[guide.chat] british told to get out
- From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:41:21 -0000
The Government has urged British nationals to leave Libya's second city,
Benghazi, in response to a "specific threat to Westerners" from terror groups
operating in North Africa.
Defence sources confirmed the warning is linked to the activities of al-Qa'ida
in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim). An offshoot of Aqim was responsible for last
week's hostage crisis at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in which 37
Westerners were killed, along with 29 Islamists.
The Foreign Office refused to go into details but the threat could be connected
to one of Aqim's Libyan splinter groups, Ansar al-Sharia, whose members were
chased out of Benghazi by protesters after the killing of US ambassador Chris
Stevens on 11 September last year.
Dutch and German citizens have also been advised to join the exodus, while
Egypt has restricted movement across its border with Libya due to security
concerns.
Intelligence reports from Egypt as well as intercepted communications from
Burkina Faso and Algeria led to the warning being issued. Western interests,
rather than explicitly British ones, were said to be the terrorists' intended
target. Governments across North and West Africa have been on heightened alert
following last week's hostage crisis in the Sahara.
"We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi,"
the Foreign Office said, "and urge any British nationals who remain there
against our advice to leave immediately."
Libyan authorities said the evacuation order was "not rational" and demanded an
explanation. The threat is not thought to involve a "massive attack" of the
type that was launched on In Amenas, but rather a targeted assassination or
kidnappings.
The city is the business hub of eastern Libya and was the birthplace of the
uprising that toppled Colonel Gaddafi. However, since the dictator's death it
has also been used as a base by several jihadist groups including Ansar
al-Sharia, which is seen as the new face of al-Qa'ida in the wake of the Arab
Spring. It is believed that individuals from Ansar al-Sharia remain in the city
while the group has withdrawn.
Al-Qa'ida's second-in-command in the Arabian Peninsula, Said Ali al-Shehri,
reportedly died from injuries he sustained after being wounded by Yemeni
security forces in October. The death of the Saudi-born militant who rose
through al-Qa'ida's ranks after being freed from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was
announced by Yemen's state news agency but was not confirmed by al-Qa'ida.
Violence in Benghazi has targeted foreigners as well as Libyan officials in
recent months, with assassinations, bombings and other attacks. As well as the
11 September assault on the US consulate, an Italian diplomat's car was fired
on by militants earlier this month. Rome has suspended consular activities in
the city and evacuated staff.
Britain's ambassador to Libya, Sir Dominic Asquith, narrowly escaped injury
last June when his convoy in Benghazi was hit by rocket-propelled grenades,
reinforcing concerns that the city's police and government militia may have
been infiltrated.
This week Sir Kim Darroch, David Cameron's national security adviser, held
talks in Tripoli with Libya's Prime Minister, Ali Zidan, in which security was
top of the agenda. French citizens, including doctors working at Benghazi
hospitals, have left the city and the French cultural centre has been closed
over concerns of retaliatory attacks following France's military intervention
in Mali. A few Britons and a handful of German and Dutch citizens remain in
Benghazi, many of them acting as security contractors or aid workers.
Attempts to step up security have been complicated by recent splits within the
mosaic of groups supporting Aqim. In Mali, Ansar Dine one of the three
largest groups controlling the Islamist-occupied north of the country split
and an offshoot calling itself the Islamic Movement for Azawad said it
"rejected all forms of extremism and terrorism".
Drones inquiry launched by UN
The United Nations has launched an inquiry into the impact and legality of
drone strikes, which have killed hundreds of civilians in Pakistan and
elsewhere in the past ten years.
British drone strikes in Afghanistan, US strikes in Pakistan and Israeli drone
attacks in the Palestinian Territories will all be investigated.
The investigation will be led by a British lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, who
yesterday called for accountability and reparation where things have gone
badly wrong.
Strikes by unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become a widely used
strategy for nations fighting armed militia, but have been criticising for
causing hundreds of civilians casualties.
from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
my skype name is rainbowstar123
Other related posts:
- » [guide.chat] british told to get out - vanessa
