Dissident Libyan Official: Gaddafi Plotted The Creation of Tuareg State in The Sahara of Algeria

Dissident senior official in Col. Muammar Gaddafi regime, former Libya’s permanent representative in the UN, Abdurahman Shalgham, revealed to Echorouk that Gaddafi tempted to settle a small state for Tuareg in the Sahara of Algeria, Mali and Niger.

Mr Shalgham told Echorouk in a phone interview that Gaddafi “believes that the more neighboring countries are unstable, Libya becomes stronger, and vice versa, adding that this is the reason why “he tended to create seditions in Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, Mali and Niger.”

The dissident official said he predict that Gaddafi to run away in order to flee the prosecution of the international criminal court, regarding the crimes his army have been committing in Libya. 

As for the accusations of Gaddafi towards the rebels as pertaining to al-Qaeda, Mr Shalgham said “Well, Gaddafi tells stories, and nobody could believe him today. He has been promising to organize elections for many years…I’m 60 today, and I’ve never voted in my life!” He added “Head of the National Transition Council has already asserted that there is no al-Qaeda in Libya, and I can tell you that I know all the rebels, one by one, and nobody belong to al-Qaeda.”

Former Libya representative in the UN further accused Gaddafi of playing double game with Mali and Niger, saying “he used to sell arms to Niger and Mali governments, but at the same time he sold arms to the Tuareg rebels there! He didn’t give a damn whether those arms would reach al-Qaeda terrorists.”

 He concluded by asserting that Gaddafi worked on supporting the creation of a state in the Sahara of Algeria that gathers Tuareg of Algeria, Mali and Niger.