Press Release
Libya and the Foreign Military Intervention
(Translated)

America has begun to undertake air strikes openly inside the city of Sirte based upon the request of the Libyan High Council that emanated from the Skhirat Accord in Morocco, which was supervised by the UN under the pretext of supporting Operation Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous which leads the battle to restore Sirte from grip of ISIS. In respect to this we would like to clarify the following:

1 – This bombing that the USA, the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world, is undertaking, under the pretext of combatting terrorism, represents a violation of the sanctity of the Muslim land that is dear to the Muslims, i.e. Libya. It is a pretext for greater American intervention in Libya and an entry point for the expansion of its influence and intrigues in North Africa.

2 – What the High Council of Libya is undertaking is Haraam according to the Shar’a, as it means seeking help from the one that Islam has prohibited it to be sought from. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: «لا تستضيئوا بنار المشركين»“Do not seek light via the fire of the Mushrikeen (polytheists/disbelievers)”. In addition to it being a treachery against the land and allowing the greatest colonial power upon the face of the earth to intervene in Libya that is rich in oil, since it was the US that destroyed Iraq under the pretext of ‘combatting terrorism’ and plundered its resources whilst bringing it to its current state and condition from Fitnah to infighting and destruction… Therefore, whoever seeks to recruit America to be saved from ‘terrorism’ is like the one who jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire. For that reason, we call the High Council to return to its senses and reverse this catastrophic request immediately…

3 – This request from the Libyan High Council uncovers its mask and exposes, in which there is no room for doubt, the aim behind what was being sought during the supervision of the negotiations in Skhirat, regardless of the agreement of the Libyan masses and the majority of the revolutionaries to it, which then drove the West to applying pressure and threats to impose it. The aim is therefore to legitimise the foreign intervention and legitimise the plundering of the resources in the West’s favour under the pretext of ‘combatting terrorism’ and developing the land…

4 – The US intervention in the last moments of the battle over Sirte represents its attempt to steal the victory from the revolutionaries who had been able to restore the vast region that stretches from Misrata to East Sirte, just as they had been able to restore its airport, ports and most of its districts. America therefore wishes to steal the victory of the revolutionaries so that it would not be said that they were able to vanquish the IS organisation by themselves and without foreign assistance, and so that the inflated international falsity about the true size (or influence) of IS organisation in Libya is not revealed. That is because America is exploiting the state of fear of the IS organisation so that it can interfere in Libya and thwart the revolutionaries. This would make America lose its profitable card, not only in Libya but rather within the whole region in its entirety…

5 – It is obligatory upon the Muslims in Libya to reject this intervention, cast it out and explain its Shar’i ruling. They must take all those who have legitimised this intervention or allowed for it, so that they reverse this heinous act. So just as the stance of the general people, ‘Ulemaa and most of the revolutionary groups was in respect to the blatant criminal French bombing of revolutionaries and peaceful Muslims inside their homes and particularly in Benghazi the other day, it is also obligatory for their stance towards the US intervention to be manifested similarly. Indeed, the reaction should be greater and stronger because the truth of the matter is that France and America are both striving clearly to strike the revolutionaries in Libya and steal their resources.

6 – The Muslim masses in Libya reject any foreign interference. Their Deen and their heightened determination pushes them constantly to reject submission to the disbeliever colonialist. That is because they were the ones who stood in the face of the Italian occupier and they recorded the most magnificent of decisive battles under the leadership of the Mujahid Omar Al-Mukhtar. They were those whose loyalty and support remained to their State, the Khilafah "Caliphate", until the last of its days, in adherence to their Shar’i obligation. And by the permission of Allah they will never accept any foreign intervention today and will never accept any rule other than the rule of Islam to be applied over them…

Allah Ta’Aalaa said:

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِم بِالْمَوَدَّةِ﴾

“O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection” [Al-Mumtahanah: 1].

Ridha Bel Hadj
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir