Qatar admits sending hundreds of troops to support Libya rebels

[EFerrari]

(Hmm, Qatar signed the very first oil deal with the "rebels" but this wasn't about oil, right Juan Cole)

* News
* World news
* Libya

Qatar admits sending hundreds of troops to support Libya rebels

Qatari chief-of-staff reveals extent of involvment, saying troops were responsible for training, communications and strategy

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o reddit this

* Ian Black in Tripoli
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 October 2011 13.33 EDT
* Article history

A Qatari Mirage 2000 jet takes off
A Qatari jet fighter takes off for a mission over Libya in March. Until now, Qatar had acknowledged only that its airforce has taken part in Nato operations. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

Qatar has admitted for the first time that it sent hundreds of troops to support the Libyan rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

The Gulf state had previously acknowledged only that its air force took part in Nato-led attacks.

The revelation came as Qatar hosted a conference on the post-Gaddafi era that was attended by the leader of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who described the Qataris as having planned the battles that paved the way for victory.

Abdel-Jalil also said he was asking Nato to extend its mission beyond the end of the month, when it had been due to end, until the end of the year. Help was needed because regime loyalists posed a threat from neighbouring countries, he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/26/qatar-troops-libya-rebels-support?cat=world&type=article

[Fumesucker]

1. Look, it's really damn inconvenient when you keep focusing attention to the guy behind the curtain..

So how about knocking it off, eh?

;)

:hi:

[frylock]

2. it's a real buzzkill

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. This Libya "rebel" business will just have to play itself out.

Only time will tell what the real motives are/were and who will be calling the shots.

[blindpig]

5. Imagine that........

they were the schwerpunkt of the final assault on Tripoli and who knows where else.

As usual the lies are revealed after the fact.

[CJvR]

6. Hardly news.

It was mentioned when Tripolis was liberated that Quatari and NATO special forces were aiding the people.

[polly7]

10. Yes

Foreign forces in Libya helping rebel forces advance

From Barbara Starr, CNN

August 24, 2011 -- Updated 1406 GMT (2206 HKT)

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/24/libya.foreign.forces/

Washington (CNN) -- Special forces troops from Britain, France, Jordan and Qatar on the ground in Libya have stepped up operations in Tripoli and other cities in recent days to help rebel forces as they conducted their final advance on the Gadhafi regime, a NATO official confirmed to CNN Wednesday.

British forces, in particular, have assisted rebel units by "helping them get better organized to conduct operations," the official said. Some of these forces from all the countries have traveled with rebel units from towns across Libya as they advanced on Tripoli.

[EFerrari]

17. No, hundreds of troops were not mentioned. nt

[polly7]

21. You're right, Efarrari. There was very little mention of it in the

media, and certainly not the numbers admitted to now. My yes was in response to noting Qatar, as well as others, did have troops on the ground in Libya. The myth that this was a 'popular uprising' with NATO only enforcing a no-fly zone, is pretty much shredded.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8606541/France-supplying-weapons-to-Libyan-rebels.html

"A French military spokesman, Colonel Thierry Burkhard, said it had provided "light arms such as assault rifles" for civilian communities to "protect themselves against Col Gaddafi".

But the decision to arm the rebels is a further move towards direct involvement in the land war on top of the air war against Col Muammar Gaddafi. The Nafusa rebels have come closest to breaking through to Tripoli itself of any of the front lines of the conflict, while three months of Nato bombing have failed to dislodge Col Gaddafi from power."

...."Le Figaro, the French newspaper which first reported the air drops, said the shipment included "rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, along with Milan anti-tank missiles."

[EFerrari]

26. They made it sound like a few brave small squads.

The Rendon Group is good at what they do. :hi:

[CJvR]

23. Not the exact # perhaps.

But then anything less would hardly have been noticable.
A few platoons at Brega.
A few more at Misrata.
A few more again in the mountains, it quickly adds up.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Coalition of the "Shhh - we're not here - you saw nothing..." nt

[Romulox]

8. But those were *grass roots* US Drones and Qatari mercenaries! A true people's movement!

Now has that damn Sharia been implemented yet or not?

[EFerrari]

12. LOL

[al bupp]

9. I assert that most Libyans greatly appreciate this help

That would be similar to the way many Americans, Cubans and Nicaraguans appreciated foreign help for their revolutions.

[EFerrari]

13. LMAO. Do you think Nicaragua appreciated it when we mined their harbors?

DUzy.

[al bupp]

16. I was refering, ma'am, to Cuba's help of the Sandinistas

I believe that they provided arms and military expertise. You may want to consider your assumptions before hitting the post message button.

From http://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/n-sandinistas.php">Brown University - Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs (emphasis added)

During the revolution in Nicaragua, the FSLN received arms from Panama, Cuba, and Venezuela, and logistical support from Costa Rica, although Cuba’s Fidel Castro was the only country that wanted to see a socialist revolution in Nicaragua (the other countries supported the FSLN as a viable opponent to Somoza and to prevent the radicalization of the revolution). Immediately after the revolution, in fact, Cuba sent advisors to Nicaragua to consult with the new government about the formation of its policies. When the FSLN was pressured by the contras, Cuba increased its assistance to Nicaragua. In 1983, for example, after the Contras scored some successes against the FSLN, Cuban general Arnoldo Ochoa traveled to Nicaragua to advice the Sandinistas on their military campaign, and the number of Cuban advisers and military units in Nicaragua increased dramatically.

Edited to add the reference and excerpt.

[EFerrari]

18. But you were talking about "help" not help.

It remains to be seen whether NATO helped Libya at all while we know they defintiely "helped" them as the US "helped" Cuba fight Castro and "Helped" Nicaragua combat the Sandinistas.

My assumptions are just fine, thank you.

[al bupp]

20. Ma'am, my point was that most revolutions get some foreign assistance

That includes both revolutions one might agree with the aims of, as well as those one might not. I do not think that that involvement invalidates the aims or outcomes of those revolutions.

[Arctic Dave]

15. I would like to test your assertion in six months and in a year.

I assert they will be less enthusiastic when they realize little to nothing has changed for them. However we will find a very vocal minority, who through this overthrow, have become very rich and will shower praise on the mercenaries.

Are you up for it?

[al bupp]

19. Certainly, sir, by all means /nt

[Arctic Dave]

11. The next question is: Who trained the Qatari SF?

Any bets it was a company who's founder lives in the ME now?

[EFerrari]

14. I won't bet against you, Artic Dave. nt

[Schema Thing]

22. Has there ever been a successful revolution that DIDN'T have outside help?

[al bupp]

24. Good question

If so, I think they're in the distinct minority.

[Mudoria]

25. Excellent work by Qatar