"We Are Simply Muslim": Libyan Rebel Chief Denies Al-Qaeda Ties

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Abdel Hakim Belhadj, 45, is one of the most powerful men of the new Libya. From this point on, the security of Tripoli depends on him. This former jihadist, arrested by the CIA and secretly handed over to the Gaddafi regime in 2004, is the commander-in-chief of the rebel forces in the Libyan capital.

This man, who expresses himself in a low, gravely voice, gives off an undeniable charisma. Stocky, his forehead lined with wrinkles, his face marked by a well-groomed, black beard, Belhadj is dressed in military fatigues. He has agreed to an interview with Le Monde, in which he retraces his past two decades jihad in Afghanistan to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, in order to answer the accusations of those who see in him the fingerprints of al-Qaeda.

Do you belong to al-Qaeda?
A lot of false information is circulating concerning this subject. Yes, I was a member of the Islamic Fighting Group whose area of operation was always and exclusively Libya. The goal of this organization was to deliver the Libyan people from the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. We never had any interest outside of our country. The Islamic combat group was never a part of al-Qaeda, neither from an ideological viewpoint, nor at an operational level, nor in its goals. It happened that we found ourselves in the same place at the same time as al-Qaeda: in Afghanistan, where we sometimes fought next to them when it was to liberate the country, but we were never at their service.

On the contrary, when Osama Bin Laden founded the Global Islamic Front to fight against the Jews and crusaders, in the autumn of 1998, we refused to become members of it. How could we want to kill all Christians? Or all Jews? That's absurd! And why not the Chinese or Japanese? Christians and Jews are the people of the Book, we have to protect them.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091744,00.html