoot back with rocket-propelled
grenades. So it is that the police have come to the Supreme Security
Committees to try to assimilate, in an attempt to maintain some control.
Sadly, the problem is that the militias are not police—they are
terrorists. A group affiliated with the Supreme Security Committees was
responsible for the kidnapping of Libya’s ex-spy chief. Despite her
eventual release, it shows that the terrorists are a law unto
themselves. The examples continue.
Water is being cut off to the capital because the Megraha tribe in
Sabha cut power upstream in southern Libya. Further south, militants and
arms smugglers easily cross the borders with Chad and Niger,
facilitating the expansion of the radical groups.
And these groups
are radical. Hashim Bishr, the head of the
Supreme Security Committees, is a Salafist—a conservative Islamist. He
has already been accused of pushing an
agenda of imposing sharia law
on the nation. With power and influence growing, these radical groups
are becoming bold. The French Embassy was attacked on April 23 in
retaliation to French involvement in the ousting of radical Islamists in
Mali. A few days later, on April 28, militias surrounded Libya’s
Foreign Ministry, calling for officials who worked for Qadhafi to be
banned from working in the new administration. Unwilling to go up
against 20 pick-up trucks with mounted anti-aircraft guns, the police
backed down.
The weak police are but an arm of a weak government. The Muslim
Brotherhood leads the government under the banner of the Justice and
Construction Party. The Brotherhood is constantly pressuring Prime
Minister Ali Zeidan to take more action to fix the economy and curb the
rise of powerful militia groups. Yet, some accuse the Brotherhood of
empowering groups such as Libya Shield.
The situation is desperate, as terrorist militias turn on each other
and the government. After 40 years of dictatorial rule, the nation is
struggling to take any meaningful steps to governing the vast territory.
As daily gun battles rage in the capital, as more oil pipes are cut, as
terrorism increases, the world refuses to pay attention.
Few see the danger of what happens when the civil servants can’t be
paid, and the people can’t get electricity or water. The world doesn’t
see the rise of radical Islam enveloping the nation. Look at Syria and
see for yourself that chaos is the perfect ground in which
radicalization can flourish. The situation is already radical in Libya
now, but with continued social and economic breakdown, it could soon
become far, far worse.
If the present state of Libya is not enough to convince you of its
immediate future, simply look at the history of the revolution. Request a
copy of our free booklet
Libya and Ethiopia in Prophecy to gain an insightful look into the events surrounding the revolution and how they show
Iranian influence.
Just as the world largely fails to see the impending fall of Libya
to radical Islam, it also fails to see the place Libya holds in Bible
prophecy. The Libyan nation is prophesied to fall under the control of
the king of the south, a radical Islamic power headed up by none other
than Iran. Daniel 11:40-43 tell us, “The
Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” The Moffatt translation states that “at his steps” means
following in his train.
A year on since the death of U.S. Ambassador Stevens, the situation
in Libya is dire. It may be disheartening as the situation gets worse,
but take heart in the fact that the fall of Libya to the king of the
south is a step in the process leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.
These prophecies are destined to come about
right before the
return of Christ. At that time, everyone will see the incredible
fulfillment of prophecy, as Christ establishes His rule. There will be
no weak government with a failing economy as we see in Libya, but
rather, people will reap the tremendous benefits of living God’s way of
life.
▪
thetrumpet.com
حتى
بعد مرور حوالي عامين على سقوط نظام القذافي، فلازال الليبيون منشغلين
بعملية التخلص من بقايا النظام الدكتاتوري السابق. صراعات العملية
الانتقالية لازالت تهدد استقرار الدولة الحديثة والتحول الديمقراطي
فيها. أمينة مزداوي، أم ليبية قتل ابنها الأول في المذبحة التي استهدفت عام
1996 معتقل "أبو سليم" للسجناء السياسيين في ضواحي العاصمة الليبية
طرابلس. وبعد مرور بضع سنوات لقي ابنها الثاني مصرعه خلال اشتباكات عنيفة
بين مقاتلي المعارضة وقوات الجيش الليبي عام 2011. وقد أسفرت تلك المواجهات
الدامية نهاية الأمر الى سقوط نظام القذافي، الذي حكم البلاد لأكثر من
أربعين سنة. والآن وبعد مرور سنوات تستطيع"أمهات أبو سليم" إظهار حزنهن
للعلن وبكل شجاعة في ذكرى وفاة أبنائهن، رغم أنهن لازلن ينتظرن نتائج
التحقيقات القضائية الليبية بهذا الشأن. فاطمة الطيار هي الأخرى فقدت ابنها
خلال أحداث الثورة الليبية، وهي غاضبة من التطورات التي تشهدها البلاد
حاليا وتتساءل:" أمن أجل هذا ضحى أبناؤنا بأنفسهم؟ لم يتغير أي شيء عدا
العلم والنشيد الوطنين.!" أما بالنسبة لوافية قنطري التي ترتدي ملابس سوداء
ويرافقها ابنها ذو العشر سنوات، فهي توضح انه الوحيد الذي بقي لها بعد أن
قامت قوات النظام بخطف أشقاءه الخمسة عام 2011. ورغم ذلك فإنها لم تفقد
الأمل في عودتهم وتقول: "أنا مقتنعة بأنهم ما يزالون على قيد الحياة، وقد
يقبعون الآن في سجون سرية على الحدود."
قتل
ثلاثة من عناصر الجيش والشرطة في هجمات متفرقة في مدينة بنغازي، اليوم
الأحد، في أحدث سلسلة من الهجمات ضد قوات الأمن بحسب مسؤول أمني. وقال
المتحدث باسم قوات الأمن، عبد الله الزايدي، إن "العقيد في القوات الجوية
علي الدغاني قتل عندما انفجرت عبوة ناسفة وضعت في سيارته قرب أحد الأسواق".
وأضاف: "على بعد عدة أمتار، قتل ضابط الشرطة نجيب
بلحقان الزوي عندما انفجرت عبوة ناسفة مصنعة يدويا في سيارته"، فيما قتل
ضابط آخر هو عبد القادر المدني بالرصاص أمام منزله في بنغازي. وتشهد
مدينة بنغازي، مهد الثورة التي أطاحت بالعقيد معمر القذافي، موجة من
الهجمات الدموية التي تستهدف عناصر الأمن ورجال القضاء الذين عمل العديد
منهم في النظام السابق. واستهدفت الهجمات كذلك دبلوماسيين ومصالح غربية.