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Tuesday 14 February 2017

Libya Tribes leader: Trump's travel restrictions justified, terrorists using fake Libyan passports to enter U.S.

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net


In his first week in office, President Trump signed an order temporarily freezing immigration from seven Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Libya. According to Trump, the order's purpose was to "keep America safe" by blocking groups of people who can not yet be properly vetted. Trump's critics labeled the order a 'Muslim ban', deeming it unfair, mean-spirited, and racist. One recent editorial even criticizes Trump for playing up "the imaginary threat of terrorists" from the countries in question.

Now, after the U.S. court of appeals upheld federal judge Robart's restraining order on the executive order, it appears that Trump plans to sign a new executive order before, or perhaps alternatively to, the appeal to the Supreme Court. But the question remains: is the executive order unreasonable? And is the terrorist threat 'imaginary'?

Libyan tribal leader Sheikh Khaled Tantoush doesn't think so. Sheikh Tantoush, a fierce critic of the jihadist movements and one of Libya's most esteemed clerics, was captured by Libyan "rebels" in Sirte in 2011 along with Colonel Gaddafi. He performed the final Islamic rites over Gaddafi's body after he was murdered, and the Sheikh himself was subsequently imprisoned and tortured. In a 2013 show trial he was sentenced to life in prison on trumped-up charges of "glorifying Gaddafi", but was released last month after spending over five years in prison.
In his first interview with Western media since his release from rebel captivity, Sheikh Khaled told SOTT.net that the so-called Muslim ban is meaningless to the vast majority of ordinary Libyans, who find it difficult enough to move from city to city, let alone leave the country for the U.S. There is an extreme cash shortage in the country, and the only Libyans with the means to come to the U.S. are mostly criminals and terrorists. He said:
A small number [of Libyans] might travel to the USA for studying, but the others [who travel] are traitors who have been working for and are paid for by the US government. The majority of Libyans don't care about this ban, because we are struggling to travel from one city to another in Libya... The real Libyans don't care to travel to the USA. They care about finding a solution for Libya. This [travel ban] is a small thing for us.
Syrian President Assad gave a similar assessment of the 'ban' on Syrians, telling Yahoo News that it is "an American issue" and that his responsibility is simply to restore stability in his country, "in order to bring [the refugees] back". When asked if he thought some of the refugees are aligned with terrorists, he replied, "Definitely." 

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