Libya’s UN Envoy Accuses Qatar of Aiding Islamists

Loose weapons are still spreading across the country as the interim council struggles to maintain stability

Libya’s United Nations envoy Mohammed Abdel Rahman Shalgam criticized Qatar on Friday of providing money and weapons to Islamist groups within the country.

“There are facts on the ground, they (Qatar) give money to some parties, the Islamist parties. They give money and weapons and they try to meddle in issues that do not concern them and we reject that,” Shalgam told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the Moroccan city Tangier.

“The Qatari state is still providing assistance to some (Libyan) parties and they are giving them money and we reject this totally,” he added.

Qatar was the foremost Arab country that assisted the rebels and NATO in overthrowing Muammar Gadhafi, most especially providing military training, weapons, and resources to the rebels. Some have claimed this was a response to U.S. pressure to do so, citing Obama’s so-called “leading from behind.”

The loose weapons issue in Libya is still plaguing the interim governing council. Everything from surface-to-air missiles, Scud missiles, AK47s, and chemical weapons sites are proliferating and still left unsecured.

Author: John Glaser

John Glaser writes for Antiwar.com.