Libya: Headed for Democracy or Extremism?

While no one seems to believe Moammar Gadhafi’s claims that the rebel forces have been “brainwashed by Bin Laden,” there are real concerns over the potential for extremism in the region. Speaking to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out that many al-Qaida jihadists in Afghanistan and Iraq were from the “so-called free area of Libya.” How real is the danger that extremist groups like al-Qaida could use the chaos and ensuing power vacuum to set up camp in Libya? Noman Benotman, is a former Libyan jihadist and senior analyst at Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think tank based in London. He is one of the most outspoken critics of Muslim extremism and he says that al-Qaida is not fighting in Libya right now, but as violence continues, the more potential there is for the terrorist group to fill a power vacuum.