By Special Correspondent.
Derna, 8 April 2014:
One of the leaders of the newly formed Derna Islamist militia, the . . .[restrict]Shoura Council of Islamic Youth in Derna, has been found murdered. According to security sources, the body of Ali Abdullah Ben Tahir, known as Al-Far (the “Mouse”), was discovered ver early this morning riddled with bullets at Karsa, outside the town. He was one of the leaders of the Army of the Islamic State of Libya.
It is one of the three groups which last week combined to form the Shoura Council of Islamic Youth and which on Friday put on a show of force in Derna, parading through the town with technicals and other vehicles. The other two groups in the merger are the local Ansar Al-Sharia and supporters of Sufian Ben Qumu, the former Guantanamo detainee seen as the leading Islamist in the town until earlier this year.
The new organisation, said by the security sources to number around 120 and include some non-Libyans, also put out a statement on Friday saying that it intended to make Libya an Islamic state.
It is not known who killed Ben Tahir, a member of a prominent local family other members of which are involved in the Islamist cause. However, the same security sources say there has been infighting among Derna’s Islamists both on ideological grounds and over who should lead the movement.
Three weeks ago, Mohammed Al-Douri, said to have been close to Ben Qumu was shot dead. A few days earlier four other men, also said to be Islamists, were shot dead by gunmen who attacked the farm near Derna where they were staying. [/restrict]
