"Former Jihadist at the Heart of Libya's Revolution"

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/09/02/libya.belhaj.profile/index.html?iref=allsearch

I found this article particularly interesting as it connects the legacy of the mujahideen fighters during the Soviet war in Afghanistan to the current situation in Libya. As we discussed in class, the mujahideen received a great amount of support from the CIA, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan to help defeat the Soviets. A group we have not mentioned however, are the LIFG, or the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that also went into Afghanistan in the late 1980s to support the jihad. After the Soviets were driven out of Afghanistan, Abdul Haakeem Belhaj, a member of the LIFG that fought alongside al Qaeda during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, returned to his home in Libya. Capitalizing on the experience he gained from the anti-Soviet campaign, Belhaj is now an important leader of the Libyan revolt, along with other members of the LIFG. The article explores Belhaj's hopes for Libya, whether his views align with those of the National Transitional Council, and whether his faith is an issue of tension as the rebels imagine the future of Libya, and fear that such a prominent Islamist figure is gaining so much power.