Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) Type of Organization: insurgent, non-state actor, religious, social services provider, terrorist, violent Ideologies and Affiliations: Islamist, jihadist, Qutbist, Salafist, Sunni, Takfiri Place(s) of Origin: Libya Year of Origin: 2012 Founder(s): Abu Sufyan Bin Qumu (founder of Ansar al-Sharia in Derna);1 Mohamed al-Zahawi, Nasser al-Tarshani, and other Libyan Islamists (founders of Ansar al-Sharia Benghazi) Place(s) of Operation: Libya Also Known As: • Ansar al-Charia in Libya 2 • Katibat Ansar al-Charia 3 • Katibat Ansar al-Sharia 4 • Partisans of Islamic Law in Libya5 • Partisans of Sharia in Libya 6 • Supporters of Islamic Law in Libya7 • Supporters of Sharia in Libya 8 Executive Summary: Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) is a violent jihadist group that seeks to implement sharia (Islamic law) in Libya. ASL is the union of two smaller groups, the Ansar al-Sharia Brigade in Benghazi (ASB) and Ansar al-Sharia Derna (ASD), each formed in 2011 after the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. In 2012, ASB and ASD, 1 Aaron Y. Zelin, “Know Your Ansar Al-Sharia,” Foreign Policy, September 21, 2012, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/21/know_your_ansar_al_sharia. 2 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 3 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 4 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 5 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 6 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 7 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. 8 “Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Two Entities to Its Sanctions List,” United Nations, November 19, 2014, http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11659.doc.htm. alongside other Islamist militant groups, attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, killing four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. The 2012 Benghazi attack was a major turning point for the two groups. Following widespread backlash in Libya and abroad, ASB was forced out of Benghazi and ASD disbanded. ASB then underwent a major rebranding effort, changing its name to Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (removing from its name the word “brigade”) and publicly denouncing violence. The group also denied its connections to the consulate attack and to al-Qaeda. Under its new name, ASL launched a dawa (proselytizing) campaign, under which it provided social services and charity in Benghazi. Through this campaign, ASL was able to win back the trust of many Libyans, and in 2013 ASL opened new branches in Derna, Sirte, and Ajdabiya.9 However, while ASL had publicly embraced peace, many remained skeptical of the group’s intentions. Foreign and local intelligence has revealed that since 2012, ASL has increased ties with international violent jihadist groups, including by holding clandestine meetings with al-Qaeda affiliates in North Africa and training and exporting fighters to conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Mali. 10 In the past, ASL’s former leader, Mohamed al- Zahawi, had openly declared his support for al-Qaeda.11 On May 16, 2014, former Libyan army general Khalifa Haftar launched a massive assault—codenamed “Operation Dignity”—on Islamist groups in Benghazi. Although ASL initially maintained control of Benghazi, civilian uprisings within the city and offensives launched by General Haftar have gradually eroded ASL’s control. In February 2015, General Haftar’s forces retook the port area of Benghazi, considered to be the last major area of the city left under ASL’s domain. As of February 2015, estimates indicate ASL controls less than 10% of Benghazi. 12 ASL suffered another major setback when Mohamed al-Zahawi, the group’s emir, died in January 2015 of wounds from an October 2014 airstrike.13 ISIS also poses a major threat to ASL. Although the two groups do appear to cooperate to an extent, ASL has not sworn allegiance to ISIS’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As of April 2015, ISIS controls the previously ASL-dominated cities of Derna and Sirte but 9 Aaron Y. Zelin, “Libya’s Jihadists Beyond Benghazi,” Foreign Policy, August 12, 2013, http://mideastafrica.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/12/libyas_jihadists_beyond_benghazi; Aya Elbrqawi, “Slow Death of Derna,” AllAfrica, February 28, 2014, http://allafrica.com/stories/201403031054.html; Aaron Y. Zelin, “Libya’s Jihadists Beyond Benghazi,” Foreign Policy, August 12, 2013, http://mideastafrica.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/12/libyas_jihadists_beyond_benghazi. 10 Thomas Joscelyn, “UN recognizes ties between Ansar al Sharia in Libya, al Qaeda,” Long War Journal, November 19, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/11/un_designates_ansar.php; Aaron Y. Zelin, “New Evidence on Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya Training Camps,” Al-Wasat, August 8, 2013. https://thewasat.