Background Khalifa Haftar, a dissident Libyan Army colonel and long time foe of Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi, reappeared on March 14 in Benghazi, the opposition’s supposedly temporary de facto administrative center, to lead Libya’s chaotic rebellion (al-Jazeera, March 14). For many years Haftar has been the... MORE

Forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi have battled for days to take the coastal city of Misrata. Qaddafi’s efforts to take Misrata shed light on the little known role of Circassians in Libya, descendants of the Muslim tribes of the northwest Caucasus region... MORE

There are currently two arguments about what the recent uprisings across the Middle East mean for al-Qaeda.  The optimists argue that non-violent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have stripped al-Qaeda’s narrative of its power. The pessimists counter that al-Qaeda is far from finished and will... MORE

Since the 1998 al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi and the 2002 attack on an Israeli-owned hotel and Israeli airliner in Mombasa, Kenya has considered Somalia a key security threat. To combat this threat, Kenya has tightened its border with Somalia and engaged... MORE

On Sunday, March 13, Jamestown met with quarrelsome, nervous, mid-level Libyan rebel commanders underneath the double green arches that mark a police checkpoint on Ajdabiya’s western approach. The commanders fell into a vigorous argument that verged on fisticuffs when asked if the road to the... MORE

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) made history with the news on February 25 that the frigate Xuzhou, one of the navy’s most modern warships, had been dispatched to waters near Libya to support and protect the evacuation of Chinese citizens. The Libya operation is... MORE

Beyond the battle for the towns and cities of Libya, there is another battle raging over the legacy of Sidi Omar al-Mukhtar, Libya’s “Lion of the Desert.” The symbol of Libyan nationalism and pride, the inheritance of this stalwart of the Islamic and anti-colonial struggle... MORE

Objective Sirte: Gains and Setbacks Among Libya's Rebel Forces

Turkey has pursued a policy over the popular uprising in Libya reflecting the unique ties it had developed with this country. More importantly, Turkey’s position in the ongoing debate concerning the involvement of the international community in the form of sanctions or possible military intervention... MORE

Libyan rebel forces repulsed an advance on the Mediterranean seaport of Marsa al-Burayqah (also known as Marsa al-Brega) by Libyan government forces loyal to Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi and African mercenaries in his employ. The loyalists were attempting to regain control of a Sirte Oil Company... MORE