Union. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in
1989 and the overthrow of the PDPA government in 1992, some of the Libyans
returned to Libya to fight against Gaddafi.

One
Afghan veteran who played a significant role was Abdul Hakim Belhadj. He fought
in Afghanistan from 1988 to 1992. He then returned to Libya and set up the
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which fought a guerrilla war and made several
unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Gaddafi. When the LIFG was crushed in 1998
Belhadj went into exile. Belhadj was seized by the CIA in 2004 and sent back to
Libya, where he was imprisoned. He was released in 2010.

When
the protests began in February 2011, Gaddafi’s various opponents all saw an
opportunity to get rid of him. Some put themselves forward as spokespeople for
the rebel movement. Some, includingBelhadj, became leaders of rebel armed
groups.

The
National Transitional Council was formed in an attempt to unite the disparate
anti-Gaddafi forces. However, past grievances, ideological differences and
personal rivalries created conflict within the rebel movement. General Abdul
Fattah Younis, a defector from the regime, was murdered by Islamists.

Racism
among the rebels

One
particularly harmful feature of the rebel movement was racism. Sections of the
rebel leadership actively promoted virulent hostility to black people. This was
initially directed mainly against migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, who
were falsely accused of being “mercenaries” for Gaddafi,and were subject to
pogroms in which they were murdered, detained or forced to flee the country. But
black people who were Libyan citizens were also affected.[9]

If
the rebel movement had been genuinely democratic, it would have made every
effort to win the support of black Libyans. But the racism of