Libya's Ideological Precipice: Islamist or Secular?

Arutz Sheva ^ | 14/9/11 | Gavriel Queenann

[Eleutheria5]

Islamists seeking to define the character of Libya's tomorrow burst into the open Tuesday with charges that Libya's de facto prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, a US-educated political scientist, is "worse than Qaddafi."

On Tuesday - just one day after Libya's rebel leaders tried to assuage mounting fears in Western capitals it may be dragged under by Islamic currents - Ali al- Salabi, a prominent Islamist scholar, denounced Jibril and his allies as "extreme secularists" who seek to enrich themselves via "the deal of a lifetime."

The National Transitional Council (NTC), headed by Jibril, is trying to establish itself in the capital, restart the country's stalled oil industry, restore public order, and crush remaining pockets of support for Qaddafi.

But Jibril and his associates are guiding Libya into "a new era of tyranny and dictatorship," al-Salabi told the satellite news channel Al Jazeera in comments posted Tuesday on its website. Al-Salabi also charged the new administration could prove "worse than Qaddafi."

Salabi fashioned himself as a spiritual mentor to the rebel movement as it fought to oust Qaddafi, reportedly traveling frequently from his base in Qatar to visit insurgent fighters.

The broadside seemed sure to escalate a conflict that has been simmering for some time. A plan approved Sunday by the rebel leadership to bring rebel fighters under civilian authority angered the rebel commander whose forces patrol Tripoli. That commander, Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, is an ally of al-Salabi.

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[Eleutheria5]

You mean, the Muslim Brotherhood isn't largely secular?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Eleutheria5.

Islamists seeking to define the character of Libya's tomorrow burst into the open Tuesday with charges that Libya's de facto prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, a US-educated political scientist, is "worse than Qaddafi."

[Hughesian]

I don’t know about all this I swear most of the rebels where dressed like Williamsburg hipsters. Didn’t seem like the typical Islamist mob.