GADDAFI CALLED FOR BIN LADEN’S ARREST

Did you know Libya was the first country to call for an international arrest warrant for Osama bin Laden? The al-Qaeda founder was wanted over a double murder in the Libyan town of Sirte in 1994. A warrant was subsequently issued by Interpol in France in 1998 - a full three years before the 9/11 attacks.

In this 2010 interview, Gaddafi explains why he regarded al-Qaeda a terrorist organisation, in contrast to liberation movements. He says freedom fighters want to liberate their land from occupiers, while terror groups have no plan or justification for ‘existence'.

A 23-page UN report released February, 2024, said the threat from al-Qaeda in conflict zones was high, particularly in West Africa and the Sahel. It also warned al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab remained ‘resilient’ in Somalia.

Would the Global War on Terror have taken a different turn if Osama bin Laden had been arrested in the late 1990s, way before 9/11, as Gaddafi requested?