NATO: Signs of Qaeda presence in Libyan rebels

Adm. James G. Stavridis, NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, left, and Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 29, 2011. / AP

WASHINGTON - As the United States and other nations build ties with Libyan rebels and leaders of the political opposition trying to oust Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi, intelligence suggests al Qaeda and other terrorists have a small presence within the opposition group, a top military commander said Tuesday.

Adm. James Stavridis, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told Congress that officials have seen "flickers" of possible al Qaeda and Hezbollah among the rebel forces, but at this point no evidence there are significant numbers within the group's leadership.

Questions about who the rebels are have escalated as the U.S.-led coalition moved into its second week of attacks against Qaddafi forces, halting their progress and paving the way for the ragtag opposition to regain lost ground. At this point, Stavridis said, there is "more than a reasonable chance of Qaddafi leaving."

Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab world

In London, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Mahmoud Jibril, a representative of the Libyan political opposition fighting Qaddafi, "to talk about the path forward." And she implored an international conference meeting on the Libya's future to band together to free the North African nation from Qaddafi's grip and convince his loyalists to abandon the regime.

And a senior administration official said the U.S. will soon send an envoy to Libya to deepen relations with leaders of the rebels.

Eleven days into a military assault that has cost the Pentagon roughly $550 million so far, the U.S. was in the process of turning over control of the mission to NATO in the next day or two. The U.S. military, however, is likely to continue to play a significant role in the operation, including continued airstrikes, intelligence gathering, electronic warfare and aerial refueling.

The military has insisted that it is not coordinating attacks with the rebels to help advance their offensive, but simply working to protect the people. But the strikes paved the way for the rebels to regain a key city over the weekend, and begin again their march west toward Qaddafi strongholds.

President Barack Obama told the American people Monday night that U.S. intervention in Libya was necessary to prevent a slaughter of civilians. But he also said that ousting Qaddafi militarily would be a mistake, and suggested that the diplomatic road to his removal was the path to take.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Tuesday there are plenty of "non-military means at our disposal" to oust the Libyan leader.

"We are using sanctions. We've imposed an arms embargo. We are cutting off all of Qaddafi's sources and funds to his regime, cutting off the flow of mercenaries. We are providing assistance and will continue to provide assistance to the opposition. We are working in London on a political solution. All of these are important elements," Rice said on "The Early Show."

The $550 million figure on the initial U.S. costs is not complete because it does not include such money as pay for U.S. sailors, airmen and other forces who would have been deployed somewhere in the world anyway. But it is the first official figure released on the cost of setting up the no-fly zone in Libya and protecting civilians.

[alexander029]

with this now in the open, its time the west tells the rebels that "the west will not aid the rebels wih al qaeda in the fight" this is a fight that the west is best staying out of. we need just sit back and watch the drama unfold.

[samael2014]

"Eleven days into a military assault that has cost the Pentagon roughly $550 million so far, the U.S. was in the process of turning over control of the mission to NATO in the next day or two. The U.S. military, however, is likely to continue to play a significant role in the operation, including continued airstrikes, intelligence gathering, electronic warfare and aerial refueling."

beautiful... just simply deep-$hit beautiful.

[Poeopy]

With Obama's high inteligence, he knew all these signs & the presence of AlQaeda just as Qaddafi earlier also blamed & warned the west & the entire world from the very onset. He is quite right being very cautious in his decisions & actions. But the Reps thinks that he's being too coward & timid to "act their way".
Anyhow, Obama isn't all that a BLOOD SUCKER & WAR HUNGRY like McCain !!!

[billpl-2009]

a lot more al qaeda and hezbollah on qaddafi's side than the rebels

[mask2697]

by Paul_I March 29, 2011 2:25 PM EDT

Spin is a wonderful source of entertainment. Now we can say Obama is supporting Al Quaeda. And we can say Palin said Obama took too long to support Al Quaeda. And we can say McCain said we should act decisively to support Al Quaeda. And so on with Pawlenty, Gingrich, Clinton, Huckabee, NATO, the UN...
-----------------------------
are you a moron!? it said "flickers" of possible terrorists, and it even says if any there aren't many Al quada, besides in case you forgot, Quadaffi directly payed for terrorism, he actually gave them money to plant a bomb on a plane, which blew up killing 300+ people, so no if there are terrorists, they are very isolated...

[Paul_I]

Spin is a wonderful source of entertainment. Now we can say Obama is supporting Al Quaeda. And we can say Palin said Obama took too long to support Al Quaeda. And we can say McCain said we should act decisively to support Al Quaeda. And so on with Pawlenty, Gingrich, Clinton, Huckabee, NATO, the UN...

[Mortarman429]

Probably all correct.

[ddaryl]

LMAO at the tea baggers.... amongst the rebels there is a flicker of Al Qaeda... it's the middle east there is a flicker of terrorists around every corner.

not happy with more war in the middle east, but the tea baggers are extremely sad excuses for humans

[Mortarman429]

So are liberals!

[ddaryl]

LMAO at the tea baggers.... amongst the rebels there is a flicker of Al Qaeda... it's the middle east there is a flicker of terrorists around every corner.

not happy with more war in the middle east, but the tea baggers are extremely sad excuses for humans

[mscapecod]

Obama is on the verge of arming the rebels who have admitted that al-Qaeda is fronting this operation, who will in turn take the weaponry to their strongholds to inevitably use against our soldiers, and now we will be sending our boys into the midst of a chaotic civil war. Sounds like a plan
US Marines do not SIT on navy ships. They go ashore, so blah blah to the president and his "no boots on the ground" baloney. Wanna bet that special forces aren't already in country?

[RatPackSixGun]

What?!? Signs of Al Qaeda in the movement?!?

NOT a surprise.

What's going on in the mid east is about pan-regional Caliphate and has nothing to do with "democracy". Those that are after such lofty secular ideals are simply tools being used by radicals. We/US need to stay the heck out of it.

There's no shortage of irony in leaving hateful dictators in power because they're the lesser evil.