The ‘Founding Declaration of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya’…

A statement, released via the Jamahiriya News Agency on January 9th 2017 and purporting to be the ‘Founding Declaration of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya’, suggests the Libyan people’s fight-back against the international conspiracy and terrorist takeover is gathering momentum.

As is often the case with Libya these days, source-verification is very difficult, just as it was in regard to alleged statements from Ayesha Gaddafi which were covered here. However, the JNA’s editorial comment states, ‘We received the English translation of the founding declaration/communique today along with a copy of the original document. Saif Al Islam Qaddafi is indeed leading the movement.’

The image above, by the way, is not recent – but is from 2011.

The declaration, issued “from the Western mountain”, reads as a noble, unifying call-to-action seeking to re-unify the people and restore the country that was destroyed in 2011 by terrorist gangs and their international sponsors.

The translation reads; ‘Feeling our historical and national responsibility to maintain the homeland and the dignity of its people and to work on passing it to the future generations free, dignified and prestigious as we inherited it from our parents and grandparents who had sacrificed themselves and their wealth in heroic, immortal epics for its sake…’

‘Aware of the conspiracy and the perils that inflicted the country and brought about the collapse of its institutions, leading to the domination of terrorism on the joints of the State and its spread all over the country undermining its security and social peace turning it into a yard of regional and international conflict that damaged its unity, fortune and safety; produced a failed state and a feuding society; uprooted its people into dislodged and displaced persons; looted its wealth and savings; laid the foundations for sowing the seeds of discord among its towns and tribes and; disseminated the discourse of hatred that hit the social fabric in a mortal spot…’

‘And keen to cross with the homeland to safety, growth, and construction, away from the language of infighting, marginalization, and exclusion; We announce the launch of the organized popular work, at home and abroad, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya, a national framework of struggle that combines all Libyan activists to liberate the country from the control of terrorist organizations that use religion as a cover and are bonded by being agents for the foreigner, and the tampering of criminal militias; and to work on building a national sovereign state and maintaining its independence, security, and prestige by means of legitimate institutions.’

‘It is a state whose citizens are linked with the bond of citizenship, respects differences and diversity and, maintains rights and duties. It is the state of the judiciary and the rule of law where the Libyan people alone has the right to choose its political system freely and to build a modern advanced economy that depends on its latent potential through developing its natural, material and human resources per a comprehensive development plan that bypasses the miserable reality to open prospects and hopes for a prosperous economy that achieves happiness and prosperity to our great people…’

It continues briefly, calling on the people to put aside their differences and come together for the restoration of the country and a legitimate state. The full text and original Arabic document can be read here.

As was covered here last year, the Libyan Green Resistance has been gathering momentum and even, allegedly, significant support within some of Libya’s failing ‘government’ institutions.

And the (alleged) release from prison of Saif Gaddafi last summer – particularly the secrecy and lack of official comment or confirmation – was suggestive of the possibility that Saif was being seen as the best hope for rescuing the post-2011 ‘failed state’ from its misery (read more). It is, we should acknowledge, still not known for certain that Saif is involved in or leading this movement at all – it may be that he is simply being used as a powerful symbol to inspire or embolden the movement.

However, he may well be involved – and, if he is, I would suggest it is far better at this point that his involvement remains unconfirmed and unknown and that those opposed to the Gaddafi loyalists – both in Libya and abroad – are kept uncertain and in the dark about the scale or nature of what they’re dealing with.

This declaration isn’t signed by or attributed to Saif or any individual. It instead reads as a statement to, for and by the people.

As was previously covered here just under a year ago, Ayesha Gaddafi was also alleged to have stated that she was now the ‘leader of the resistance’ in Libya and that she was about to create a new ‘secret government’ to take back the fallen, chaos-riddled country. Those statements too were unconfirmed, but were nevertheless symbolically very powerful.

I also want to say here that I received a correspondence in mid-October last year – the source of which I was expected not to divulge due to his/her location and safety concerns. This came to me on account, apparently, of the book I put together a while ago on the Libya intervention happening to reach someone (I don’t know how) deeply involved in those events. The exchange was partly to acknowledge the book and partly to correct a particular (minor) error I had apparently made in the research. I received the correspondence via a social media account that was created just for that day and then immediately deleted.

The reason I bring it up is because the exchange suggested to me that some of the rumours (and unconfirmed statements) about what’s going on in Libya are probably true; and that, where there appears to be smoke and mirrors going on in some cases, it is probably deliberate.

This January ‘declaration’, if genuine, however, suggests the arrival of a stage of more open, overt activity and objectives. I also tend to wonder, as previously suggested, if the events in Aleppo, Syria, might’ve further signaled that now was the time.

Related: ‘Muammar Gaddafi: A Psychological Profile of Man, Myth & Reality‘, ‘Libya, the Failed State‘, ‘The Story of Sirte: From Proud Libya to Terrorist Playground‘…