By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 6 January 2016:
A woman with a western Libya accent said that she regretted how she was ‘‘brainwashed’’ . . .[restrict]by IS/Daesh into converting her to their cause.
The alleged confession came in the latest video released by the Rada (Special Deterrence Force) in Tripoli last week.
The woman, who said she was a Tripoli resident and is referred to in her alias name of Umm Al Aina, said that she had been converted by a Libyan in the eastern city Derna through Facebook. She was converted and became a follower of his preaching on the basis that his interpretation of Islam was ”right”.
After her conversion she was called upon to leave Tripoli the land of heretics and travel to Sirte the land of Islam, she explained.
After she joined IS, she was married-off to a fellow IS member. Other Libyan women were married off to various other Arab nationalities, she revealed.
However, she said that IS ‘’used us’’ in the short term to ‘’satisfy their desires’’ and then ‘’discarded us’’. Her so-called husband divorced her after a month. She also discovered they ‘’fooled’’ other girls too.
She noted the shallowness of their theological foundations saying that they did not implement Islamic Sharia law properly. This had ‘’increased her suspicions’’ of them she added. They considered all of Tripoli a heretic city of non-believing Kafirs (apostasy).
They considered her practice of Islam as heretic as well as all her family as heretics. She found their theological reasoning unconvincing, she said.
When I queried them on Islam they proved they were not educated in theological understanding, she explained.
She warned others that she was a victim and that others should not allow IS to fool them too. She also warned youngsters to consult established ‘’Sunni theologians on (proper satellite TV) channels not ‘‘hidden’’ ones behind the internet’’.
A second woman revealed in the alleged confessional video with the alias Umm Leith Al-Trabulsia said she was only 18 years old. She said she had been arrested in her way to Sirte.
She too said that she had been converted through the internet. She also said that once converted she started to see her family as heretics.
She advised girls of her age to’’ look for the (theological) truth and ask learned people before they base their beliefs on falsehoods’’.
It must be noted that critics of Rada see these videos as a partial marketing tool for Rada brigade which is nominally under government control and part of the Ministry of Interior, but operates with much autonomy under its leader Abdel Rauf Kara.
Critics accuse Rada of angling to be given a role in the security role in Tripoli as part of the UN-brokered Libyan Political Agreement and the Faiez Serraj Government of National Accord.
It must also be recalled that Rada has been accused of using excessive force in its anti-criminal actions which have led to the death of accused criminals prior to them being sentenced by a court. [/restrict]
