Noman Benotman

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Noman Benotman (* 1967 ), Arabic نعمان بن عثمان, DMG Nuʿmān b. ʿUṯmān , is a Libyan political activist. He is now President of the Quilliam Foundation and was temporarily a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group .

Life

Benotman was born in Libya in 1967. In the early 1980s he had to quit his studies in Libya because of "anti-revolutionary behavior". After that, his interest in Islamism began. After trying to resume his studies and work in a family company in Spain, he returned to Libya and from there joined the Mujahideen who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan . He took part in the conquest of Kabul in 1992 and traveled from there to Khartoum in 1994 , which was then a hub of global jihadism . He participated in the founding of the Libyan Islamic Combat Group (LIFG) in 1995, which aimed to eliminate the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi through a combination of low-threshold guerrilla warfare in the cities and political terrorism. She wanted to replace Gaddafi's rule with an Islamist system. In 1996 she carried out a failed attack on Gaddafi. During his time on the jihadist scene, he managed to build close relationships with key figures such as Osama bin Laden , Ayman al-Zawahiri , Jalaluddin Haqqani and others. He registered how the jihadists' struggle turned from the pursuit of national goals to a global war against the West and considered this development dangerous. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , he left the LIFG and distanced himself from terrorism in several letters to its leadership. He subsequently lived in London, moved closer to the Quilliam Foundation and played a key role in the deradicalization and exit of former members of the LIFG. He finally managed to dissolve them and negotiated with Gaddafi the release of several hundred members from Libyan prisons.

In 2011 he expressed his solidarity with the protests of the Arab Spring and returned to the Middle East from 2014 to 2017. In the fighting that broke out again in Libya since 2014 , he initially supported General Khalifa Haftar , but then turned to the government of Fayiz al-Sarradsch , for which he moderated a program on Libya TV . Mohammad Eljarh, a co-founder of the Libya think tank Libya Outlook for Research and Consulting , accuses him of using divisive and aggressive language to which the other side responds in the same tone.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Former radical Muslim gives speech on terrorism at Union Society , Rowena Caine, Palatinate, February 1, 2011
  2. ↑ a b c Presentation of Benotmans on the Quilliam Foundation website
  3. ↑ a b "Gaddafi will not give up for anything in the world" , Kathrin Haimerl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 20, 2011
  4. ↑ Libya's two wars: One on the battlefield and one on Facebook , Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Benotman, Noman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Libyan political activist and former jihadist
DATE OF BIRTH 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Libya