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35 Egyptians kidnapped in Libya after anti-IS strikes: report
[IsraelTimes] At least 35 Egyptian nationals were reportedly kidnapped in Libya, amid Egyptian calls Tuesday for UN-backed international intervention in Libya after launching air strikes on Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 group targets following the jihadists' beheadings of Egyptian Christians.

The abduction of the Egyptians, many of which are apparently farm workers, was carried out at various locations in areas controlled by Libyan militia group Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
h and IS, in an apparent reaction to the Egyptian air strikes on Lion of Islam bases in Derna, the Libya Herald reported Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians remain in Libya, and their government is encouraging them to leave, foreign ministry front man Badr Abdelatty told news hounds.

The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
 said it will discuss with the Egyptian and US governments this week joint action on Libya, but that it saw no role in any military intervention for now.
I understand they have neither the troops nor enough transport to get them there, so best not to commit to doing so.
Earlier this month, delegates from Libya's rival parliaments held UN-mediated indirect talks described by the UN as "positive".

But Egypt says it would be naive to hope for a speedy political settlement, insisting that turbans must be confronted with force.

"There are terrorist organizations in Libya that are not abiding by their commitments; they are not serious about dialogue," said foreign ministry front man Badr Abdelatty.

Experts say Sissi wants to be seen as a key ally of the West against Islamist extremism, deflecting international criticism of his crackdown on the Moslem Brüderbund of former president Mohammed Morsi, whom he ousted in 2013.
Some experts would be cynical enough to question the sincerety of the Archangel Michael as he blew the last trump.

Posted by: trailing wife 2015-02-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=411029