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/new-evidence-on-ansar-al-sharia-in-libya-training-camps/. 11 Faisal Irshaid, “Profile: Libya’s Ansar Al-Sharia,” BBC News, June 13, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27732589. 12 Lucy Westcott, “Libyan Army Reportedly Has Taken Back Benghazi Port,” Newsweek, February 6, 2015, http://www.newsweek.com/libyan-army-reported-have-taken-back-benghazi-port-305113. 13 Nadia Radwan, “Libya: Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya Leader Dead,” AllAfrica, January 26, 2015, http://allafrica.com/stories/201501270208.html. ASL has been able to maintain a presence in those municipalities.14 Further, ASL has suffered numerous prominent defections to ISIS. Finally, ISIS’s attacks within Libya, including the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, have triggered renewed international support for eradicating extremism within Libya. Some analysts, including Michael Horowitz of Max Security Solutions, think ASL will likely pledge allegiance to ISIS in the near future.15 Doctrine: ASL’s primary objective is to institute sharia (Islamic law) in Libya. As the group’s former leader, Mohamed al-Zahawi, said, “Our brave youths will continue their struggle until they impose [sharia].”16 Like Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, ASL advances its agenda through dawa (proselytizing), hisba (commanding right and forbidding wrong through sharia, which can include enforcement of modesty laws through violence), and jihad (in this case, armed struggle).17 Like many other Islamist groups, ASL opposes achieving change through, the democratic system. The group believes democracy subverts sharia by giving man the power to make law—a power ASL considers reserved to God alone. This belief separates ASL from other Islamist groups in Libya, including Libya Dawn, that support exploiting democracy in order to achieve implementation of sharia.18 ASL’s hisba enforcement has included destroying Sufi shrines that the group considers idolatry. Al-Zahawi described removal these shrines as “a religious duty” because “people worship the deceased and this is prohibited. It is not me who says so but rather our religion.”19 The group also confiscated anatomy books from the European School in Benghazi after deeming that they were “pornographic” in nature.20 Similarly, in February 2015, gunmen from an “al-Qaeda inspired militia” seized radio and television stations in Sirte after ASL “warned the station to stop broadcasting music.”21 14 Thomas Joscelyn, “Ansar Al Sharia Libya Relaunches Social Media Sites,” Long War Journal, April 9, 2015, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/04/ansar-al-sharia-libya-relaunches-social-media- sites.php. 15 Thomas Joscelyn, “Spiritual Leader of Libya’s Biggest Jihadi Group Pledges Allegiance to ISIS,” Newsweek, April 8, 2015, http://www.newsweek.com/top-judge-libyas-biggest-jihadi-group-pledges- allegiance-isis-320408. 16 Ahmed Maher, “Meeting Mohammad Ali Al-Zahawi of Libyan Ansar Al-Sharia,” BBC News, September 18, 2012, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19638582. 17 Aaron Y. Zelin, “The Terrorist Threat in North Africa,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, July 10, 2013, https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/ZelinTestimony20130710- v2.pdf. 18 Ahmed Maher, “Meeting Mohammad Ali Al-Zahawi of Libyan Ansar Al-Sharia,” BBC News, September 18, 2012, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19638582. 19 Ahmed Maher, “Meeting Mohammad Ali Al-Zahawi of Libyan Ansar Al-Sharia,” BBC News, September 18, 2012, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19638582. 20 Aaron Y. Zelin, “The Terrorist Threat in North Africa,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, July 10, 2013, https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/ZelinTestimony20130710- v2.pdf. 21 “Islamic Militants Seize Radio, TV Stations in Central Libya,” New York Times, February 14, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/02/14/world/middleeast/ap-ml-libya.html. Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote that the creation of ASL, as well as Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, emerged from the ideology of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, who “has attempted to steer the jihadi community to a more ‘pure’ jihad” in order to offset the brutal image of jihad as popularized by deceased al- Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.22 According to Zelin, Maqdisi has tried to draw a distinction between the idea of qital al- nikayya (fighting to hurt or damage the enemy) and qital al-tamkin (fighting to consolidate one’s power).